PSG’s Mbappe to Man United if Ronaldo leaves?
Bruno Fernandes didn’t seem pleased to meet Manchester United and Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo following his comments in an interview. (0:16)
The summer transfer window is closed for the major leagues in Europe. However, with an eye on January, there’s plenty of gossip swirling about who’s moving where. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals!
Manchester United want to replace Cristiano Ronaldo with Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, according to the Mirror.
Ronaldo’s time at Old Trafford looks to be ending following his explosive interview earlier this week where he criticised the club and manager Erik ten Hag.
With sources telling ESPN that Ten Hag recommended that the 37-year-old shouldn’t play for United anymore, it now seems the Red Devils are setting their sights on PSG’s Mbappe.
United were reportedly looking to sign a new forward in the summer — when Ronaldo’s contract was set to end — but the fallout of his comments means it could become a January endeavour.
The club could have the financial capabilities to pay the €150 million or more that it would take to bring Mbappe from PSG, as well as paying his reported €1,000,000-per-week wages with significant performance-based bonuses. Mbappe extended his contract at PSG in the spring after constant links with Real Madrid.
Napoli‘s Victor Osimhen is also on United’s radar and possibly a more attainable option in January. Napoli, who remain unbeaten in Serie A going into the World Cup break, expect offers to sign the Nigeria international when the January window opens.
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17.43 GMT: AC Milan are very keen to sign Olympique Lyonnais midfielder Houssem Aouar and could emerge as the most likely to make a deal happen, reports Foot Mercato, with Aouar’s contract ending in the summer.
There will also be competition from the likes of Napoli, Real Betis, Sevilla and Real Sociedad, who have all been following him.
17.00 GMT: Talks are ongoing between Arsenal and Gabriel Martinelli about a new contract, according to Fabrizio Romano, with the Brazilian’s current deal ending in 2024.
The new contract could be extended until 2026 and is being considered among the Gunners’ top priorities.
16.31 GMT: Surely Cristiano Ronaldo can’t play for Man United again…
Rob Dawson explains the feeling around Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo’s explosive interview.
15.47 GMT: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane won’t be allowed to leave the club in 2023 even if he refuses to extend his contract beyond 2024, says The Daily Mail.
Kane, 29, is one of the world’s top strikers and has scored 261 goals in 408 games for Tottenham since 2011.
The England captain has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich, but Spurs wanted £150m from clubs last summer and will stick to that valuation.
15.04 GMT: Chelsea’s midfield is set to undergo a bit of a change in the coming months.
With N’Golo Kante and Jorginho available on free transfers next summer, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly is keen to bolster the position and wants to swap Ruben Loftus-Cheek for Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
Calciomercato claims the Blues are keen on the Serbia international, who has also attracted attention from Manchester United and could cost upwards of €100m to sign. But Chelsea are keen to lower that fee by including Loftus-Cheek into the deal.
14.26 GMT: Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham sent scouts to watch Marcus Thuram and Youssoufa Moukoko in Friday’s clash between Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, says 90min.
Thuram, 25, is available on a free transfer at the end of the season, while 17-year-old Moukoko is also out of contract in 2023 but will be much harder to sign given his potential and the interest of every major club in Europe.
The report claims that United and Spurs were also keen to watch Monchengladbach and United States right-back Joe Scally in action.
13.34 GMT: The Sun claims that David Beckham has made a sensational move to lure Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo to MLS side Inter Miami.
Ronaldo, 37, is unhappy at United and Miami owner Beckham has reportedly spoken to the Portugal international’s representatives over a possible move.
PSG star Lionel Messi, 35, is still the No. 1 target for Miami but Ronaldo’s availability could see the MLS side move for him instead.
13.12 GMT: Manchester United players do not expect Cristiano Ronaldo to be part of the squad when the Premier League resumes, sources have told ESPN.
Club bosses have been discussing the 37-year-old’s future at Old Trafford after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan.
