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AC Milan
AC Milan talent Marko Lazetic joins Austrian side SCR Altach on loan until end of the season. Lazetic will work under Germany legend Miroslav Klose as coach.
Atlanta United
Giorgos Giakoumakis to Atlanta United as DP, done deal — striker traveling to Mexico together with his agent Blash Hossein where Atlanta pre season is taking place for medical tests. Celtic will receive £4.3m fee, the player will sign a three year deal.
Barcelona
Xavi: “Sergio Busquets will decide on his future for next season, it’s up to him. He deserves to decide whenever he wants.”
Barcelona have a list of potential replacements in case Busquets leaves. They always follow many players. However, despite rumours, Ilkay Gundogan has not made any decision on his future yet, while Franck Kessie will see his future decided in the next 3-4 months as he has to show his best skills otherwise could leave Barca in the summer.
Inter Miami are tempting Busquets with a new chapter in the MLS, but Xavi and Barca still hope for the experienced midfielder to remain at the Nou Camp for one more season.
It’s definitely over for Julian Araujo to Barcelona. Agreement collapsed due to documents signed 18 seconds after the Deadline on Tuesday. FIFA has not approved the deal and it won’t change with any appeal. Barca will keep following Araujo for the future.
Bayern Munich
Hasan Salihamidzic: “We wanted Cancelo at Bayern since four years ago. We spoke to Mendes, he knew I wanted Joao. I got the signal of Cancelo available on the market last Sunday – the deal went very quickly. Persistence paid off.”
Brighton
Roberto De Zerbi: “I’m happy that Caicedo has stayed with us, everyone in the club loves him. I don’t know about next summer move for Caicedo, but I want to be the unique responsible person about him because I believe in Moises.”
I think top clubs know that Kaoru Mitoma priority is now to focus on Brighton and not on any big move yet, for sure he’s already worth more than £35m but it’s not time for negotiations at this stage. It’s more top recruitment from Brighton, they’ve unearthed another gem who is in great form at the moment.
Chelsea
Graham Potter on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang out of Chelsea UCL squad: “Pierre has done nothing wrong at all, no problem. It’s just unfortunate and Aubameyang will fight for his place until the rest of the season.”
There was already talk of Aubameyang leaving in January, but it was impossible for Barcelona to proceed due to FIFA rules, they like the player but nothing else because of official rules. I think Aubameyang will 100% leave Chelsea in 2023, the plan is clear.
Crystal Palace
Patrick Vieira on Albert Sambi Lokonga loan deal: “I spoke with Edu, not with Arteta. Edu really gave me the picture about the player on the field and off the field. We know what kind of player we’re taking and which side of the game he needs to improve. He will help us.”
Galatasaray
Galatasaray have opened official talks to sign Nicolo Zaniolo. AS Roma want a permanent move, no way for a straight loan — Gala, discussing about terms of the deal. Zaniolo is considering the opportunity now as he’s out of the Roma project.
Inter Milan
Milan Skriniar won’t be Inter Milan captain anymore after he decided to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer as a free agent. PSG also wanted him this January, but couldn’t agree a deal with Inter, so will have to wait until the summer.
Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool situation: “There’s no excuse. I can’t explain it — first 15 minutes were horrible. It needs to be changed, I’m sorry. We just need to change it now, there’s no explanation. Change immediately in the next game.”
Just one win from the last seven in all competitions for Liverpool: LDLWDLL
Manchester City
A big statement of faith from Pep Guardiola as he adds new signing Maximo Perrone to Manchester City’s Champions League squad list. The midfielder, born in 2003, has joined from Velez for €9m and will wear the number 32 shirt at City.
Pep Guardiola on new fullback to replace Joao Cancelo: “We talk, but took three minutes. I said, ‘Do you have something?’ Txiki said no. I said, ‘Wait’. That’s it. I prefer a few months until the end of the season we can do it without crazy money. In the summer, we see.”
Manchester United
Manchester United are in advanced talks with Alejandro Garnacho, still waiting to finalize the last details to get it done. As far as I understand, there’s no confirmation on the Juventus rumours; he’s just focused on the negotiations with Man United.
Marcel Sabitzer: “I’m here at Man Utd to give everything in training, every day, that’s what I’m here for. I like the way ten Hag plays, the way his teams play, he’s a good coach and I have looking forward to meeting him and playing under him.”
Marseille
Marseille president Pablo Longoria: “We’ve not received any bid for Matteo Guendouzi from Aston Villa or any other club in January”.
He added: “We have discussed with Atletico Madrid for Jonathan Clauss without going any further.”
PSG
Lyon did their best to keep Rayan Cherki this January, it wasn’t easy at all. Paris Saint-Germain were seriously interested and they will keep monitoring him. In the summer we will see, as of now Lyon want to keep Cherki as their star.
Real Madrid
Real Madrid were offered the chance to sign Joao Cancelo as he left Manchester City this January, but they decided not to proceed with the deal, as they are happy with their current squad as it is.
Bayern Munich, meanwhile, were 100% sure on Cancelo, whereas Madrid wanted to keep same squad + trust Vinicius Tobias for the future.
Red Bull Salzburg
Noah Okafor is one to watch for the summer – I understand his plan is to leave and move to a top league club in the summer. I can’t mention the clubs at this stage but I’m told there are three clubs in UK and three clubs in Germany keen on signing him. Okafor would love to try an experience in the Premier League, but RB Salzburg will decide their price for the player in May.