Today’s transfer news column is here – subscribe to the Daily Briefing for the full version and for more updates from myself, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson and our other columnists!
Victor Osimhen no closer to new Napoli contract
Recently linked with Chelsea, it seems Victor Osimhen’s future is no closer to being resolved as he’s yet to agree a new contract with Napoli – FULL STORY HERE
Huge bid for Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong revealed
Joan Laporta has spoken out on a big bid for Frenkie de Jong, but who made the offer, how much was it, and when was it made? FULL STORY HERE
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Transfer news: Chelsea BOOST in striker chase, huge bid for Barcelona star plus Man City duo to leave?
Chelsea remain keen on potential transfer of Barcelona defender
David Moyes has sent a message to Kretinsky and Sullivan about signing striker
Manchester City duo to leave?
Kalvin Phillips seems highly likely to now leave Manchester City in January, but what about those Julian Alvarez links with Barcelona? FULL STORY HERE
The post Transfer news: Chelsea BOOST in striker chase, huge bid for Barcelona star plus Man City duo to leave? appeared first on CaughtOffside.
Barcelona have had a lot of interest in Man City players over recent transfer windows and the Catalan giants would now like to bring Julian Alvarez to the club in 2024.
The La Liga giants signed Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Cancelo from the Premier League champions this summer, and they also had a very strong interest in Bernardo Silva, but could not afford to bring the Portuguese star to Spain.
According to Sport, Barcelona would like to bring Julian Alvarez to the club in 2024 as the World Cup winner is certain to grow into one of the best players in the world very soon.
? Manchester City forward Julián Álvarez is a target for Barcelona.
The Argentina star has made a fast start to the current campaign as the forward has played in every game for Man City, providing Pep Guardiola with six goals and five assists across 13 matches.
The 23-year-old is the future of the Manchester club and with a contract at the Etihad until 2028, it will be impossible for Barca to lure the Argentina star away.
Just like Silva, Barcelona will not be able to afford Alvarez due to their financial issues and it is certain that City would put a big price tag on the forward in order to keep suitors away.
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Though they remain unbeaten in La Liga and the Champions League this season, Xavi Hernandez and Barcelona have got big problems now Robert Lewandowski has joined a lengthening injury list.
The striker had to be substituted midway through the first-half of Barca’s European sojourn to Porto, Ferran Torres taking his place and scoring the goal that turned out to be the winner.
Xavi will be relying on Ferran finally coming good for an extended period as his main man could be out for some time yet.
According to the official Barcelona website, the Polish hit-man has a sprained left ankle and he won’t return until the injury has fully healed.
90Min speculate that could be a few weeks yet, and therefore Lewandowski could end up missing the games against Granada, Athletic Club, Shakhtar Donetsk (x2), Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.
With Pedri and Frenkie de Jong also sidelined, Barca will be severely weakened. If all three were fit and firing the blaugranes would be a totally different proposition, particularly in the Clasico against Madrid.
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It’s a test of Xavi’s mettle as a coach to see if he can get the best out of his players seemingly when the odds are stacked against them.
If they’re able to emerge from that tough set of fixtures relatively unscathed, it could author how well the rest of the season pans out.
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Barcelona ‘are in talks to sign Man City defender Joao Cancelo’… with the defender set to leave the Etihad this summer amid uncertainty over his future
Joao Cancelo made a shock exit from Man City in January following a bust-up
The 29-year-old spent the latter part of last year in Germany with Bayern Munich
Barcelona are reportedly in talks to secure a permanent move for the full-back
By Tum Balogun For Mailonline
Updated:
Barcelona are in talks to sign Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo following the end of his loan spell with Bayern Munich.
The 29-year-old made a shock exit from the Etihad in the January transfer window and is reportedly set for a permanent move this summer.
According to talkSport, La Liga champions Barcelona have begun talks with City over acquiring the full-back, who arrived in Manchester from Juventus in 2019 for £60m.
