🚨 CRUCIAL days ahead for Rice-Arsenal, Kim Bayern deal edges closer, big-name Chelsea exits, Veiga, Dembele, Roque, and more
Today's Briefing, featuring Arsenal, Chelsea, Bayern, Barca and more!
Good morning guys and welcome to my latest Daily Briefing - thanks for reading and hope you enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
AC Milan
Manchester United deny concrete talks or contacts for Theo Hernandez. There are no negotiations at this stage and for sure AC Milan would never consider letting him go for the €60m price we’ve seen reported. Hernandez is very happy in Milan and Man Utd are focusing on other priorities.
Anderlecht
Understand Anderlecht are set to sign Argentine midfielder Santiago Hezze in a permanent deal. A full agreement has been reached for €8m with add-ons. Hezze will now travel to Belgium at the end of the weekend to undergo a medical. Done deal.
Arsenal
The Declan Rice deal is entering into crucial days. Arsenal want to be fast to avoid surprises, new bid to be discussed after a first offer of £80m was rejected by West Ham. Personal terms almost agreed. I also understand Man City asked again for the status of the Rice deal on Friday, as they wait for Ilkay Gundogan’s decision.
Arsenal have not made a bid for Leicester City’s Timothy Castagne so far this summer, despite reports. Juventus, however, are also interested and have opened talks.
Martin Odegaard on new deal talks: “I’m very happy at Arsenal and I hope to stay here for long time. Let’s see on contract situation after the summer. I didn’t speak to Arsenal, it’s not on me honestly; no rush, my contract is still long.”
Kai Havertz to Arsenal - latest developments here.
Barcelona
It looks like we’re now about to see crucial days ahead for the Vitor Roque deal as Athletico Paranaense’s board members have travelled to Barcelona to discuss the structure and timing of the deal with Barca. The player is waiting for developments, and doing his best to get the move to go through. Barcelona have sealed the agreement with Vitor Roque on personal terms as he only wants to join Barca. Deco will meet Athletico again to find clubs agreement on the structure of the deal.
Ousmane Dembele on PSG links: “I don’t know why there’s been so much talk about PSG but trust me, there was and is nothing with PSG. Barca wants to extend my contract until June 2027, my agent is talking to them. I'm happy here and I want to continue.”
Bayern president Hainer on Xavi words about Kimmich: “I don’t understand why they [Barca] openly and offensively ‘flirt’ with our player. Joshua Kimmich is an absolute cornerstone for us. He's firmly in our plans for the future, for sure.”
Bayern Munich
A contract has almost been agreed between Kim Min-jae and Bayern. It now looks a matter of time before Bayern trigger his release clause at Napoli and get this deal done. Bayern have confirmed the plan to pay his clause, but there’s been no new bid from Manchester United as of now.
Bayern president Hainer on Xavi words about Kimmich: “I don’t understand why they [Barca] openly and offensively ‘flirt’ with our player. Joshua Kimmich is an absolute cornerstone for us. He's firmly in our plans for the future, for sure.”
Bayern president Hainer on PSG interest in Lucas Hernandez: “He’s an interesting player, he has a big heart on the pitch and also in the dressing room. I heard of the interest from PSG, but we want to keep him. Let’s see what will happen in summer.”
Bayern have completed documents for Raphael Guerreiro deal, revealed 10 days ago. Contract until June 2026. An official announcement is expected next week.
Brentford
David Raya on his future after recently agreeing personal terms with Tottenham: “I have ambitions to make the next step in my career. I want to try to win titles and to compete in Europe. There are options out there but it’s not just my ambitions, the club also needs to let me go.”
South Korean centre back Ji-soo Kim will be in England next week in order to sign the contract until June 2027 and become new Brentford player. Done deal.
Chelsea
Chelsea have made an enquiry over Gabri Veiga’s release clause; conditions, payment terms or chance to negotiate with Celta Vigo. There’s no bid or anything more concrete happening as of now. Liverpool did exactly the same earlier this week, he's one of the players the Reds are following.
Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy’s agent Fali Ramadani is expected to bring official proposals from Saudi clubs for both players. Nothing decided yet on players side but negotiations will continue. French clubs keep asking for Mendy, Inter still want Koulibaly.
Chelsea have decided to trigger this player’s release clause - full details here.
Fede Valverde when asked about Chelsea links: “No, no… I'm at Madrid, trying to enjoy every moment and leave my mark on the best club in the world. I wanna keep winning titles for Real Madrid fans.”
Chelsea have already received three loan requests from Championship clubs for Cesare Casadei. There’s nothing concrete yet and a decision will be made in the next weeks. There’s also nothing concrete with the links to Juventus, despite some speculation, as he’s considered a key part of Chelsea’s long-term project. The priority on the player side would be top league loan in Premier League or Serie A after receiving three bids from Championship, a final decision will be made with Chelsea soon.
Kai Havertz to Arsenal - latest developments here.
Hakim Ziyech could be the next big name on his way out of Chelsea - more here.
💬 Chelsea fans - thoughts on how the summer is panning out so far?
Leicester City
Leicester City want €15m fee to sell Timothy Castagne this summer. No bid from Arsenal at this stage despite reports, Juventus have opened talks to sign Castagne.
Liverpool
Liverpool made an enquiry about Gabri Veiga earlier in the week as he’s one of the players they’re following this summer. Chelsea have now also made a similar approach to find out the conditions of the deal.
Nicolo Barella has been linked with Liverpool - full info here.
Manchester City
I understand Man City asked again for the status of the Declan Rice deal on Friday, as they wait for Ilkay Gundogan’s decision. Arsenal remain in the hunt for Rice, with crucial days ahead after their first £80m bid was rejected by West Ham.
Manchester United
Manchester United deny concrete talks or contacts for Theo Hernandez. There are no negotiations at this stage and for sure AC Milan would never consider letting him go for the €60m price we’ve seen reported. Hernandez is very happy in Milan and Man Utd are focusing on other priorities.
What next for David de Gea and Harry Maguire at Man Utd? Exclusive insight here.
Marseille
There is still no green light from Marcelo Gallardo to become manager of Olympique Marseille despite reports of done deal earlier this week.
Napoli
A contract has almost been agreed between Kim Min-jae and Bayern. It now looks a matter of time before Bayern trigger his release clause at Napoli and get this deal done. Bayern have confirmed the plan to pay his clause, but there’s been no new bid from Manchester United as of now.
💬 Will Kim go down as one of the signings of the summer? Should Man Utd try to hijack this deal while they still can?
PSG
Bayern president Hainer on PSG interest in Lucas Hernandez: “He’s an interesting player, he has a big heart on the pitch and also in the dressing room. I heard of the interest from PSG, but we want to keep him. Let’s see what will happen in summer.”
Real Madrid
Fede Valverde when asked about Chelsea links: “No, no… I'm at Madrid, trying to enjoy every moment and leave my mark on the best club in the world. I wanna keep winning titles for Real Madrid fans.”
Real Madrid have finally completed a deal for Joselu. He joins on loan from Espanyol until June 2024 for a fee of €500k, and there is a €1.5m buy clause, not mandatory.
Tottenham
Documents signed, deal completed. Dejan Kulusevski has made his move from Juventus to Tottenham permanent for a €30m fee. Spurs managed to negotiate a €5m discount on the initial €35m buy option but will pay the fee in fewer instalments. Kulusevski is now under contract with Spurs until June 2028.
English 15 year old top talent Mikey Moore will sign new deal at Tottenham very soon - big news for Spurs’ future as they did everything to keep him amid interest from top European clubs.
David Raya on his future after recently agreeing personal terms with Tottenham: “I have ambitions to make the next step in my career. I want to try to win titles and to compete in Europe. There are options out there but it’s not just my ambitions, the club also needs to let me go.”
For all the very latest transfer news, read caughtoffside.com
Raya looks a promising signing for Spurs, think Man Utd will end up regretting not moving for him while this De Gea situation drags on
Can you tell me a bit more about where Gabri Veiga and Nicolas Jackson fit in at Chelsea?