Exclusive: Man Utd & Chelsea have transfer edge over PSG, Arsenal star’s future & more – Jonathan Johnson

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Manu Kone will surely be on the move, but PSG switch looks unlikely

Manu Kone is a fine young player who’s making the headlines a bit more recently, with links to the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. In terms of rumoured interest from PSG, however, it’s hard to see them having a major overhaul of their squad this summer and being able to pay the kind of money that would be needed for a signing like Kone. He’s obviously a very talented young French footballer and it makes sense that he’d be of interest to PSG, especially as he’s on the verge of breaking through internationally as well.

Still, as long as the contract situations of Sergio Ramos and Lionel Messi remain unresolved ahead of the summer, it’s hard to see PSG winning the race for Kone, and it’s difficult to see them doing much else with their squad. He’ll likely have other big clubs watching him from across Europe, and it’s not a big surprise to see him succeed on what is becoming quite a well-trodden path, having moved to Germany from Toulouse. He now definitely seems like a player who could be on the move this summer, with a number of big clubs likely to show an interest. I think PSG would be the only ones who could bring him back to Ligue 1, but there are plenty of other big teams looking for midfielders.

Manchester United seem to be one of those, having been linked with both Kone and Enzo Le Fee, who plays for Lorient and is another impressive talent who I expect to be of interest to a number of big clubs right now. There’ll be the temptation to draw comparisons with someone like Aurelien Tchouameni, who made the big move from Monaco to Real Madrid last year, but to be honest I don’t see Kone being ready to make quite that same jump right now. That’s no disrespect to Kone or the level at Borussia Monchengladbach, but he’s not quite where Tchouameni was with Monaco when he then made the move to Madrid.

Still, that’s not to say there won’t be big clubs interested in him. We know Chelsea are targeting the talents of tomorrow, so to speak, so he could appeal to them. Gladbach also seem to be coming to end of a cycle, and are facing losing Marcus Thuram for nothing, so they’ll need to bring in some money from somewhere else, so Kone seems a logical choice given the clubs looking at him at this moment in time. Still, my personal opinion is that he’s not quite ready to join the European elite like Tchouameni was, but that could also mean Chelsea is a logical next step for him because if you look at how their season is going, Champions League qualification looks unlikely, so it could be the right sort of project for him to start with.

PSG will keep an eye on William Saliba but a deal won’t be straightforward

I’m aware there’s been some talk of PSG having a long-standing interest in William Saliba, and it makes sense that he’s someone they’re likely to keep an eye on, but it’s looking highly likely that his immediate future lies at Arsenal. He’s really come into his own in Mikel Arteta’s side and is starting to establish himself as a French international under Didier Deschamps ahead of Euro 2024.

William Saliba in action for Arsenal

Saliba obviously has Parisian roots, he comes from Bondy, the same place as Kylian Mbappe, so that will appeal to the French champions. However, one complicating factor with Saliba that shouldn’t be underestimated is that loan spell with Marseille that he had – a very succcessful one at that, and I think that will stay fresh in the memories of some PSG fans.

I think PSG, like a lot of top teams, will keep a close eye on Saliba, and see if an opportunity comes up, but given the amount of money it would now take to prise him away from an Arsenal side who could be on the verge of winning the Premier League title, it seems unlikely to me at this moment in time.

While Saliba is clearly an exceptional talent, there is perhaps better value on the market at this time, for example with Evan Ndicka at Eintracht Frankfurt, who also comes from the Parisian region, and who wouldn’t cost the kind of transfer fee or wage packet that Saliba would command.

Is Axel Disasi what Manchester United need?

Monaco defender Axel Disasi is an interesting player who’s starting to attract links with the likes of Manchester United ahead of the summer. He’s in that kind of ‘finishing school’ phase that Aurelien Tchouameni was in when he was there, and that someone like Wesley Fofana is in with Chelsea right now.

