Transfer news: Liverpool’s Zubimendi alternative, Osimhen to Chelsea or Arsenal, and 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
Liverpool surely need a Zubimendi alternative and will assess options
One of the big shocks of the last few days was with Martin Zubimendi – Liverpool were working on this deal for one week in public and more than one week in private, and they had the feeling that Zubimendi wanted to go to Liverpool, he was tempted by the project, tempted by the club, tempted by Premier League football.
But, after thinking about it, and after a lot of pressure from Real Sociedad, including a new contract proposal from the club, though it’s impossible to compare what they were offering him to what Liverpool were ready to pay, Zubimendi decided to change his position and stay loyal to his club.
At one point, Liverpool also discussed offering Stefan Bajcetic as part of the negotiation – there was a possibility to include the young Spanish midfielder on loan as part of the Zubimendi deal, but Liverpool preferred to pay the release clause rather than giving Sociedad Bajcetic on loan. So, it all collapsed and Sociedad were able to keep Zubimendi.
Many fans have been asking about alternatives for Liverpool in midfield, but at the moment I’m not able to mention other names, we will see. I don’t want to put names out just for the sake of it.
Liverpool will assess options and we will see, otherwise they can continue with current midfield. In my personal opinion, they need a player like Zubimendi was; they miss something in that area of the pitch.
Another big Liverpool story we saw yesterday was a report in Spain about Luis Diaz to Manchester City being agreed, but all I can say is that I don’t have this information, I can’t confirm this information because sources at both Man City and Liverpool are denying it. City are denying an agreement with Diaz, while Liverpool are denying any approaches for the player, with Barcelona also being linked with him in many reports. Liverpool guarantee that they have received no approaches, and also that they want to continue with Diaz.
Diaz has been linked with Barcelona, as mentioned above, but we also know they have been keen on Nico Williams this summer. Still, he now looks set to stay at Athletic Bilbao and so they are looking at other options.
One of those options is Kingsley Coman. The Bayern Munich winger is a player appreciated by Hansi Flick, so let’s see if Barca will look to activate this option or try for a different kind of name – internal discussions are still ongoing, but one thing I can say is that Liverpool have not received any kind of formal approach for Diaz.
Palmer deal, Gallagher return, and latest on Osimhen to Chelsea
Cole Palmer has signed a new contract at Chelsea until June 2033 – a nine-year contract. The agreement is done, it’s signed, and it’s something Chelsea have wanted to do since the end of last season. They didn’t really need to do it because he already had a long contract until 2031, but they did this because they wanted to reward Palmer.
It goes without saying that Palmer has been incredible for Chelsea – they always expected him to have huge potential, but his first season at Stamford Bridge was unbelievable. So, understandably, they wanted to give him a higher salary and make it clear he’s one of the faces of this project.
We’ve had many rumours about other clubs being interested in Palmer, but it was never a possibility, and also Chelsea wanted to guarantee him a longer contract with an important salary, and now it’s all done.
Another big Chelsea story is with Conor Gallagher – Chelsea want him to return to London and at the time of writing, there is still an agreement between the clubs and the player’s contract with Atletico Madrid is 100% ready. Chelsea remain open to making it happen, so Atletico just need to push the button, but while he’s still Chelsea’s player, it makes no sense to have him in Madrid for the next hours. It’s a tense situation, but it remains open so let’s see what happens.
There have also been rumours about N’Golo Kante being an alternative for Atletico in case they cannot sign Gallagher, but Al Ittihad are sending a very clear message, as they did when West Ham had a bid rejected for him earlier this summer – he is not for sale. This is the position of Al Ittihad, they want to continue with Kante, they don’t consider him for sale, let’s see what happens but as of today they are very strong on that position.
Finally on Chelsea, there is still no major update or change to the Victor Osimhen situation. They never left the race, but Osimhen still insists on a permanent transfer and he won’t lower his salary demands. I’m also not aware of any negotiation ongoing right now with other clubs, despite some reports in Italy mentioning Arsenal. PSG had the green light from Osimhen one month ago but then they started working on different targets, so as far as I know there are currently no discussions ongoing with other clubs.
In other news…
Samu Omorodion – After a move to Chelsea fell through, the agent of Samu Omorodion is considering other possibilities around Europe. It’s normal talks with an opportunity like him after the Chelsea deal collapsed, but at the moment it’s still nothing serious or advanced.
Desire Doue – There are several reasons for Desire Doue finally deciding to join PSG over Bayern Munich. PSG offered an important project, Luis Enrique but also Luis Campos and Nasser Al Khelaifi were involved in talks, all of them at the club were really pushing. At the end of the day, he’s French and that was also important factor. Luis Enrique was pivotal, his football ideas are really appreciated by many players; it was the same with Joao Neves.
Thomas Partey – As things stand, Thomas Partey is not looking close to leaving Arsenal. There are no substantial updates on the midfielder despite some rumours earlier in the window. It’s been a quiet summer, I’m not hearing anything about him now. Let’s see if it changes but so far, no.
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