🚨 Arsenal's HUGE Declan Rice bid, Bayern to try again for Harry Kane, even more big names leaving Chelsea, Tottenham closing in on playmaker signing, and more
Today's Briefing, featuring Declan Rice, Harry Kane, and more!
Good morning guys and welcome to my latest Daily Briefing - thanks for reading, and enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
Mason Mount talks scheduled
Plus more on Harry Kane, Man City, and West Ham
And don’t miss Ben Jacobs’ column and ‘the Debrief’ podcast!
AC Milan
AC Milan are closing in on Ruben Loftus Cheek deal, verbal agreement in place with Chelsea on permanent move — here we go! The player’s medical will be scheduled once final details are sorted between clubs. A long term contract has been agreed. Fee confirmed: €16m plus €4m add ons.
AC Milan are also negotiating with Chelsea for Christian Pulisic after agreeing the Loftus-Cheek deal. They are two separate deals and negotiations. Milan are insisting to pay less than Chelsea’s €25m asking price. The player is keen on the move but there is no agreement between the clubs yet.
Luka Romero’s agent will meet with AC Milan today in order to seal verbal agreement and join the club as free agent, as expected. A long-term contract is ready as he prepares to join on a free transfer.
Al Nassr
RC Lens confirm talks are ongoing for Seko Fofana to join Al-Nassr: “We can confirm there are talks ongoing between Fofana and Al Nassr — same between us and Seko’s camp.”
Marcelo Brozovic won’t accept the current proposal on the table from Al Nassr. His salary offer would have to be improved to make it happen. Inter agreed €23m deal with Saudi side but deal only depends on the player since Sunday.
Chelsea and Al Nassr have signed all the documents to complete Hakim Ziyech deal. Medical tests pending and then Ziyech will join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
Arsenal
Arsenal have made a third bid for Declan Rice - more here.
Jorginho’s agent confirms plan to stay at Arsenal next season: “It’s not about the interest of Lazio or their budget… I can confirm that Jorginho is very happy at Arsenal. In our plans it’s only Arsenal for next season. No negotiations with Lazio.”
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid will sign Javi Galan for €4/5m fixed fee plus Manu Sanchez included in the deal with Celta Vigo, as reported earlier today. Official statement expected soon. Here we go!
Bayern Munich
Bayern will bid AGAIN for Harry Kane - more info here!
Ben Jacobs explains one key factor Bayern can use in their favour - full details here.
Bayern remain informed on Pau Torres as Lucas Hernandez is close to joining Paris Saint-Germain. Aston Villa are pushing for the Villarreal defender too. Bayern’s priority target remains Napoli’s Kim Min-jae as personal terms are almost agreed since two weeks.
💬 Should Harry Kane make the move to Bayern, or should he keep chasing Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League scoring record?
Chelsea
Edouard Mendy’s move to Saudi Arabia has been completed. Al Ahli and Chelsea have signed all contracts, same on player side. An official statement should come soon.
Chelsea and Al Nassr have signed all the documents to complete Hakim Ziyech deal. Medical tests pending and then Ziyech will join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
New round of Mason Mount talks - all you need to know here.
AC Milan are closing in on Ruben Loftus Cheek deal, verbal agreement in place with Chelsea on permanent move — here we go! The player’s medical will be scheduled once final details are sorted between clubs. A long term contract has been agreed. Fee confirmed: €16m plus €4m add ons.
AC Milan are also negotiating with Chelsea for Christian Pulisic after agreeing the Loftus-Cheek deal. They are two separate deals and negotiations. Milan are insisting to pay less than Chelsea’s €25m asking price. The player is keen on the move but there is no agreement between the clubs yet.
Could another Chelsea player be heading to Saudi Arabia? More from Ben Jacobs here.
Crystal Palace
Fulham
I understand Fulham have not opened talks for AC Milan left-back Fode Ballo Toure and he’s not in club’s list as things stand. Both Yerry Mina and Ballo Toure are not part of Marco Silva’s plans.
Hoffenheim
Florian Grillitsch has signed for Hoffenheim on free transfer from Ajax, done deal. He’s signed a three-year contract with the Bundesliga side.
