Today’s top stories:
- Barcelona could steal a Manchester City midfielder – the player would consider a move!
- How Bayern Munich could keep hold of Benjamin Pavard…
- Harry Kane transfer latest…
Neymar
I was reading an article from Le Parisien and they were writing about a secret meeting over Neymar, which involved Todd Boehly and Chelsea and a potential deal to bring him to London.
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[Neymar faces PSG’s fans after a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich – (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)]
I have to disappoint Chelsea fans – I’ve been told there’s nothing in this, it’s not true. It’s too expensive. It’s a nice idea but it’s not going to happen. PSG would like to find a solution but, at the moment, there’s no available suitor who can pay a salary of nearly €37m a year.
? Would Neymar be the perfect signing for Chelsea? Let me know what you think!
Arsenal
Fabrizio Roman’s CaughtOffside Column: Despite reports, Arsenal are currently not in talks to sign James Maddison at this stage. Newcastle have had Maddison on their list since last summer.
Nothing will be decided on Maddison’s future before May/June.
Arsenal have sent their scouts to watch Brazilian youngster Vitor Roque. However, it’s the same for five top European clubs.
Get all the latest updates from Fabrizio Romano in his latest FREE column!
Barcelona
At Frankfurt, the officials aren’t aware of any pre-agreement between Evan Ndicka and Barcelona, so I’m not sure if the rumours are accurate. They’re still hoping to keep hold of the player.
Of course, he doesn’t have to tell the club about this situation but normally they should be better informed on that point. So I won’t say it’s confirmed for one side either way – there’s still a chance for every side. Barcelona have been very quiet on this transfer and I’m not sure if they even need Ndicka.
Let’s see how the situation develops but I’m not really counting on it.
Barcelona is actually an option for ?lkay Gündo?an. Xavi has always been his role model and he learned a lot of tricks and playing styles from the former midfielder on YouTube. His agent and uncle, Ilhan Gündo?an, is currently assessing the market and opportunities at Barcelona. However, Andreas Christensen is also one of his clients.
Manchester City remains a priority for Ilkay and he can imagine staying, especially now that Pep Guardiola has signed a new contract. But: Barcelona is Ilkay’s No.2 option, which sets the scene for a bit of poker between City and Barca. City will have the advantage if the club wants to keep Ilkay and makes it financially worth his while.
Bayern Munich
Bayern Munich are very happy about Malik Tillman’s development at Rangers. They’re keeping an eye on his education in Glasgow but not for the purposes of keeping hold of the player. There is an option-to-buy of €7m included in the loan deal that took him to Scotland and they’re prepared to sell him.
There’s no sign yet from Rangers that they have the money or are prepared to sign him. However, if they want Tillman, they can get him.
Benjamin Pavard played very well against PSG, which is a good sign as far as Julian Nagelsmann’s system (playing with two offensive wingbacks and three centre-halves) is concerned. The club, Nagelsmann and Hasan Salihamidži? told him when they brought João Cancelo in that they weren’t looking to push him out of the side; he could be a big part of the new system.
Bayern are aware that Pavard has Barcelona on his mind (which was why it was easy for him to reject a switch to Inter Milan in January).
It’s a shame he got a red card (from two yellow card offences) in the Champions League and will now miss the next match. But it’s on Bayern to convince Pavard that his future lies in Munich. From the player’s side there was no need to discuss a new contract but Bayern would be prepared to.
If he sees that Bayern are still counting on him and they’re still a big team in the Champions League (whilst Barcelona are in the Europa League) – that’s their best chance of convincing him. Barcelona is still, at the moment, the one club Pavard wants to join, either this summer if they have the money or as a free agent a year later.
But if he continues to do well in Nagelsmann’s system, perhaps it can persuade him to stay and encourage fresh talks to take place. On top of that, I heard that Bayern Munich still have a good relationship with his agent, so there’s still hope.
Eintracht Frankfurt
Before, there was a clear shared idea held between Frankfurt and Randal Kolo Muani’s agency that he’d be best-suited to stay one year more until 2024.
