Enzo Fernandez, Benfica set the price; Barcelona, all-in for Youssoufa Moukoko; English clubs battle for Sofyan Amrabat. Here are some of the main stories over the last few days of the transfer market from TribalFootball’s transfer expert Rudy Galetti.
De Gea, the last dance with Manchester United?
Since Erik ten Hag took his place on the Manchester United bench last summer, a real revolution has begun at Old Trafford. The noisiest farewell was undoubtedly Cristiano Ronaldo‘s who, with the interview released before the World Cup, raised a fuss, solved with the early termination of his contract.
The great maneuvers for United are not over: in the summer, in fact, the chances of leaving as a free agent for David de Gea are very high. The Dutch coach – who prefers a more modern and younger goalkeeper – doesn’t like the Spanish player very much.
That’s why, for the next season, the No1 target for the English club is the Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa. The Portuguese player – whose contract expires in 2027 – has a release clause of 75m euros and the Red Devils board is seriously considering paying this fee to bring him to the Premier League as early as June. Talks with the goalkeeper are ongoing with a lot of optimism and soon there will be important news.
Enzo Fernandez, his future has a (high) price
After the first World Cup match of Argentina against Saudi Arabia – out of the starting eleven – Lionel Scaloni couldn’t get enough of him and, together with Lionel Messi, he dragged the Albiceleste to a third World title. We are talking about Enzo Fernandez, a true protagonist – with his great performances – of the Qatar tournament.
Not for nothing, he won unanimously the World Cup best Young Player Award. We all admired his qualities, but probably not everyone knows that Enzo, until a few months ago, could have stayed in Argentina, not landing to play in Europe. Before arriving at Benfica in the summer – in fact – AC Milan abandoned negotiations with River Plate because they thought the price tag – “just” 12 million euros – was too high.
On the contrary, Rui Costa, Benfica‘s president, considered suitable that request, buying Fernandez, but most of all including a €120m release clause in the contract with the Argentinian talent. They had a great intuition, in Portugal: after just 6 months, there are many teams that – thanks also to his performances in Qatar – want Fernandez. Benfica are not intimidated: the Portuguese club won’t consider offers lower than the release clause and, unless sensational twists, no club will pay this fee as early as January, with the Argentine to stay there at least until June.
As of now Liverpool are in pole position, but it’s only the beginning of the race for the World Cup’s Best Young Player.
Juventus are fearless: a Leicester midfielder in the sights
Juventus are definitely going through a tough period: the investigation on the capital gains and the further details required by the Turin Public Prosecutor’s Office about the work of the Bianconeri management in recent years, won’t allow the Juve ownership to be calm and lucid. Without forgetting the possible impact it could have on the next market session, the investigation might disturb the performances of the squad on the pitch as well.
However, while waiting for clarification over the Vecchia Signora’s future, Juventus try to remain focused on sporting matters, also because they have many delicate situations concerning their players, to be managed by the end of the year. One of the names on the ‘critical’ list is Adrien Rabiot, whose contract expires in June: the French player, who was one step away from Manchester United last summer, has not lowered his demands – around 9m euros/season – to renew the contract. Too much for Juventus which – if they fail to convince the midfielder’s mother to accept a smaller figure in the coming weeks – will be forced to lose for free the vice World Champion.
That’s why the Bianconeri are already looking around, monitoring some possible alternatives. Among these is Youri Tielemans: the Belgian player, who will leave Leicester as a free agent in June, is one of the possible reinforcements Juventus are monitoring, especially – as mentioned – in the event of Rabiot’s farewell. It won’t be an easy race, because Juve will have to beat the competition of other big European clubs, such as Arsenal and Barcelona. They already had a first contact with the player’s agents and could speed up things in the next weeks.
Barcelona are serious for Moukoko
The big clubs of European football are starting to move seriously for Youssoufa Moukoko, the Borussia Dortmund striker born in 2004.
A crystalline German talent, Moukoko has surprised everyone thanks to his top-level goals and plays in the last two seasons, with great statistics recorded in the Bundesliga 2022/23. In 14 appearances, he has racked up 6 goals and 4 assists, extraordinary results for a player of his age.
Youssoufa’s contract will expire in June 2023 and, considering the courting of some top teams, the chances that Borussia Dortmund could lose him as a free agent, without renewing the agreement, are really high. The clubs interested in the young talent are all over the Europe: from England (such as Liverpool), Spain and Italy, they will battle to convince the striker to embrace their projects.
At the moment, however, one club seems more determined than the others, and that is Barcelona. The Catalans are showing the greatest interest compared to the competition, with the Blaugrana seriously aiming to sign the young German striker at the end of the season to replace Memphis Depay who, at the same time, will say goodbye to the Barca fans.
Amrabat, many sirens from across the Channel
Sofyan Amrabat was certainly one of the main protagonists of the World Cup. A leader in the midfield of the Moroccan National Team which, also thanks to his excellent performance, achieved an incredible result, reaching an historical semi-final.
The Fiorentina player – whose contract with the Italian team expires in 2024 – after the competition held in Qatar, caught the eye of some clubs in Europe. First of all Tottenham, but also Spanish and French teams are monitoring the Moroccan. However, in recent days one of the top Premier League teams initiated discussions with the Amrabat entourage, taking the first concrete steps: we are talking about Liverpool.
The team managed by Jurgen Klopp showed interest in him, trying to get more information about the player. What transpires from sources close to the Moroccan’s staff is that he would be delighted to play for Liverpool and would be pushing to make this happen. The management of Fiorentina – which also declared during the World Cup that they would like to extend the contract of Amrabat with a proposal that links him to Florence for many years – knows that the risk of losing him as a free agent next summer is high: for this reason, with an offer considered suitable by his current club, Sofyan Amrabat could definitively leave Serie A as early as June, landing, in all likelihood, across the Channel, in the Premier League.
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