EXCL: Chelsea to trigger star's release clause, Arsenal confident over Havertz agreement, major Manchester United exits, and more

Chelsea to trigger Nicolas Jackson release clause

I want to start today’s column with Nicolas Jackson and Chelsea. As revealed a few days ago, Chelsea had some positive conversations with the Villarreal striker, and now we can say there is a full agreement with the player on a long-term contract, more than five years. It’s also important to say that Chelsea are prepared to trigger Jackson’s release clause at Villarreal - they tried discussing different terms, like a lower fee, or including a player in the deal, but Villarreal said no.

So, Chelsea have decided to go ahead and pay the release clause, because they know other clubs such as AC Milan and RB Leipzig are also interested and they want to be fast on this deal. They have informed Villarreal of their intention to trigger the release clause, and the idea is to get the deal done next week. Here we go soon!

Players could also leave Chelsea - negotations are ongoing for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to join a Saudi club, and also for Hakim Ziyech. Al-Nassr are really interested in Ziyech and it is a concrete possibility, so he could soon get the chance to leave and play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.