Inter Milan
Marcus Thuram is now set to sign as a new Inter Milan player until June 2028 in the club’s headquarters after medical tests in the morning.
Stefan de Vrij has not changed plans as he will stay at Inter until June 2025. His agent has been working on a new two-year deal.
Juventus
Juventus have reached full agreement to sign Timothy Weah, here we go! A deal has been agreed on a €12m fee with Lille as medical tests will take place later this week on Thursday. A long term deal has also been agreed on the player side. He’s excited for a new chapter in Italy. It’s all done and set to be signed.
Official: Adrien Rabiot is staying at Juventus as he signed new short term deal valid until June 2024. Contract sealed and completed, confirmed now by the club.
Juan Cuadrado will leave Juventus as a free agent. Decision made on both club and player side, they will part ways. There are many clubs keen on signing Cuadrado, waiting on best option.
Liverpool
Is there any truth to the claims about Liverpool being in for Kylian Mbappe? Full info here.
Manchester City
West Ham yesterday rejected Manchester City’s first official bid for Declan Rice worth £80m plus £10m add ons. Let’s see if City attack the situation again - more on that here.
Understand Manchester City are closing in on the signing of 16 year old talented striker Luca Fletcher from Reading. Medical passed and paper work being signed — been told fee around £600k with future add-ons. Part of City project to sign and develop the best young talents.
Mateo Kovacic: “This is a brilliant move for me. Anyone who has watched this team under Pep knows how good they are – for me, they are the best in the world. To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I enjoyed nice years but now it’s time to turn a new page and win. Man City is the perfect club where you can win a lot and I'll do my best to try to win every year. Collect trophies is the most important thing.”
Manchester United
New round of Mason Mount talks - all you need to know here.
So far, Man Utd have been left frustrated by Chelsea’s stance on Mount.
Marseille
Olympique Marseille are at final stages for Geoffrey Kondogbia deal as details are being finalised. Kondogbia only wants Marseille, and a three year deal has been agreed with the option for a further year included too. OM and Atletico Madrid are in contact to close in on €7m fee.
PSG
Paris Saint-Germain are optimistic over signing Lucas Hernandez, it looks like just a matter of time before final details will be fixed with Bayern. New Bayern management changed the original ‘untouchable’ stance: extend the contract or leave now… so, Lucas picked PSG.
Interest from Saudi in Marco Verratti is concrete and serious — they’re trying to convince the Italian midfielder, though it’s not easy at this stage. Discussions will take place again in the next days for Verratti on both player and club side.
PSV
Ricardo Pepi to PSV Eindhoven, done deal confirmed — he only wanted PSV as revealed weeks ago. It’s my understanding that the fee will be €10m, which has already been agreed with Augsburg, personal terms also agreed last week. Contract until June 2028. USMNT striker stays in Eredivisie. Here we go!
Real Madrid
Negotiations between Real Madrid and Eduardo Camavinga’s camp over new long term deal are continuing in very positive way, but the agreement is not done yet. No panic, no issues. All parties wants the same, Camavinga loves Real — considered matter of time.
What’s the latest on Kylian Mbappe’s future? My latest info here.
Sevilla
Sevilla are interested in signing Nico Melamed as new winger, talks are taking place. There are also other clubs keen on Spanish talent. Melamed could leave Espanyol after the relegation, it’s a concrete possibility.
Tottenham
Bayern will bid AGAIN for Harry Kane - more info here!
Official, confirmed: Guglielmo Vicario joins Tottenham on €19m deal from Serie A side Empoli.
Tottenham’s next big signing looks imminent - full details here.
Tottenham confirm that former Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak will be part of Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff as an assistant coach. Ryan Mason also stays on in an assistant role.
Villarreal
Denis Suarez joins Villarreal as a free agent, as expected since December. A full verbal agreement has been in place for some time.
West Ham
Who could West Ham sign to replace Declan Rice? My exclusive insight here.
West Ham have enquired about this Chelsea attacker - more from Ben Jacobs here.
For all the very latest transfer news, read caughtoffside.com
Why aren't CFC involved in the Rice war?