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Neymar finds himself in a really interesting situation in Paris
I think it’s quite telling that Xavi publicly, although he wanted to speak highly of his friend, didn’t want to play out the possibility of him coming back to Barcelona. Luis Enrique, who arguably oversaw his most impressive spell in Europe, is also not entirely convinced that he has a future in his PSG plans. It’s an interesting time right now because both the club and the player are keen to move on from his spell in Paris.
Another problem is the lengthy contract that the Brazilian superstar has with PSG and the fact that he is being paid massive money. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks as the Kylian Mbappe factor will need to be considered too before anything with Neymar is finalised. The feeling is one of the two will go – if it is at all possible for PSG to move them on.
Kylian Mbappe’s current situation won’t change until the transfer window shuts
There’s frustration surrounding the Kylian Mbappe saga, but there’s frustration on both sides of that situation. Kylian just wants to be out there playing football, getting ready for the new season and getting ready for what in his mind has been building up to be his final season with PSG. The PSG hierarchy are still unwilling to compromise with the fact that he will not sign an extension with the club and until something changes between the two, it’s very difficult to imagine a positive conclusion.
Real Madrid have yet to put an offer on the table because nothing has changed. As I said in last week’s column, PSG have a suspicion that Mbappe has an agreement with Madrid over a signing-on fee for next summer, which is believed to be in the region of €160million. It’s very difficult for PSG to get him to at least consider coming to the table and having a proper talk about his future when he feels so close to potentially being able to make that move to Spain happen in 12 months.
For now, that deadlock may be broken if Real Madrid were to come to the table with a fairly respectable offer that PSG might consider; but for the moment, Mbappe is training with the group they call ‘the loft’ and that probably won’t change until the end of the transfer window.
Because legally, PSG are allowed to do that, they are allowed to marginalize those players who could potentially move on while the window is open; but if the transfer window closes and Mbappe remains a PSG player, he will have to be reinstated and reintegrated into the squad, and there may be legal ramifications of substantial stature for PSG to face.
Jean-Clair Todibo would be ready for Man United move
It wouldn’t surprise me to see him move on between now and the end of the transfer window as I think Nice would do very well to hold on to both Todibo and Thuram. While Nice remain out of European competition, it is going to be difficult for him to build on the call-up he had to the French senior squad not that long ago. So, I do think there is the potential that Todibo makes that kind of Man United move in the near future and if the Manchester club do get him, I think there are some similarities with Raphael Varane in many ways.
He’s bounced around a bit more than the Man United star though since he left France very early on in his career and I think he is in need of a more permanent home, which he has been deprived of. Wherever he goes next, he’ll definitely need that exposure to continental football to continue developing.
Jonathan David would be a logical move for Tottenham
It would be a logical move for Tottenham to move for Jonathan David if they end up cashing in on Harry Kane. However, David has been linked with a move away from Lille for quite a long time now and it never seems to materialise.
He’s one of the few players that Lille would really be able to cash in on to help their financial issues, which makes a transfer possible. The forward is also a player who seems to always find form just before the transfer window opens but then dips during the season. Therefore, it’s quite hard for clubs to be absolutely sure that they want to make the move because you sometimes get these inconsistent periods of form, which I think makes some clubs, certainly some of the bigger clubs around Europe, reluctant to step in and make a bid.
There’s only so much David can aspire to do at Lille, having already won the Ligue 1 title with them so a move would be best this summer and I think, like Todibo, he needs regular game time now on the continental stage.