Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Mason Greenwood, Ronald Araujo, Alvaro Morata and Leny Yoro

Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

Three-way battle for Mason Greenwood, but player has a preference

With Mason Greenwood, the clubs are fighting for him, above all Lazio and Olympique Marseille, and now Napoli have entered the race too. There is interest from the three clubs, they are speaking with Manchester United, but the person holding the key is Greenwood himself. Right now he is prioritising Marseille, he has not responded to either of the three clubs, but I’m informed that Marseille is the option he likes most at the moment.

All the same, it remains open, anything could still happen, and the three clubs will no doubt be in contact this week, but Marseille are definitely optimistic. Let’s see if they manage to close the deal. The Marseille offer is more than €20m, Lazio are there with them in the race, and Napoli have enquired too, but the clubs that have been aggressive in their talks are Marseille and Lazio. So far, Marseille lead the race though.

Premier League side could compete with Juventus for Jean-Clair Todibo

I can reveal that Juventus need to sign a centre-back. They tried with Alessandro Buongiorno, but could not reach a deal with the player, then they enquired about Riccardo Calafiori, but that trail went cold because his price increased significantly after the Euros. Now they have moved onto Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo. Manager Thiago Motta likes him, so does Sporting Director Cristian Giuntoli, it remains to be seen if they can reach an agreement with Nice.

There is a club in the Premier League that are interested, which could complicate matters, and Atletico Madrid enquired too, but have decided not to get into the fight for him, as I think they will go for other options, but Juventus are the best-placed for Todibo currently.

Alvaro Morata yet to inform Atletico Madrid as move to AC Milan beckons

A few weeks ago, Alvaro Morata gave the green light to Saudi Arabian side Al-Qadsiah, while he was at the Euros, but then he stepped back from that option. He put up the Instagram post saying that he wanted to continue playing for Atletico and win titles with the red and white shirt, but then in the following days, AC Milan Sporting Director Zlatan Ibrahimovic called him and started pushing hard to sign him, and made several more calls to Morata.

For Milan, it’s a deal that is economic for them, Morata won’t cost them much in terms of price. His release clause is €15m, and his salary fits within Milan’s salary structure.

It’s true that Milan had planned to sign a younger forward this summer, as Joshua Zirkzee would have been before he went to Manchester United, but that ended up stalling due to the cost, and the commissions demanded by his agent. It was a different type of deal in terms of cost, they have decided to go for a cheaper option though. Now they will sign Morata and another forward, right now Tammy Abraham is the one who has the best chance of ending up there currently, if the talks continue in the same direction.

Atletico, until today, did not know anything in terms of communication from either Morata or Milan, and they had no idea that he wanted to leave at all. Today he has told Atletico, and either tomorrow or Wednesday, Milan will tell Atletico that they are going to activate his release clause – Los Rojiblancos want the €15m up front now, but Milan will try to persuade them to defer the payments.

Now with Atletico in need of a forward, the one they sounded out and opened talks for was Girona’s Artem Dovbyk. It remains to be seen if Atletico get in touch with Girona about him again.

Real Madrid calm as Leny Yoro continues to prioritise Bernabeu move, but Manchester United are pushing hard

Real Madrid started concrete talks with Lille for Yoro last week, but currently they are not close to agreeing a price. As we have said on many occasions, knowing that Yoro is out of contract next summer, Real Madrid are really keen not to throw more money than necessary at this deal. In addition, they know he continues to prioritise Real Madrid. Manchester United offered a very high amount, that with bonuses, was in excess of €50m. Lille are pressuring Yoro to go to Manchester United.

It all comes down to Yoro really – if he digs his heels in and continues to hold out for Real Madrid, or if he changes his mind and accepts an offer from United, which is what Lille want him to do. Right now, United are speaking with Lille though too, rather than with Yoro’s agent. Last week I can say that Real Madrid were very relaxed about it, knowing they are Yoro’s priority – we’ll see what happens.

Timing of Ronald Araujo’s contract means Barcelona will renew efforts in negotiations

Before his injury, there were no concrete talks for Ronald Araujo to leave, nor were there any offers on the way for him, it’s important to note that. He was focused on Copa America beforehand too, now the issue could go on for longer now. It remains to be seen how the talks go with Barcelona, because currently an agreement is not close to being done, and his contract expires in 2026, and we’ll see what happens.

Now, it looks as if it will just be between Araujo and Barcelona, because they cannot sell him so, Barcelona will try to renew him and tie him into a new contract. The injury has just changed the timings more than anything.

Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.

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