Pep Guardiola’s side are believed to prefer selling the Portuguese international over another loan agreement and Barcelona could be in a position to meet City’s demands following the sale of Ousmane Dembele.
Barcelona boss Xavi outlined the club’s need to bolster their defensive line after the Catalan giants’ 1-0 friendly win against AC Milan on Tuesday.
Joao Cancelo established himself as one of the best attacking full-backs in world football
Barcelona boss Xavi has spoken of his side’s need to recruit a ‘pure right-back’ this summer
Joao Cancelo’s loan move to Bayern came after a training ground bust-up with Pep Guardiola
‘With the departure of Dembele, we need a pure right-back now,’ he told reporters.
Cancelo made 21 appearances for Bayern during the second half of the campaign, helping the German giants capture their 11th straight Bundesliga title on an eventful final day.
The move was enforced after a training ground bust-up with Guardiola in which the defender is said to have reacted angrily after he learned that he would not be in the starting XI for City’s FA Cup clash with Arsenal in January.
Cancelo had been vocal at a lack of game time and became disruptive to the squad while his relationship with Guardiola progressively deteriorated after the World Cup.
He made his return to the City squad for the start of pre-season and caught the eye in the side’s opening friendly victory against Yokohama F. Marinos.
A little bomb. On Sunday evening, Joan Laporta ignited Spain and especially Catalonia with a short but cash statement about the sevenfold Ballon d’Or. When a fan asked him: “Messi at Barca?”he has answered : “Yes”. It was enough for everyone to panic. Because since the departure of the Albiceleste international in the summer of 2021, supporters have only dreamed of one and only thing: to see him return home. A dream that could come true since everyone at the club wets the jersey to achieve it.
Joan Laporta, for example, met Jorge Messi, the player’s father and agent, on several occasions to talk about a possible return. Xavi is also helping out by maintaining contact with the 35-year-old footballer. The two men exchange by message or voice note. And the players in all this? As we know, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, two close to the Pulga, recently had dinner in Barcelona with the Messi couple. According to the Iberian press, the Catalans have asked the 2022 world champion if he has made up his mind and if a return to Barca is possible.
To read FC Barcelona drops a bombshell on Lionel Messi
The players are on fire for the return of Messi
The player born in 87 would not have answered but he would have made a big smile which said a lot. What to give confidence to the FCB? Nothing is certain. On the other hand, what is is that the subject of Messi is talked about even in the Blaugrana locker room. In effect, Sport explains that Xavi’s players increasingly believe in a possible return of the Argentine legend. In public, as in private moreover, the Catalan group has positive echoes from the club. We tell them that this is not “a chimera” and that we are working on this operation behind the scenes.Sport adds that the Barça locker room would be delighted to see him again in the Blaugrana jersey.
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Besides, Messi is still in contact with several former teammates. During private conversations, he would have left the door open to a come back in Barcelona. Which drives the Culés crazy, who know that Lionel Messi will want to take care of his exit after a bitter farewell in 2021. The team would support him in this mission, she who will be very motivated in the event of the Argentinian’s return. Like Robert Lewandowski, who has spoken publicly in favor of his return, the Catalan dressing room wants to have Messi at his side in 2023-24. The ball is in the court of the player and Barça, who will have to find solutions to assume this operation financially.
Lionel Messi is destined to return to his former club Barcelona.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who believes the Argentina superstar’s proposed return to the Nou Camp would be ‘simply amazing’.
Messi, 35, spent over two decades with the Catalan giants before financial problems meant the club were unable to extend his contract.
Forced to leave in the summer of 2021, the South American made the snap decision to join Paris-Saint Germain on a two-year deal, and although the Parisians have the option to trigger an additional year, this summer could see the 35-year-old move on.
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Rumoured to have been offered an equity stake in David Beckham’s Inter Miami as an incentive to join (Independent), Messi has the opportunity to experience the MLS.
