Ryan Gravenberch wants to join the Premier League; Moises Caicedo, a never-ending story; Franck Kessie, many options for his future. Here are some of the main stories over the last few days of the transfer market from TribalFootball’s transfer expert Rudy Galetti…
GRAVENBERCH, MANY SERIE A ADMIRERS BUT HE WANTS ENGLAND
Ryan Gravenberch could leave Bayern Munich on a permanent transfer this summer. The Dutch central midfielder – whose contract will expire in 2027 – has many admirers in Europe, especially in Italy.
Inter Milan, Juventus, AC Milan and Napoli are – or were – interested in him: the Nerazzurri, for example, during the talks with Bayern for Yann Sommer, explored the room of negotiation for Gravenberch, but, at the end, they considered the price tag set by the German club too expensive.
As told, also the Bianconeri and the Rossoneri were on his tracks in the past weeks, but they made different choices for their midfield. Now Napoli are showing the greatest interest, but there is a big rock between Gravenberch and Serie A: his will.
The player only wants to land in England, in the Premier League. There, to date, Liverpool – who have on the midfielders’ list also Romeo Lavia and Khephren Thuram – and Newcastle – that are still looking for a new midfielder – are the teams that, so far, appreciate him a lot. Anyway, no concrete action for Gravenberch from these EPL clubs as of now: so, we can surely say that to better understand the future of Ryan will take time. Let’s be patient.
CAICEDO – CHELSEA’S NEVER-ENDING STORY
Once upon a time, Chelsea and Brighton were in talks for Moises Caicedo. The beginning couldn’t have been better to explain the long – incrediblly long – negotiation time of the two clubs involved in this deal.
It’s nearly two months since Chelsea started to approach Brighton for the Ecuadorian midfielder: Mauricio Pochettino had not yet been made official, but the Argentine manager had already asked for him.
As we told weeks ago, Poch considers the Brighton player ideal for his tactical idea of play and for this reason Chelsea continue to work to please him. A little progress in this affair has been made in the past few days. After the speed up for the general understanding on the fixed fee (~£80m), Chelsea and Brighton have been “arguing” over the add-ons. So, the bonuses will be decisive for the success of this deal: Brighton continue to ask for £100m, but Chelsea don’t want to exceed £90m.
Pochettino’s wish to have Moises for the pre-season has not been fulfilled, but Chelsea will still continue to negotiate to the bitter end with Brighton. The contacts are constant between clubs and in the next few days a new bid is expected.
KESSIE, HIS FUTURE YET TO BE DECIDED
Franck Kessie, for sure, is not in the best moment of his career. The last season – the first one at Barcelona – was certainly different from how he had imagined it, with just a few minutes on the pitch under the direction of Xavi.
For this reason, this summer anything could happen: Barcelona – to date – ask for around 25 million euros to let him go, but no club are open to the possibility of paying this amount for the Ivorian midfielder.
Juventus, that have on their list also Thomas Partey (Arsenal), are interested in Franck, but just on loan. No direct contacts with clubs as of now, but it cannot be excluded that in the next days the Italian club will try to approach Barca to better understand the room of negotiation.
Also in the Premier League, there is a club interested in Franck: Tottenham put the former AC Milan player on their list of possible replacements in the event of a farewell for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. The Danish midfielder is in talks with Atletico Madrid to discuss personal terms and the negotiation is well addressed, at a good pace. Spurs, on their side, are open to evaluate proposals for him and, for a suitable amount, they will let him go.
A last option in Kessie’s future is to stay at Barca: not for nothing, he would like to stay there another year trying to change Xavi’s mind.
INTER MILAN STILL WITHOUT A SENIOR KEEPER
Following the farewell of Andre Onana to Manchester United and of Samir Handanovic and Alex Cordaz as well (the second- and the third-choice goalkeepers last season), Inter are still working to sign new goalkeepers, a role that is currently dangerously vacant.
We are at the end of July and the Champions League finalist is still without a first two senior goalkeepers. There are many options on Beppe Marotta’s table: Yann Sommer is one of the top targets. The signing of the Swiss goalkeeper appears to be just a matter of details, but the negotiation is going slow at the moment. Talks with Bayern Munich are in progress, but Inter want to speed things up to close as soon as possible the deal.
Anatoliy Trubin is the other main objective: the request of the Ukrainian club is considered too high by the Italian team, that is working to lower the price tag of the Shakhtar keeper. The Nerazzurri are willing to offer around €12m + add-ons, but it’s uncertain if that’s enough.
Keylor Navas and Emil Audero are the last two options on the Inter’s list: PSG are open to let Keylor go, no longer in their plans in these last years. The Sampdoria goalkeeper, lastly, represents the backup solution in case they fail to sign their top targets.
MORATA AND CORREA – SAUDI TEMPTATION
Alvaro Morata and Joaquin Correa have in common the fact that they are not at the centre of their clubs’ projects. Not only that: both strikers are in the sights of the same Saudi club, Al Shabab.
The team that is still looking for a new manager – talks are ongoing with Mark Van Bommel to understand his willingness to land in Saudi Arabia – is also trying to strengthen the attack, exploring some big names in Europe.
At the moment, at the top of their list there are Morata and Correa. The Spanish striker is followed by many Italian teams (Inter Milan, AS Roma, AC Milan), but no one wants to pay his release clause set at around €20m. For this reason, the option of Al Shabab remains concrete and, day after day, is becoming more serious.
At the same time, the Saudi club is also evaluating the opportunity to make an offer for the Inter player. Correa, as told, has not a central role in the Italian team and could leave the Nerazzurri for a suitable amount.
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