Co-chairman Joel Glazer, football director John Murtough, chief executive Richard Arnold and manager Erik ten Hag held a meeting on Monday while United have also sought legal advice about how best to solve the issue.
Ten Hag, according to sources, believes he cannot work with Ronaldo again after the striker said that he “doesn’t respect” the Dutchman, and has communicated that view to the Glazers, Arnold and Murtough.
Sources have also told ESPN that the majority of the squad do not believe there is a way back for the Portugal international, particularly because Ten Hag has taken such a hardline on squad discipline since taking over as a manager in the summer.
12.30 GMT: France midfielder Christopher Nkunku has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering an injury in training.
Nkunku, 24, has attracted interest from several top clubs, including Manchester United, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, but sources told ESPN that Chelsea are leading the race to sign the RB Leipzig star for €60m.
Julien Laurens reacts to the news that Christopher Nkunku has pulled out of the World Cup due to injury.
11.23 GMT: Manchester City have made an initial approach to sign Toni Kroos next summer, Sport reports, after the Real Madrid midfielder described Pep Guardiola as a manager who’s “perfect for my style of play.”
Kroos, 32 — who has been in career-best form this season — is due to be out of contract at the Bernabeu next summer. He said earlier this month that he still hadn’t decided whether to extend his deal or retire from football altogether and would consider his future during the World Cup break.
According to Sport, City would be willing to offer a substantial pay rise, but Kroos’ recent insistence that playing for another club is off the table is a major obstacle to any move.
“I’ve always said that I won’t go anywhere,” Kroos said this month. “I won’t change clubs. I’ll retire [at Real Madrid.] The only thing I don’t know is when.”
10.50 GMT: Cristiano Ronaldo‘s rumoured return to Sporting CP was never on the table, says club president Frederico Varandas.
Ronaldo, 37, is under contract at Manchester United until June 2023 but recently has hit out at the club and was linked a return to his first-ever team in recent transfer windows. Asked about Ronaldo, Varandas said in quotes reported by Record: “Has this board vetoed his return? Of course not. It was never even a subject or on the table. There was never a conversation with me, [sporting director] Hugo Viana or [coach] Ruben Amorim. This topic never existed. I know it sells a lot in the press.”
Asked if Ronaldo’s return is possible, he said: “Return? Since the beginning of the season my coach has been massacred in every press conference with that theme. There are rumours, soap operas that are created; until today there has never been anything rigorous. Today I have to say, out of respect for Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United and above all for the national team where he is training now, that I will not, as Sporting president, feed noise or soap operas.
“We need Cristiano Ronaldo in the national team — and well. I’m not going to contribute to the noise. You have to respect him, the club he has a contract with and the national team, where he’s committed to bringing a title to Portugal. It’s a matter that’s over.”
Varandas did praise Ronaldo, saying: “It is important to preserve the historic and unique legacy that Cristiano Ronaldo will leave in world sport, whether you like it or not. I see him as the best Portuguese footballer of all time, one of the best in the history of world football and he will always be a flag of Sporting’s academy. The Academy is named after him, it is a source of pride for all Sporting supporters to have trained the best Portuguese player of all time.”
10.18 GMT: Eden Hazard has apologised to Real Madrid fans for failing to live up to expectations since joining the club, saying he’s “really sorry about what has happened” and would accept a move away next summer.
Hazard, 31 — who is currently with Belgium preparing for the World Cup in Qatar — joined Madrid in a high-profile move from Chelsea in 2019 for an initial €100m but has since endured an injury-hit three years at the Bernabeu.
Despite being fully fit and available this season, he has made just three LaLiga appearances for Madrid, two of them as a substitute, with his preferred left-wing position occupied by rising star Vinicius Junior.
“I’m sorry. I’m trying, but … I’m sorry,” Hazard told Marca in an interview published on Wednesday. “I have one more year and I have to show [what I can do] but it isn’t easy. I’m not playing, I want to play more. I’m really sorry about what has happened.”