However, with La Liga still a far superior league in terms of competitiveness and Messi understandably adored by Barcelona fans, the Catalan giants, by their own admission, would love to welcome, arguably their best-ever player, home, and Collymore believes it could soon become a reality.
“If Lionel Messi did return to Barcelona, it would be simply amazing,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“He obviously feels he has life left in him to perform at the highest level in Europe and he’s not wrong. He knows that La Liga is a more competitive league than Ligue 1 and Barcelona is his club. Barcelona’s fans are his fans and being heckled and booed by PSG’s supporters recently is only reaffirming that.”
During his 21 years with Barcelona, Messi, who scored 672 goals in 778 games, in all competitions, helped guide the club to 35 major trophies, including 10 Spanish league titles and four Champions League trophies.
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FC Barcelona is in a mess. Prosecuted for corruption by the Spanish courts, while former leaders, including Josep Maria Bartomeu will also have to answer for their actions in court, Barça risks taking very expensive in the context of this Negreira affair. As a reminder, the leader of La Liga has, for several years, paid millions of euros to a former referee who is a member of the Spanish referees committee, in order to obtain various services. A case that makes people talk in Spain, of course.
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Barça risks receiving heavy sanctions on the national scene. A financial penalty in the best case, but also the possibility of being suspended from all activity for several years. The team led by Joan Laporta also risks seeing the Liga titles obtained over this period to be defined be withdrawn, and in the worst case, even if it is very unlikely, justice could order the dissolution of the club.
To read PSG rush on Haaland to replace Mbappé, Manchester United prepare a record transfer for Harry Kane
Farewell to the Champions League?
And as indicated AS, Barça can also be heavily sanctioned on the European scene. The newspaper explains that the La Liga leader can also simply be expelled from the Champions League. UEFA does not appreciate this type of case, and does not want a club embroiled in dark stories, in its competitions. Mainly for questions of image and ethics.
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The media cites in particular the examples of various Turkish clubs expelled in the early 2010s, as well as that of Steaua Bucharest, all implicated in corruption cases. The Champions League regulations are very clear on this subject and allow UEFA to suspend clubs in this type of situation. A possibility which is already being studied internally by the organization which governs European football. Barça can therefore tremble…
Arsenal are being joined by Spanish giants Barcelona in the race for Borussia Monchengladbach’s French striker Marcus Thuram.
Thuram, who is the son of former defender Lilian Thuram, is a free agent at the end of this season and Barcelona are the latest name to throw their name in the hat for the player’s signature according to the Sun.
The Catalans currently have Robert Lewandowski as their only recognised out-and-out No.9, so Thuram would be the perfect signing for them, while he also has the ability to play out wide. They also say that the Frenchman may replace Ansu Fati and/or Ferran Torres should they depart the Camp Nou this summer.
For Arsenal, Thuram would add good depth to Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah, further strengthening their forward line in a summer where they may be the Premer League champions.
Thuram has 11 league goals this season
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With the 25-year old running down his contract in Germany, you would expect more teams to enquire about his services, so watch this space come the end of the season.
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The signing of Mykhaylo Mudryk has numbered the days of Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech and there are many clubs interested in signing the Moroccan winger.
The 29-year-old has been on the West London club’s transfer list for some time now but with the Blues signing a hoard of players recently, the Premier League club now need to sell some players to cooperate with financial fair play in the future.
Ziyech has played and contributed to Graham Potter’s team recently but once Chelsea’s injured stars return, the winger is then expected to return to the bench and could seek a move this January.
There are several clubs interested in the Morocco international and the latest are La Liga giants Barcelona.
Barcelona are interested in Chelsea’s Ziyech
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According to Todofichajes, Barcelona are interested in taking Ziyech on loan for the rest of the season and the report states that the Catalan club are already negotiating with Chelsea over a deal.
The La Liga giants will face competition from the likes of Newcastle and Roma for the winger as it is uncertain, as of now, where the Morrocco international will end up.
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