Transfer news: Man United midfielder’s future, “quality” Arsenal target, Barcelona eye winger & more
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Man United to decide on Sofyan Amrabat next week, plus more ins and outs at Old Trafford
Willy Kambwala is leaving Manchester United on a permanent transfer to Villarreal. The young defender had one year left on his contract and wasn’t negotiating a new deal, he wanted to play and now he’s going to play in Spain. Villarreal are set to pay €10m to Manchester United, and then give a five-year contract to the player, with a sell-on clause and also a buy-back clause for Man United.
The medical is expected to take place in the next 24-48 hours, with Man United keeping control of the player for the future, and this happens as they continue to make progress on the Matthijs de Ligt deal. Meanwhile, another departure from United we already know about is Raphael Varane, and he has now said yes to a move to Como, subject to a medical.
There will also be a decision next week on Sofyan Amrabat, so it depends on United, they will decide next week. This is what all sources say, it’s not clear yet because it only depends on United decision. The player has already given his green light to the move. In any case, he could leave Fiorentina because he wants to try a different project.
There have also been transfer rumours about Man United and Xavi Simons. My understanding remains that two clubs are still leading the race – Bayern and RB Leipzig. These two clubs are pushing, and their advantage is that they have been pushing for a long time, for the last few months.
Xavi Simons has already decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain on loan, and he will probably leave on a permanent transfer next summer. It’s 99% over between PSG and Simons, and as I’ve said before, one key figure to watch is Max Eberl, the former Leipzig director who’s now at Bayern, as he’s pushing to sign Simons again after bringing him on loan to Leipzig last year.
Leipzig, however, are also in the race and can offer Simons a role as an important part of their squad. The Dutch midfielder had a very good loan there last season, they are an ambitious club, as they’ve shown by keeping Benjamin Sesko, and so they want to try to keep Simons as well.
So what about United? It’s true that they have an interest in Simons, and they asked for information on his situation after confirming that Erik ten Hag is staying as manager. They are not leading the race because they joined quite late, as both Bayern and Leipzig have been there since April. Another club to ask about Simons was Newcastle, but again this was late, just a few days ago, so this is why Bayern and Leipzig remain the two favourites.
Finally on United, Jadon Sancho keeps being linked with Juventus, though some reports now also suggest they have switched their focus elsewhere. My understanding is that no decision has been made yet on the winger. The first step for Juventus is selling Federico Chiesa and/or Matias Soule, then they will decide which winger they want to sign. Man United will discuss the Sancho situation in the next days, he’s now back with the squad and his feeling with Erik ten Hag in the next weeks will be important to understand more on his future.
Julian Alvarez set for talks over Manchester City future
Another important player to watch this summer will be Julian Alvarez. For now his focus is on the final of Copa America with Argentina, but then there will be a discussion between the player and Manchester City. So far, there has been no intention form Man City to negotiate for Alvarez, they didn’t want to set a price for him.
Although City’s stance has been that they don’t want to let Alvarez go, the player wants to play more. So now City will have to decide, after meeting with Alvarez and his agent, what they want to do next. Clubs like Paris Saint-Germain are waiting to see what will happen with Alvarez, but they don’t want to waste a lot of time in a long negotiation, so they want Man City to decide soon.
Still, for sure the interest from PSG is still there, and Alvarez’s future will depend on the talks with Man City, which will happen very soon after Copa America. Still, I can confirm once again that it won’t be an easy deal because City want to keep Alvarez at the club.
Barcelona focusing on Nico Williams as Aston Villa swoop for Amadou Onana
Soon it’s going to be time to decide the future of Nico Williams, whose time at the Euros will be coming to an end tonight as he prepares for the final clash between Spain and England. Barcelona had an interest in Everton’s Amadou Onana, but he’s now close to joining Aston Villa instead as Barca wanted to save their budget for Nico Williams.
Barcelona really like Onana and spent months discussing this possibility, but they didn’t make a bid and they won’t make a bid at the last minute of the negotiations. Barca want to focus on Nico Williams, and they want to be fast, because they know that top English clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal are keeping a close eye on his situation.
Barcelona now want to start to advance and to push for Williams next week, but one crucial detail is that they might also need to sell one player to make space for Financial Fair Play. They are waiting for the approval of La Liga, though Joan Laporta has already said publicly that they can afford Williams, so they will go for it in the next days, but selling one player could help them to be faster.
It’s really concrete – Barca want to use their budget for Williams, he’s the top target approved by new manager Hansi Flick, and so things are hotting up on this story.
Credit as well to Aston Villa because they did an excellent job on Onana. They had the most concrete interest and they worked well behind the scenes to present the proposal at the right moment. There was interest from Barcelona, but also from PSG, though their focus is on dream target Joao Neves.
In other news…
Riccardo Calafiori – The Bologna defender is still waiting for Arsenal as the clubs try to reach an agreement on the transfer fee. If it goes through it should be a superb signing for Arsenal as Calafiori is an excellent defender – he can play centre-back or left-back, has an excellent left foot, can provide assists and score goals as he did for Bologna last season. Quality is the best word to describe him. He’s a centre-back but has quality to help the squad in the build up like midfielders.
Pepe – Veteran Porto and Portugal defender Pepe has not decided anything on his future yet, despite links with La Liga club Celta Vigo. He’s considering many options, and in June he was always approached by Saudi clubs, but at the moment he’s still not decided anything and he wants to take his time.
Euro 2024 final – I’m not good at score predictions so I leave this one, but I’m really looking forward to tonight’s final between Spain and England. I’m sure the game is going to be on players like Phil Foden and Lamine Yamal. More than in midfield, quality on the wing is gonna be key to win individual duels and win the game. It’s going to be exciting between two top teams, two closely-matched sides, and I could see it even going to penalties!
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