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
It’s finally ‘here we go’ for Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal. After a lengthy saga, last night Arsenal and Bologna started exchanging all the documents as the deal is all done and confirmed. The next step is to sign all the documents and schedule medical tests for Calafiori, which will take place in the US so he can join Mikel Arteta’s squad for pre-season there.
Another important story with Arsenal is that Fulham have returned with a new proposal for Emile Smith Rowe and now the deal is close. It’s not done yet but could be completed soon if the two clubs agree on details. Crystal Palace wanted Smith Rowe too but Fulham are pushing now, with manager Marco Silva fully involved.
Fulham have also been linked with Scott McTominay and reports of their interest is accurate, though nothing is close or advanced at this stage. For Manchester United it’s been a very clear position since last summer: in case of a good, important proposal McTominay can leave. Otherwise they would be more than happy to keep McTominay at the club.
Chelsea had an important day yesterday as they submitted an official bid to Villarreal for goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen. The Danish goalkeeper has a release clause of €45m, but Chelsea offered €20m, and they have a feeling internally that a deal could be done for something like €25-26m.
Negotiations are ongoing, but the feeling is positive as Jorgensen already agreed on personal terms with Chelsea – salary, length of contract, everything is okay. So now the clubs are working on the details, but their relationship is very good after they worked on the Nicolas Jackson deal last summer.
An important detail is that Jorgensen is considered one of the best goalkeepers around in terms of his distribution skills, and as I’ve reported, that’s an important skill Chelsea have been looking for as it’s really appreciated by Enzo Maresca.
So, it’s a work in progress, but Chelsea have entered the race strongly. The deal looks likely, and I’d expect Jorgensen to compete with Robert Sanchez for the number one spot. Ultimately it will be up to Maresca so we’ll have to see, but we know he values goalkeepers with good distribution like Jorgensen.
Elsewhere with Chelsea, Trevoh Chalobah’s future is in doubt after he was left out of their pre-season tour and my understanding is that Chelsea are prepared to sell Chalobah for a fee in the region of £30m. He’s leaving this summer for sure, and is open to clubs in both the Premier League and other leagues. Nothing is imminent now – from what I heard he wants to take his time to consider all the options available.
I’ve been saying for several months now that Manchester United want to sign a new left-back – Tyrell Malacia is back now but still not fit, while Luke Shaw has often had problems with injuries, so Man United still need some more cover there and there have been rumours about Marcos Alonso, the former Chelsea player who is available on a free after leaving Barcelona.
Let’s see what happens in the next weeks, but I’m told that, as of today, Alonso’s camp has not received any approach from Manchester United. As of today, there are no talks or negotiations, but of course let’s see what happens because we know things can happen quickly with free agents as you can close the deal in one day because you don’t need to negotiate club-to-club.
Sergio Reguilon spent the first half of last season on loan at Man United, but as of today I’m told there is nothing advanced between Tottenham and United over Reguilon returning to Old Trafford. But in general, Reguilon was very happy at United, so if they came back for him he’d be very keen on the move – he loved his short time at the club, he was very happy with the club and the tactical ideas, but again, as of now there have been no contacts over this move.
So, United will look at left-backs, even if for now the priority is on different positions, but once they decide what left-back they want, I will let you know.
Juventus have a really concrete interest in Borussia Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi and have started contacts on the player side. There have not yet been contacts between the two clubs, but Juve have discussed a contract with Adeyemi. It’s still at the early stages of the story, but there has been a meeting with the player’s representatives.
So, Adeyemi to Juventus could be one to watch as the Italian giants try to advance on the player side before entering into negotiations with Dortmund.
I wanted to clarify again that Kevin De Bruyne is not going to Al Ittihad. I also wanted to make it clear that Al Ittihad never presented a proposal to De Bruyne – there was no contract proposal to the player, and no bid to Manchester City. It’s just not happening. Why? Because at the moment Al Ittihad are looking for different players because they know it will be impossible to proceed with De Bruyne.
So, it’s completely quiet with Al Ittihad and also other clubs, with Pep Guardiola also speaking publicly to confirm that he expects De Bruyne to stay at Manchester City for at least one more season.
We’ve also had some strong rumours about Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger and interest from Saudi. Al Ittihad have again been mentioned, with reports claiming that they presented an important proposal for Rudiger.
Once again – Rudiger has no intention to leave Real Madrid, and they have absolutely no intention to part ways with him. The German centre-back is one of the big faces of their team, and he had a great season winning many trophies last term. Everything is under control and Rudiger is not even considering going to Saudi now, though of course in the future we’ll see, anything can happen, but today he is not negotiating with Saudi clubs and he is not interested in entertaining any talks.
So for now, it’s simply not happening and Real Madrid don’t want to lose another defender as they already lost Nacho this summer. They wanted to sign Leny Yoro, though he went to Manchester United, so let’s see if they will find another centre-back. But certainly for now there is no plan to let Rudiger go, and I don’t see him going to Real Madrid and telling them he wants to leave.
I’ve been asked by a few fans for an update on Eberechi Eze, who has attracted plenty of links and speculation after his excellent form for Crystal Palace, which also saw him make it into the England squad for Euro 2024.
The situation is this: all the big clubs in Premier League have been monitoring Eze, really all of them. But at the moment, Palace have not received any formal proposal, so let’s see if that changes soon.
Man City had Eze on their list already last summer, while Tottenham have been in contact with his agents since February – the interest is absolutely still there but again, no bids yet.
It’s gone a bit quiet on the future of Joao Cancelo recently, but Barcelona want a new right-back and Cancelo is one of the names on their shortlist after his spell on loan there last season.
I don’t see Cancelo staying at Man City, but the reason it’s gone quiet is because for now Barca are putting all their focus into the Nico Williams deal. Once that has been resolved they will look for other targets, including a new right-back.
