Transfer news: Alvarez replacement, ins and outs at Chelsea, Merino to Arsenal latest & more
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This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive transfer news via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io
Julian Alvarez transfer nearly done and how Man City could replace him
We’ve had significant developments on a few major deals in a crazy domino around Europe and the first of those is the ‘here we go’ for Julian Alvarez to move from Manchester City to Atletico Madrid. It’s a record sale for Man City – a €75m guaranteed fee plus €20m in add-ons.
So that could be a potential €95m sale for a player Man City signed for just £14m a couple of years ago – an incredible piece of business for the Premier League champions. Of course it’s also an exciting signing for Atletico Madrid, who are landing a top talent up front, so it’s fantastic for both clubs.
It will be completed soon, with Alvarez set to sign a five-year contract. Alvarez has also spoken already with Diego Simeone, who has been really keen to push this move through.
Man City will now look at options to replace Alvarez, for sure. It could be a striker, but I would not be surprised if they end up considering also wingers and maybe playing with a false nine when Erling Haaland will not be available. Talks are taking place internally to decide on the next move, so we will have to wait and see the outcome of those discussions.
Latest on Conor Gallagher and Samu Omorodion deals
Another big name on his way to Atletico Madrid is Conor Gallagher. The Chelsea midfielder said yes to the La Liga giants after a complicated saga that took some time – he’s now agreed to the contract terms and will fly for his medical. The verbal agreement is in place, but all still waiting to get all signed in order to feel finally safe on this saga, it’s almost ten days now.
Chelsea will make a guaranteed €40m from the sale of Gallagher, so it’s a good sale for them, especially as they preferred to sell him abroad even though he also had interest from Premier League clubs. Tottenham wanted him for next summer as a free agent, but no formal bid was sent to Chelsea this summer.
Of course, Samu Omorodion to Chelsea has also been part of these discussions, though it’s a separate deal. There was interest from Chelsea earlier in the summer, but Atletico said no as they didn’t want to sell the player, while he was also very happy with Atletico.
However, with the Alvarez deal on top of the recent move for Alexander Sorloth, there is no more room for Omorodion, so it’s now all set for him to join Chelsea. The agreement is done with the player on a contract valid for the next seven years, while the clubs have also agreed on a fee of €35m.
So, Omorodion has accepted the move and will have his medical soon, and it’s one more striker for Enzo Maresca. In the end, the Alvarez deal was a crucial part of the domino, even though Omorodion was happy to stay at Atletico, and now he’s getting closer to Chelsea, with some final details to clarify.
Now Chelsea will have to decide what they want to do with Marc Guiu, who they signed from Barcelona earlier in the window, as they could keep him in their squad or possibly send him out on loan. David Datro Fofana and Armando Broja could also leave, and the priority for Chelsea is for a permanent transfer for both players, or it could be a loan with an obligation to buy.
Joao Felix to Aston Villa could still be one to watch
Joao Felix’s future remains undecided and there were some reports that he could be part of the Julian Alvarez deal, though my understanding was that Manchester City were always likely to sell Alvarez without any other player being involved. Felix was never a target for Man City, they have different ideas – they respect him as a player of course, but they have different plans for this window.
With Felix, keep an eye on Aston Villa because the appreciation from Villa Park is still there – Unai Emery really loves Felix as a player. It’s still not decided where Felix will go next, it’s not being decided now, but I wanted to clarify that he was not part of the Alvarez negotiations.
So, the Felix story is not closed yet, and at the moment Atletico are obviously busy with other deals, so we’ll see again in the next few days if the Felix situation will be discussed and what it could mean for his future. Villa are still there, but it’s not time for a breakthrough in this deal just yet.
Jadon Sancho could still leave Man Utd plus truth about those Denzel Dumfries links
There is still a possibility for Jadon Sancho to leave Manchester United in this transfer window – we have to keep the door open for that, but at the moment it’s still not advancing to important stages of negotiations. It’s true that Paris Saint-Germain have an interest and that they have spoken with the agents of the player.
However, there have been reports that PSG are closing in on the player and that’s not correct as far as I understand. He’s on their list, it’s a possibility, but we’re not yet at that stage of the negotiation. Sancho to PSG could be one to watch, but it’s not decided yet, and we’ll have to see as well what Manchester United want to do with the player, because the decision of the club, of INEOS, and of Erik ten Hag will be important to decide the next steps of this story.
Another United story that has gained a lot of attention in recent hours is with Denzel Dumfries. At the moment, I’m still told that Man United’s focus remains on Noussair Mazraoui as their priority target. There’s still no agreement with Bayern but the player is also waiting for United, so the right-back story remains with full focus on Mazraoui.
Dumfries will not sign a new contract in August, but if he’s staying at Inter beyond August it remains a possibility for him to extend.
No change on Victor Osimhen to Chelsea saga
As ever, a lot is being written about Victor Osimhen’s future, with reports from England and Italy saying completely different things, but from what I’m told there has been no change in the last 24-48 hours. With Chelsea, I expect nothing will change tomorrow or the next day either, because the situation is still very clear – Chelsea’s interest remains, they are having conversations with Napoli, but the only option for them to continue is with a loan or another kind of creative formula.
Napoli want to sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea, and Lukaku has an agreement already with Napoli, but at the moment the issue is that Osimhen is not considering a loan move to Chelsea. He is also not going to lower his wages or accept a reduced salary. So, everything remains open and nothing has changed yet, but when it does I will let you know.
Mikel Merino Arsenal transfer talks ongoing
It’s gone a bit quiet on the Mikel Merino to Arsenal saga in recent days, so I’ve had some fans asking me for an update on the situation.
For now my understanding is that negotiations continue, it’s still all verbal with no formal bid but for sure Merino is waiting for Arsenal to complete the agreement with Real Sociedad.
It’s also about payment terms, the structure, more things to follow between the two clubs. Merino wants Arsenal, so it’s just on the clubs now.
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