Exclusive: Tuchel open to EPL return, Benzema back at Madrid and more

Fabrizio Romano

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Tuchel would be happy to return to the Premier League

Thomas Tuchel is not speaking to any other club at the moment, his full focus is on the Champions League. Then of course if he leaves Bayern he’s open to considering opportunities, and I’m told he’d be more than happy to return to the Premier League one day.

The only chance to stay at Bayern now is if the board members will ask him to do so and present a new project. Let’s see if they will do that because at this point they haven’t yet.

Bayern Munich’s German head coach Thomas Tuchel

Regarding rumours surrounding the players, as always for Bayern guys, we have to wait to see with regard to the manager situation. It’s the same for Kimmich, Goretzka, Kim, Sané… all the players want to understand who’s gonna be the coach, what kind of idea the coach will have, what he wants to do in the summer.

So I can guarantee no decisions have been made so far.

No EPL interest in Lopetegui other than from West Ham

Rumours have seen Julen Lopetegui placed on Manchester United’s radar but guys, let me say that Lopetegui is on West Ham’s shortlist for sure, but I’m not aware of other Premier League clubs making contact at this point.

Lopetegui was also in advanced talks with AC Milan, but the deal was never sealed or signed. He was shocked as the board decided to leave the negotiations because the fans reacted in a very negative way to the news.

Champions League berth will see Dortmund bid for Sancho and Maatsen

Congratulations to Borussia Dortmund for what they’re doing in the Champions League, really special work, they’re doing a huge job.

It’s been a special season in Europe and after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, they also have almost guaranteed fifth spot in the Bundesliga, and another Champions League season in 2024/25.

It’s really important news for Borussia Dortmund. Why? Obviously they have the importance of Champions League but also the fresh money from the competition so that they can really attack their two main targets.

The first one is to keep Jadon Sancho. It’s not going to be easy but Dortmund will meet with Manchester United and try to find a solution. So let’s see what’s going to happen.

And then Ian Maatsen. The player is really happy and he has a £35m release clause in his Chelsea contract. Conversations will take place and the club will really try to make this happen also.

Arsenal still interested in strikers even if Gabriel Jesus stays

Gabriel Jesus wants to stay at Arsenal but the club remain interested in strikers for the summer transfer window, as we mentioned many times.

They don’t want any distractions now during the title race but then in June, full focus will be on transfer targets including a new striker. Nothing is changing in Arsenal’s plans at the moment.

Karim Benzema is back at Real Madrid

Karim Benzema is at Real Madrid’s training ground, receiving help for his injury. It’s not an easy moment from a physical point of view for him, so he spoke to Al Ittihad and together the club and player decided to see if he could go to Madrid for a few days to recover.
Real Madrid immediately said yes to this possibility because they have huge love and respect for Benzema, but this is not going to mean anything in terms of the transfer market.

Already in January when Benzema was exploring options in Europe, Real Madrid were very clear that it was never a possibility to bring him back.

Keep an eye on Benzema in the summer transfer window though because according to my information, there is a really concrete possibility to leave Al Ittihad. Let’s see if he will stay in Saudi or return to Europe.

Alex Baena remains focused on Villarreal despite Barça hopes

Alex Baena shared his thoughts and his dreams of wanting to play for Barcelona recently, but in terms of negotiations at the moment the situation is completely quiet and I can guarantee he’s still fully focused on Villarreal.

Nothing is concrete so far.

Chelsea haven’t placed a bid for Messinho… yet

I wanted to mention one more thing. Many questions from Chelsea fans about Estevao Willian aka ‘Messinho.’ Born in 2007, he recently had his debut with Palmeiras and he’s a fantastic top talent with a release clause in his contract of €60m.

We had information about an official tweet from Chelsea but what I’m hearing is that Chelsea have not presented an official bid. There is still no official bid from any club at this point, not even a formal bid at the moment. Everything is about talks.

I already told you many times that Chelsea are really well informed on the situation. They have been tracking Estevao since November, he’s one of the talents they’re monitoring in South America and are in regular contact but no formal proposal has been sent to Palmeiras yet.

The player is also appreciated by Barcelona, but because of Financial Fair Play Barcelona won’t spend €55/60m on Estevao in this transfer window.

Let’s see what Chelsea will decide to do with this deal because it fascinates me, and let me know your thoughts on this and all of the other stories below.