He’s now made the breakthrough at international level and that’s helped get him onto the radar of a number of big clubs. For someone like United, I think he would add competition to their squad, but I do have questions about whether or not he’d be the best fit for Erik ten Hag’s side and where they are now. It would be a fairly decent fit, but given where they want to be going, and getting back to under Ten Hag in the near future, I do question if Disasi would be the best option for them.

Don’t get me wrong – he’s a strong talent with plenty of good attributes, and the potential to improve, but I wouldn’t rank him alongside the very best talents in that position right now, compared to say Saliba, Fofana, and someone like Ibrahima Konate at Liverpool, or Dayot Upamecano at Bayern, I wouldn’t put him in the same sort of category as those guys.

I think Disasi will definitely be coveted by Premier League clubs in the future, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it ended up being someone a level below Manchester United, one of those clubs aspiring to get it into the Champions League reckoning.

Why former Ligue 1 stars have struggled at West Ham

We saw two big talents from Ligue 1 move to West Ham last summer, as Lucas Paqueta made the move from Lyon and Nayef Aguerd joined from Rennes. It’s disappointing to see that they’re now struggling to reproduce their best form in the Premier League.

Equally, however, if you were to ask me if I was surprised to see Paqueta flopping at West Ham, I’d have to say I’m not entirely shocked. I was more surprised by Aguerd, who is a really solid defender, but with him I think you have to factor in that he had a very bad injury quite early on in his West Ham career.

It’s also worth noting that it’s not generally been a great year for West Ham, with some of their other big names also going through a dip in form, and they’re now in a relegation battle. I think Aguerd was an astute signing, a good fit, but Paqueta was always going to be a bit of a gamble.

Before he moved to West Ham, we heard of interest from big clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City, and there’s a reason Paqueta has had admirers like that before, because technically he’s got phenomenal ability, he’s a very fine player on his day, but consistency has always been a big question-mark for him. In the Premier League you always have to be at your best game in, game out, but Paqueta, throughout his career, has never been that kind of player. Throughout his career in Europe he’s had some sublime moments and eye-catching performances, but also games where he barely even registers, so I’m less surprised by his struggles at West Ham.

What could the future hold for them this summer? I think it would be difficult for West Ham to keep hold of them if they were to go down – there’ll be a number of clubs, if not quite at the top tier, but perhaps at a sort of Europa League level, who will be looking at those kinds of opportunities.

Jules Kounde’s development since Chelsea move fell through

As was widely reported at the time, Jules Kounde was very close to joining Chelsea last summer, but things just didn’t quite fall into place as they did with Barcelona. I think in the end he was quite happy to see Barcelona coming in for him, even if there was some uncertainty when he first joined and there were those registration issues, which are still a problem with Barca even now.

It’s hard to know how his development would have gone if he had joined Chelsea, but his re-positioning as a right-back at Barcelona has been very interesting – it’s useful as well, because the full-back positions are an area of weakness in the French national side, which is bizarre considering how stacked they are for talent in almost every other area.

Kounde snubbed Chelsea for Barcelona last summer

With a lack of options on either flank, it’s logical for Didier Deschamps to experiment with converted full-backs, he’s done that with Benjamin Pavard and he’s now doing that with Kounde, and it’s been mirrored well at club level. There are a lot of players coming through as options at centre-back for France right now, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw a few more who might follow the path of Kounde.

I don’t think this is necessarily limited to French football either – if there’s a shortage of full-backs, you’ll probably see more and more of those slightly more versatile players making that kind of move, for example in the way Ben White has to great effect for Arsenal this season. Players like him and Kounde can contribute going forwards, but offer some solidity in that position as well, so it’s a bit of a no-brainer for managers to at least try them in those positions. It’s interesting that that now looks like being Kounde’s long-term role.

More Stories Axel Disasi Jonathan Johnson Jules Kounde Lucas Paqueta Manu Kone nayef Aguerd William Saliba