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We had an important interview from former Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Obi Mikel as he spoke on his podcast about Victor Osimhen. He confirmed that Chelsea were really close to an agreement for Osimhen but couldn’t get it done on time due to certain details that were still left to clarify. Mikel also mentioned the possibility of Chelsea reviving the deal in January, and I’ve received many messages about what’s going to happen between Osimhen and Chelsea in the future.
Obviously, for now Osimhen has only just signed for Galatasaray, so we need to respect Galatasaray. Also on the player side, and his representatives, they want to respect Galatasaray, and that is the only focus for now. What I can say, however, is that Chelsea’s appreciation for Osimhen remains.
While it’s true that it was a difficult summer, a difficult negotiation and a difficult situation in general for Osimhen and Chelsea this summer, at the same time it’s important to say that Chelsea didn’t leave the Osimhen talks at the end of August with the feeling that they don’t want to hear from this player anymore. Sometimes it can happen in football that there are long negotiations that don’t work out and then a club gets upset and leaves that negotiation, perhaps forever.
That didn’t happen here, it was not the case as Chelsea’s appreciation for Osimhen remains. Chelsea understand that it was a complicated negotiation in terms of the financials involved, but their appreciation of the player remains absolutely concrete. We’ll have to see what happens in January or the summer as it’s still a while away, but Chelsea’s appreciation is still there.
Another striker we know Chelsea considered was Jhon Duran, and Aston Villa chief Monchi has spoken about the club turning down as many as 40 offers for the talented young Colombian striker this summer.
40 clubs is too much I think. By the way, Chelsea and West Ham had him on their list but also AC Milan were interested in June, before signing Morata, then he was too expensive. But the two clubs really pushing for him were Chelsea and West Ham, that’s the reality.
There have been some reports on Manchester United transfer targets for summer 2025, but it’s not my style to tell you about potential deals so far in the future. Still, we can say that, with Jadon Sancho leaving for Chelsea, the idea of the club in 2025 is to add one more winger, and there have been some fans asking me about the links with Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace.
For sure, Eze is a player United have been scouting and monitoring as they appreciate his ability, the same was true of Michael Olise while he was at Crystal Palace but the deal was too expensive and he joined Bayern Munich instead. In the next months, United will be tracking several wingers, and in summer 2025 there is a concrete chance that they will invest money in a new signing for that position.
For now, I’m not in a position to say that it’s guaranteed that they’ll move for Eze, or who will be their top target, but they will consider bringing in a new winger, and so they will be following several players in the next months. I will try to keep you posted on the players they like, on the options they have on the table, on the possibilities they are considering, but for sure Man United are keeping a close eye on opportunities in that position for 2025.
One name coming up as well as Eze is Sevilla winger Juanlu Sanchez, mentioned as a target for the Red Devils and also for Real Madrid in the Spanish press. For now, however, there is nothing concrete into it. We’ve had many links every day but the reality for the moment is that there are no talks, no negotiations – it’s just normal scouting and nothing else.
In terms of wingers moving out, Antony has been linked with Fenerbahce but that deal is not happening. After that, I can’t predict the future, it’s only September, so let’s see how the season goes and then next summer Antony and Man United will decide. There’s no decision made now, he’s staying and he’ll have a chance.
It’s hard to pin down one reason things have gone wrong for Antony since his move to Old Trafford. My view is that he’s struggled for different reasons – firstly, there was the big price putting pressure on him, then personal issues away from the pitch, while in general these have also been two difficult seasons for Man United for almost everyone involved, not only for Antony.
Real Madrid star Rodrygo has spoken about his disappointment at not being dominated for the Ballon d’Or, but he also made an important point again about his future at Real Madrid after a whole summer of transfer rumours and links with Manchester City and other clubs in the Premier League.
Still, despite the speculation, Rodrygo always only wanted to stay at Real Madrid. Even with the signings of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick, Rodrygo never changed his position – this season he wanted to be part of the Real Madrid project. This is why he extended his contract less than one year ago, and he confirmed once again that he wants to win all the titles he’s won with Real Madrid again.
Rodrygo loves Real Madrid and he believes they are the best club in the world, so for now that’s all there is to say on that story, even if it’s normal to see speculation and stories about one of the top players in the world.
Some of you have been asking me again about Florian Wirtz after his fantastic performance for the German national team. It was never really a possibility for him to leave Bayer Leverkusen this summer, as it was a key promise made by the club to Xabi Alonso.
Despite links, Wirtz was untouchable and he was never going to leave this summer, and so it proved to be the case, with both him and Alonso continuing together at Leverkusen, but for how long?
Next summer, it could be different, but it will depend on several factors and has not been decided yet. Many top clubs around Europe believe that summer 2025 could be different, so we have a lot of top teams keeping a close eye on Wirtz’s situation.
Of course, we have to respect Leverkusen after the fantastic season they had, and with many important things happening there, but let’s keep this case open for summer 2025 as the German top talent could be one to watch.
Another top German talent to watch remains Jamal Musiala, with Bayern speaking publicly about wanting him to sign a new contract and stay with the club for the long term. For now, however, no decision has been made, it’s a negotiation. Nothing has changed for now, there have been no significant developments.
Of course Bayern are confident, they want Musiala to stay and his contact is a really important topic for the board, they simply can’t fail on this mission. Negotiations are ongoing, but it’s too early to say how it will finish.
As I posted on my account on X yesterday, Teun Koopmeiners admitted he had interest from other clubs this summer, though he only ever wanted to join Juventus.
“Maybe yes, other clubs were interested in me this summer… but I was only interested in Juventus,” the Dutch midfielder said, but what other opportunities did he mean?
There were several calls from Premier League, intermediaries trying to open the door for some clubs but never an official bid to Atalanta. The reason was simple: despite interest from England, Koopmeiners only wanted to go to Juventus. He actually gave his priority to Juve all the way back in February, so there was never any realistic chance for other clubs in this race.
I’m aware there have been some claims made about Arsenal enquiring about Anthony Gordon, but I wanted to clarify my understanding around the Newcastle winger here.
As I reported previously, Liverpool were the club in talks to sign Gordon in June. I don’t have any concrete info on Arsenal also because they never really planned to spend crazy money on a winger this summer. Liverpool wanted him in June but then he was too expensive.
That’s all we can say for now – it’s normal to have top talents like this being linked with big clubs, but Newcastle were strong with their asking price and so a move to Liverpool couldn’t happen, while I can’t confirm what some others are saying about Arsenal, if that changes I will let you know.
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