This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io
Manchester United hold talks with strikers’ representatives
John Murtough has joined Erik ten Hag and other key figures at Manchester United have been mentioning that they don’t expect the club to be busy this January. From what I’m hearing, it is true that Man United don’t expect to be going for super top players, but my understanding is that they are actively working on potential new signings, so these public statements aren’t entirely as they seem.
It could be one signing, it could be two, but Man United are looking for opportunities. For instance, they are speaking to the agents of some strikers – they had conversations also with Anthony Martial to try to understand his future, because it looks likely he will leave as a free agent in the summer, or he could leave in January and in that case United are exploring options.
I’m told they have spoken to the representatives of Donyell Malen and other strikers around Europe like Timo Werner and Serhou Guirassy. So, many players are on the list for United up front. As well as that, a defender is one other position they could choose to cover in January, though that could depend on the fitness of Lisandro Martinez.
Overall, United remain active in the process to find opportunities, so you don’t have to 100% trust when people like Murtough say they’re not going to do anything in January.
Still, one player I don’t see United targeting is Radu Dragusin. I’m honestly not aware of anything concrete with United despite some of the reports circulating – Genoa have never been approached by United, and now he will sign a new contract in the next few days. I’m aware that Tottenham and Newcastle have previously sent their scouts to follow him, same for Atalanta who are interested in Dragusin, but I’m not sure where the United links have come from.
In terms of potential outgoings at United, interest from Saudi in Casemiro and Raphael Varane is there since June/July, but at that time both players wanted to stay in Europe and compete at their best for Man United. Let’s see if Saudi clubs will return for them, and what kind of proposals they can present, but at the moment there is nothing at concrete stages yet.
Real Madrid could change plans after David Alaba injury
David Alaba’s season is over after an ACL injury – we wish him all the best and hope he returns as soon as possible. It’s important to say that now, from what I’m hearing, Real Madrid are still discussing internally about the possibility to sign a new player in January.
Florentino Perez, Carlo Ancelotti and other key figures in the club are all having conversations, they will all be involved in the process to decide the best option. At the moment it’s not guaranteed that they will sign anyone as the initial plan was to stay with the same squad, but after the injury to Alaba things could change, and so they are discussing internally the possibility of a January signing.
PSG working on signing two Brazilian youngsters
Paris Saint-Germain are very active ahead of January, with their mission being to sign two young Brazilian gems in Gabriel Moscardo and Lucas Beraldo.
With Moscardo, there is a new meeting scheduled between PSG and Corinthians. They already have an agreement with the player, a super talented boy born in 2005, so on the player side it’s all okay, but now they need to negotiate with Corinthians. It could cost around €25m, add-ons included, so conversations are ongoing and there will be a new meeting between the two clubs.
With Beraldo, the Sao Paulo centre-back, PSG have an agreement with the player, and from what I heard as of last night, they are closing in on this deal. An agreement is imminent for €20m, no add-ons included. This is the plan, the agreement is really close, Beraldo is set to join PSG very soon, just waiting for the final details.
I’m aware there have been some stories about Beraldo and Arsenal in recent days, but I’ve honestly never heard anything concrete about their interest in the player. Beraldo has been the subject of rumours with probably three or four clubs every month recently, but in the end only PSG arrived with a formal, official proposal and now a €20m deal is close to being completed.
In other news…
Eddie Nketiah – There is speculation again about Eddie Nketiah’s future at Arsenal. Interest has always been there from 5-6 Premier League clubs and I’m told also Bundesliga clubs – it’s normal as Eddie is a very good striker. But Arsenal are still happy with Nketiah, there are currently no concrete or advanced negotiations, I think it could only change with a very important proposal, but at this stage, Arsenal are not desperate to sell Nketiah. At all.
Trevoh Chalobah – Some fans have been asking me about stories emerging yesterday involving Trevoh Chalobah and potential moves to Tottenham or Roma. Stories like this are normal when you get close to January, but I’m not aware of anything concrete yet. For sure I still see Chalobah leaving in January, but the club is not clear yet also because he’s injured, so it will take some time.
Dan Ashworth – There are many links with the Manchester United director job and Dan Ashworth is one name coming up in reports. The first step has to be how to structure the board; this is what INEOS people are discussing, if proceeding with one director or maybe a structure with two or three people working on club project. Talks are still ongoing internally. I rate Ashworth highly, he’s done some excellent work in the transfer market, he’s an excellent director. He’s a really top professional and it’s also important to say that Newcastle are very happy with him.