But now this situation has changed. He’s got a new agent having switched from MDC to Moussa Sissoko (who’s quite famous in Germany for having arranged the transfer of Ousmane Dembélé). Everyone knows what will happen, I’m not sure that Muani will strike to force a move but they’re really pushing for a transfer and Frankfurt is aware of it.
They’re no longer saying he’s not for sale but the question remains as to whether English clubs will be put off by the asking price. They’ll have to pay a lot of money – Frankfurt are hoping for a record fee and have set a benchmark of €100m. If you go back to Barcelona’s move for Dembele, they ended up paying a huge amount of money for him, so it’s worth keeping in mind.
[Randal Kolo Muani has 28 goal contributions in 29 games (across all competitions) for Frankfurt this term – (Photo by Christian Kaspar-Bartke/Getty Images)]
So, the market for Muani is open and many clubs are certainly interested in the striker. Bayern Munich are still out of the race – they profiled him and decided he didn’t fit their possession-based system – but he could be better suited for sides like Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.
I’m not sure if Liverpool have the money for Muani, United are doing a lot of strange things with strikers at the moment and Chelsea keep reinforcing their midfield. When you see what Bayern Munich are doing on the market, they’re always plugging specific gaps in their squad. Chelsea aren’t doing that and they need a striker; perhaps Muani is the solution.
? Which Premier League club should try to sign Randal Kolo Muani this summer? Who needs him the most? Let me know below!
Liverpool
? Liverpool and Manchester United are keeping tabs on Mason Mount after contract talks with Chelsea stalled [ESPN via CaughtOffside]
Manchester United
? Real Madrid plotting move to sign Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot [AS via CaughtOffside]
Tottenham
Bayer Leverkusen were very happy to agree a contract extension with Piero Hincapié. They’ve secured an agreement to keep him at the club until 2027, which is very important for them whilst Moussa Diaby is on Arsenal’s shortlist, not to mention Jeremie Frimpong who Manchester United are keeping tabs on.
Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou and Jonathan Tah are also trying to get into the Premier League and there is interest, we’re hearing, from the agents. So they could lose a lot of players in the summer, which is why they’ve looked at their squad and decided on who their three key players are.
Hincapié is one of them, Florian Wirtz is one of them – the Premier League is keeping an eye on him but Leverkusen convinced the player to sign a new contract by reminding him of the upcoming Euros in Germany – and the third one is Patrik Schick. Schick isn’t doing so well at the moment but they still value him greatly.
These are the three players who should remain in the near future but the others they could lose. Of course, it’s Leverkusen and not Bayern Munich, so if an interested Premier League club is prepared to spend the money, they’ll have to talk. For now, though, they’re hoping to keep Tottenham at bay with this new contract for Hincapié.
Victor Osimhen
We have to go back down the years to when Pep Guardiola was the manager of Bayern Munich to get an idea of the club’s stance on Victor Osimhen. Pep famously said ‘Thiago or nothing’ and Bayern Munich had to bring Thiago Alcântara in then – in the sense of Bayern’s pursuit of strikers, the same feeling could be applied to Harry Kane.
[Harry Kane or nothing for Bayern? – (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)]
Bayern’s plan, as things stand, is that Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting gets a new contract. There are a lot of rumours flying about, which I’ve discussed with Bayern Munich officials and I can say there’s no truth in the links with Osimhen. So don’t believe in the rumours about Lautaro Martínez, Dušan Vlahovi?, Marcus Rashford or Muani.
If there’s a chance to get Kane – Bayern will try. If there’s no chance, perhaps there won’t be a new striker at Bayern this summer, provided that Choupo-Moting signs a new contract because they’ve got back-up in Mathys Tel who has really impressed the club with his performances in training.
Bayern don’t have a lot of money available at the moment that they can freely spend in the market. Osimhen is too expensive and the club haven’t knocked at his door.
? Will Harry Kane win any silverware if he stays at Tottenham? Share your thoughts in the comments!