The transfer chat has become so hot this week, it’s becoming a steamy window, to call up the late Tina Turner. Let’s begin with some housekeeping on the stories you may already be familiar with. Declan Rice is heading for Arsenal after Manchester City dropped out of the race, having forced the price north of £100m. Next up Harry Kane, still linked with Bayern Munich, who are now willing to up the price to £80m.
The current talk of the transfer taverns is Spanish midfielder Gabri Veiga, 21, for whom Celta Vigo have a €40m (£34.5m) release clause. He’s wanted by Manchester City, while Liverpool and Chelsea fancy him too. Seems like Veiga is considered next-best to Rice, and far cheaper as well.
Here’s a name that has been linked with Premier League clubs for a while now. He was missed by Hungary at Euro 2020 and has since become the latest Leipzig player on everyone’s list. Dominik Szoboszlai, who has been linked with Newcastle, is wanted by Liverpool. The release clause is £60m.
Manchester United fans have been getting rather anxious of late, but there’s sign of movement, with Moises Caicedo, whom Brighton are willing to sell, fancied to bolster the midfield. United will also seek to unclog a deal for Mason Mount that has slowed to a halt. And over in Portugal the Benfica president, Rui Costa, says United are prepared to pay €80m for the 22-year-old Portuguese forward Gonçalo Ramos, who you may recall stepping in for Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup and doing rather well.
Do United believe that another United, West Ham, fancy freeing up some cash by taking Harry Maguire off their books? David Moyes is also targeting Everton’s Belgium midfielder Amadou Onana, with Everton needing to sell, and Juventus’s Switzerland midfielder Denis Zakaria, who was at Chelsea on loan last season, lest you forget.
Perhaps Manchester United have realised belatedly – while their takeover grinds on – they will be missing out on players. Bayern Munich will be signing the Napoli defender Kim Min-jae, a long-term United target, after personal terms were agreed. The German champions will pay the £42m release clause for the centre-back United didn’t get around to paying.
Then there’s a goalkeeping problem, with David de Gea’s tweet suggesting he is seeing out his deal or bored with the current impasse with the club. André Onana is still expected to arrive from Inter, though perhaps that only happens once De Gea is released.
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— David de Gea (@D_DeGea) June 28, 2023
Another team clearing away unwanted players are Chelsea but that has not disrupted their model of buying young talent. Santos’s Angelo, also wanted by Barcelona, will cost only £15m. He will join the midfielder Andrey Santos, for whom Chelsea have had to wait to complete his visa requirements while back on loan at Vasco da Gama.
One more for luck? Celtic would like to re-sign Kieran Tierney from Arsenal, though wages and the chance to compete again for the Premier League title may preclude that from happening.
