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Manchester United had meetings yesterday, but at the time of writing I have no substantial updates on what was discussed and what it means for how the club’s plans are taking shape.
It’s a situation to follow hour by hour as it involves many people, they’re discussing several things after the poor start to the season. It includes the management, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, they’re discussing all together, so at the moment, while I’m writing this, Man United have not made any firm decision yet and Erik ten Hag remains the manager.
It’s also been reported that transfer plans for January may have come up in this meeting, but my understanding is that this will be their topic in December, not now after just eight games for sure.
I’ve also been asked about a story involving United and Ollie Watkins in 2023, as it’s been claimed that they decided not to sign the Aston Villa striker, focusing instead on Ramus Hojlund. My information is that they had multiple options on the table, not only Watkins, but they consider Hojlund a huge talent for the future with big potential, so their number one choice in 2023 was always Hojlund.
Was it the right decision? Personally I would not criticise Hojlund – he needs time but he’s talented and a very good player, though it’s probably true that an experienced striker next to him would have helped United.
Trent Alexander-Arnold remains on the list at Real Madrid, while we’re also waiting for important updates on his potential new contract with Liverpool, along with teammates Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
All three players are talking with Liverpool, discussing with Liverpool, so let’s wait and see how this negotiation will go. It’s not just about the salary, but also the length of the contract, and also the project and the direction Liverpool are going. These will all be discussed, so we’ll have to wait to see how it develops.
I keep getting a lot of questions on Alexander-Arnold in particular, and it remains the case that Real Madrid keep following the situation. Real Madrid are very well informed, but it’s still not advanced in terms of any negotiations, because the player’s priority is to discuss with Liverpool.
Elsewhere, there are positive updates as Jarell Quansah has signed a new contract, and negotiations have also started with Ibrahima Konate. He’s happy at Liverpool and Arne Slot is happy with him, so it’s looking positive, and Liverpool are prepared to offer him an important contract with an improved salary, which is obviously something Konate will look on in a positive way.
Under new director Richard Hughes, Liverpool are determined to avoid situations like the contracts of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold happening again – important players have to sort out their contracts as soon as possible, so this is what will happen with Konate, following the deal being done for Quansah.
With the Salah situation being what it is, we’re unsurprisingly seeing a lot of Liverpool transfer rumours about new wingers. It’s true that they are watching several players, but I don’t have any concrete updates yet on specific targets, despite the links with Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and West Ham’s Mohammed Kudus.
Juventus wanted Adeyemi last summer, but since that moment when Karim decided to stay at Dortmund, nothing concrete happened. We’ll see what happens in the future, but for now I think it’s too early to be talking about him and Liverpool.
Similarly, with Kudus and Liverpool there is currently nothing concrete to report. There will be 100 links per day on Liverpool with Salah out of contract but Liverpool are not in discussions or planning any move yet, it’s just a moment where they explore the market and still talk to Salah about the contract. So nothing really concrete on Kudus now, it’s not an October/November topic for sure.
Finally on Liverpool, some fans have been asking me for insight into how Arne Slot has made such a strong start after the big challenge of replacing Jurgen Klopp. It’s certainly been a very good appointment – Slot has a good feeling with the players, but also he’s generally a very humble guy, and this was appreciated in the dressing room and also among the new directors.
Apart from that, he is of course very good tactically, this is not new as already at Feyenoord we could see that he was an excellent manager, but the way he’s entered Liverpool’s world has been really appreciated. This was probably the secret of this excellent start.
Following the news of Paul Pogba having his drug ban reduced from four years to eighteen months, I wanted to clarify once again that it looks to be over between him and Juventus. I can confirm that both sides have decided to part ways, and now a formal negotiation will follow to terminate his contract.
Pogba feels he needs a fresh start after this difficult period, and Juventus also want to move on. They are focusing on different players, particularly young players in this new project under new manager Thiago Motta, so it’s over between Juve and Pogba, and his contract will be terminated, making him a free agent.
Pogba remains really ambitious – he wants to play, he wants to be back with the French national team, so let’s see which club will decide to give him a chance in the months ahead.
It’s been a really strong start to the season for Chelsea and I think Enzo Maresca deserves credit after his arrival this summer in what was not the easiest moment. Mauricio Pochettino had also done well towards the end of last season, but the club decided to go in a different direction, though it now looks like it’s proved to be a smart call, even on an inexperienced name in his first Premier League job.
I’m told that Maresca is having a very good impact on these players on the tactical point of view, and also the results of that have clearly been good. But most important part is the feeling he created with the players; they’re all very happy with Maresca, how direct and clear he is, also the fans are appreciating that and you can feel a different atmosphere at Stamford Bridge this season.
Full credit to Maresca for the job he’s done so far – the start has been excellent but this project is obviously a long term one, so there might still be a few ups and downs, but let’s give him time to continue his impressive work.
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