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What’s going on with Kylian Mbappe and Luis Enrique?
Everyone is still waiting for the final decision of Kylian Mbappe, but everything with Real Madrid is going in the right direction. No panic – Mbappe has not signed the official contract, but they are on it, they are discussing the final details and the transfer is going in the right way.
As soon as Mbappe signs his contract with Real Madrid, we will see Paris Saint-Germain make a formal communication about Mbappe, but what is important to say is that Luis Enrique in recent games has already started to go with a different strategy as he knows the player is leaving. Enrique is preparing for life without Mbappe and trying new things.
There have been reports of Mbappe holding a meeting with Enrique about this situation, but I think what’s happening is absolutely normal. Mbappe told the club and the team that he’s leaving, it happened two weeks ago. Enrique is trying solutions without Mbappe during the games in the league as they are in control in Ligue 1. That’s the situation, and Mbappe respects that, so it’s just normal future-exit process.
Manchester United to focus on signing young talents
What a performance we saw from Manchester City in yesterday’s derby. I see them on another level, in all honesty, but there were positives there as Marcus Rashford scored a fantastic goal to give Manchester United the lead in the first half. In the end, City had too much quality but United have also been unlucky with injuries, so it got harder for them, especially in the final 20 minutes.
Looking ahead, we know important weeks are coming for Manchester United – first, they need to agree compensation with Newcastle for Dan Ashworth, as an agreement between Ashworth and United is already done. It’s also important to say that they are already planning for after this appointment and looking ahead to the summer transfer window.
One thing I’m hearing from sources in the industry is that Man United under INEOS will try to work to bring in top young talents to the club. These young players could also generally become part of the Man United ‘galaxy’, because they also have the connection they can use at Nice in France – perhaps a place they can send youngsters on loan to develop.
So, United will keep an eye on the best young talents around the world, because they feel they had many opportunities in the recent past but lost out. For example, Moises Caicedo was close to joining United years ago when he was still in Ecuador, and he would have cost something like €4-5m. Obviously you can’t sign all the best talents and United have done a great job with some of the players in their academy, but they want to keep a special eye on young talents around the world and to use that connection with Nice to their advantage.
Speaking of young talents, we know it’s not been an easy time for Hannibal Mejbri since he left United for his loan transfer to Sevilla. Many fans have been asking me about why Hannibal hasn’t played much, and the reality is that Sevilla are in trouble, it’s a difficult season for them so the manager prefers to play experienced players as there’s pressure; that’s why is not easy for young players. I think it’s normal, it happens when a club is in difficult situation. Hannibal will fight to find more space in the next weeks, he remains committed.
Paulo Dybala to have a release clause again in summer transfer window
What a performance again this weekend from Paulo Dybala, who has seven goals in his last five games for Roma. He’s been fantastic and what he’s doing is really special under the new manager Daniele De Rossi.
Remember, guys – Dybala had a €12m release clause in the January transfer window, but no club decided to trigger the clause. However, the clause is still active in July, so Roma can try to agree a new contract and change the rule of the release clause, or they risk losing him as it looks like a big opportunity on the market.
Italian clubs can also trigger Dybala’s release clause, but in this case Roma would have the final say on the move, whereas if it’s clubs from England, Spain, and so on, then Dybala would have the final decision.
In other transfer news…
Jorginho – Arsenal will speak to Jorginho’s agent in the next weeks, there will be conversations about his contract. Jorginho’s agent confirms that Arsenal will have their priority, he’d be happy to stay at the club but of course we have to see how these conversations will go.
Marc Cucurella – The Chelsea left-back has been linked with a transfer to La Liga. My understanding is that he is one of the situations to be assessed at the end of the season. Cucurella, Chalobah and more…these players are waiting to see what Chelsea decide to do in terms of their plans for next season, the manager situation. Cucurella was available on loan in the final days of August last year but deal with Man United collapsed because Man Utd wanted to include a break clause for January and Chelsea rejected.
Transfer window for managers – There was recently speculation that some Premier League managers are pushing for there to be a ‘transfer window’ for managers, meaning clubs can only fire and hire managers at specific points in the season, like we see with player signings and sales in January and during the summer. I don’t know if this is true or not, but in my opinion, clubs are in full control and they should be able to decide about the manager whenever they want. So, personally, I would not change anything.