There was a new injury for N’Golo Kante which kept him out of yesterday’s game with Nottingham Forest.
Frank Lampard: “We lost N’Golo, he felt something in his groin — so that’s probably a couple of weeks and we know what that means pretty much.”
Inter CEO Marotta on Romelu Lukaku’s future: “I don’t know Chelsea plans… maybe new coach comes in and wants to keep him at Chelsea. For sure, Romelu’s very happy here at Inter. On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say Lukaku has 6 chances to play at Inter next season.”
Inter Milan
Inter CEO Beppe Marotta: “I’m sure Bastoni will accept our proposal to extend contract, I’m confident to reach an agreement. Dzeko out of contract in June? We’ve to decide together with Edin about his future.”
Liverpool
Alexis Mac Allister is in advanced negotiations with Liverpool. It’s not a done deal yet, but Liverpool have made a proposal and are continuing to advance on the deal. Still, let’s see if Chelsea join the running now that Mauricio Pochettino is close to becoming their manager.
Jurgen Klopp on Darwin Nunez: “Give him time to settle, it’s so difficult to come into a team which isn’t clicking. Darwin would have scored 20+ goals had we been having a normal season. He needs time to adapt – he had that at Benfica, there was no language issue.”
Manchester City
Bayern director Salihamidzic on the buy option clause for Joao Cancelo: “We will see after the end of the season… it’s too early now. There are no talks yet.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Erling Haaland: “I called Manchester United six months before I took over and told them that I’d got this striker, this boy Haaland that we had… but they didn’t listen. I asked for £4m for Erling. They did not sign him.”
Manchester City are close to completing the signing of wonderkid goalkeeper Spike Brits from AFC Wimbledon — he’s passed his medical tests at City. Contracts are now set to be signed also on clubs side, it will be official soon.
Ilkay Gundogan won’t communicate any decision now. He wants to focus on Man City final games and winning titles — there is no green light to any proposal yet. Barcelona remain keen on signing him with an important contract bid, but still waiting on Gundo to decide.
Manchester United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Erling Haaland: “I called Manchester United six months before I took over and told them that I’d got this striker, this boy Haaland that we had… but they didn’t listen. I asked for £4m for Erling. They did not sign him.”
What a first season in the Manchester United first-team for Alejandro Garnacho! He scored again yesterday in the 2-0 win at home to Wolves. Still only 18 years of age, he’s now on three Premier League goals and two assists, and recently earned a new long-term contract running until 2028.
Napoli
Luciano Spalletti confirms he’s set to stay: “We had a positive meeting with the president yesterday — the future is gonna be exciting, I’m sure of that”.
Talks progressing over a new contract valid until June 2025 after winning the title.
Southampton
It’s finally official – Southampton have been relegated from the Premier League after 11 years in the top flight. They’ve been bottom of the table for much of the season and yesterday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Fulham sealed their fate.
A club statement read: “Today is a hugely disappointing day for everyone associated with Southampton Football Club. We have fought tirelessly as a club throughout the season, but the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world and our results were simply not good enough to stay there.
“Our work begins today to return Southampton Football Club – an inaugural member of the Premier League with a rich history – to where it belongs. We want to reassure our supporters, our partners and our staff that we remain fully committed to achieving long-term success for the club at the top level.
”We must now reflect on the lessons to be learned from this season and start preparing for the challenges ahead of us in the Championship. Our goal is to return to the Premier League as soon as possible and ensure that we stay there.”
Tottenham
It’s over between Tottenham and Julian Nagelsmann. No way to continue negotiations as club won’t change current stance; and Nagelsmann was only going to advance in talks with clarity over sporting director…but Spurs are still looking for new director. Talks ongoing.