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Willy Kambwala leaves Manchester United on a permanent transfer to Villarreal. The young defender had a year left on his contract and had not yet discussed a new contract, he wanted to play and now he is going to play in Spain. Villarreal will pay 10 million euros to Manchester United, and give the player a five-year contract, with a sell-on clause and a buy-out clause for Man United.
The treatment is expected to take place in the next 24-48 hours, with Man United retaining control of the player for the foreseeable future, and this comes as they continue to make progress on the Matthijs de Ligt deal. Meanwhile, another departure from United that we know about is Raphael Varane, and he has now agreed to move to Como, subject to a medical.
There will also be a decision next week about Sofyan Amrabat, so it depends on United, they will decide next week. What all the sources say, is not yet clear because it depends on United’s decision only. The player has already given his green light to travel. In any case, he could leave Fiorentina because he wants to try a different project.
There were also rumors of a transfer to Man United and Xavi Simons. My understanding is that two clubs are still leading the race – Bayern and RB Leipzig. These two clubs are pushing each other, and the good thing about them is that they have been pushing for a long time, in the past few months.
Xavi Simons has decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain on loan, and will likely leave on a permanent transfer next summer. It’s 99% over between PSG and Simons, and as I’ve said before, one key person to watch is Max Eberl, former Leipzig director now at Bayern, as he looks to re-sign Simons after his last loan spell at Leipzig. a year.
Leipzig, however, are in the running and could offer Simons a role as a key part of their squad. The Dutch midfielder was on loan very well there last season, they are an ambitious team, as they showed by keeping Benjamin Sesko, so they want to try to keep Simons as well.
So what about United? It is true that they are interested in Simons, and have asked for information on his status after confirming that Erik ten Hag remains as manager. They are not leading the race because they joined late, as both Bayern and Leipzig have been there since April. Another club to ask about Simons was Newcastle, but again this was late, a few days ago, so Bayern and Leipzig remain the two favourites.
Finally for United, Jadon Sancho continues to be linked with Juventus, although some reports now suggest that they have changed their focus elsewhere. My understanding is that no decision has been made about the midfielder. Juventus’ first step is to sell Federico Chiesa and/or Matias Soule, then they will decide which winger they want to sign. Man United will discuss Sancho’s situation in the coming days, now he is back in the team and his experience with Erik ten Hag in the coming weeks will be important to understand more about his future.
Another key player to watch this summer will be Julian Alvarez. At the moment he is focused on the Copa America final with Argentina, but then there is a conversation between this player and Manchester City. Until now, there was no intention of Man City to negotiate with Alvarez, they did not want to put a price on him.
Although City was adamant that they do not want to let Alvarez go, this player wants to play more. So now City will have to decide, after meeting Alvarez and his agent, what they want to do next. Clubs like Paris Saint-Germain are waiting to see what will happen with Alvarez, but they don’t want to spend too much time in long discussions, so they want Man City to decide soon.
However, PSG’s interest is certainly still there, and Alvarez’s future will depend on talks with Man City, which will take place soon after the Copa America. However, I can also assure you that it will not be an easy deal because City want to keep Alvarez at the club.
It will soon be time to decide the future of Nico Williams, whose time at the Euros will come to an end tonight as he prepares for the final match between Spain and England. Barcelona were interested in Everton’s Amadou Onana, but he is now set to join Aston Villa instead as Barca wanted to save their budget for Nico Williams.
Barcelona really like Onana and spent months discussing the possibility, but did not make a bid and will not make a bid at the last minute of negotiations. Barca want to focus on Nico Williams, and they want to be quick, because they know that the top English clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal are closely monitoring his situation.
Barcelona now want to start moving forward with Williams next week, but the key detail is that they may need to sell one player to make room for Financial Fair Play. They are waiting for La Liga’s approval, although Joan Laporta has already publicly stated that they can afford Williams, so they will be looking for it in the coming days, but selling one player would help them to be faster.
It’s true – Barca want to use their budget for Williams, he is a top player approved by new manager Hansi Flick, so things are heating up in this matter.
Credit to Aston Villa because they did a fantastic job on Onana. They had a vested interest and worked well behind the scenes to present the proposal at the right time. There has been interest from Barcelona, but also from PSG, although it is focused on dream target Joao Neves.
Ricardo Calafiori – The Bologna defender is still waiting for Arsenal as the clubs try to reach an agreement on the transfer fee. If it happens it should be a good signing for Arsenal as Calafiori is a good defender – he can play at center back or left back, he has a good left foot, he can provide assists and score goals like he did for Bologna last season. Quality is the best word to describe him. He is a defender but has the ability to help his squad as midfielders.
Pepe – Porto veteran and Portugal defender, Pepe is still undecided about his future, despite being linked with La Liga club Celta Vigo. He is considering many options, and in June he was always contacted by Saudi clubs, but at the moment he has not decided anything and wants to take his time.
Euro 2024 final – I’m not good at predicting scores so I’m leaving this one, but I’m looking forward to today’s final between Spain and England. I’m sure the match will be for the likes of Phil Foden and Lamine Yamal. In addition to the midfield, quality on the wing will be the key to win individual duels and win the game. It will be exciting between two top teams, two very close sides, and I could see it going to penalties!
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