09.44 GMT: Napoli intend to renegotiate the contract of reported Manchester United target Kim Min-jae.
Napoli signed Kim from Fenerbahce in the summer in an €18m transfer as a replacement for Kalidou Koulibaly, who joined Chelsea.
The South Korea international has a contract with Napoli until June 2025, but there is a clause in his contract that would allow him to leave next summer for a reported €50m. “It would only be valid for foreign clubs and could only take place in a 15-day window in July,” Napoli sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli said.
Asked if the transfer fee set on the contract was the reported €50m, he said: “It’s variable. It will depend on the revenue of the potential buyer. Everything is theoretical as we are already thinking of changing those terms.”
Manchester United are reportedly among the clubs monitoring Kim after his strong start to the season. The 26-year-old has made 20 appearances for Napoli this season and is in South Korea’s World Cup squad.
09.12 GMT: Napoli have an option to extend Luciano Spalletti‘s contract until June 2024, club sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli revealed.
The former Roma and Inter coach, who joined Napoli in the summer of 2021, is out of contract next June.
“The club has an option to extend Spalletti’s contract for a further year,” Giuntoli said.
Napoli are unbeaten in Serie A and lead the league standings after 15 games played. They won five and lost one of their six Champions League games and will take on Frankfurt in the knockout stages of the competition.
08.44 GMT: Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Tuesday that the club may not be able to sign players in the January transfer window due to LaLiga’s financial fair play rules.
Barca’s accounts are “healthy” again, Laporta said, with an expected income this season of €1.23 billion ($1.27bn) and a budgeted profit of €274m.
“We had to make some levers, which were economic operations that saved the club from ruin, and now the club is in economic recovery,” Laporta told Spanish news agency EFE. “But despite that, according to the rules of financial fair play of the Spanish league, we can not sign.
“Us and some other LaLiga clubs are also trying to convince LaLiga to be more flexible, and allow us other types of interpretations that can make Barcelona even stronger.”
Barcelona recorded a profit of €98m for the 2021-22 financial year, they said in September. To offset losses and comply with LaLiga’s financial fair play rules, the club sold 25% of their domestic television rights and a 49% stake in Barca Studios for more than €700 million. That allowed Barcelona to spend more than €150 million in the close season on Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde.
08.00 GMT: Cristiano Ronaldo‘s rift with Manchester United will not derail Portugal’s World Cup campaign, according to Benfica midfielder Joao Mario.
The five-time Ballon d’Or or winner accused United of trying to force him out of the club in the summer in an explosive TV interview on Sunday, just one day before he arrived to the national team training camp in Oeiras, Lisbon.
“I don’t see a problem with the timing [of Ronaldo’s interview] so it’s fine for us,” Joao Mario told a news conference on Tuesday. “I don’t think it puts further pressure on him or on us. We’re used to dealing with great pressure.
“It’s not the first time that a player comes to the national team having a problem with his club. One of the advantages is that we put everything to the side when being here. When we get to the national team, it’s another working group and we try to focus on what’s most important.
“The headlines are always about him [Ronaldo]. Honestly, every time we come to the national team the first questions asked are always about Ronaldo.
“The focus is always on him, and we are used to that.”
Sources have told ESPN that United coach Erik ten Hag has told United bosses that Ronaldo should not play for the club again after his interview.
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens wonder what could be next for Cristiano Ronaldo after his criticism of Manchester United.
– United States midfielder Weston McKennie could leave Juventus in January amid Premier League interest, according to Calciomercato. Juventus’ priority is to strengthen in the wide areas but they could look at other transfer opportunities, which means they will need to offload some players with McKennie among those the Serie A outfit is willing to let go. McKennie has previously been linked with Tottenham Hotspur, among other sides.
– Belgium winger Eden Hazard has told Marca that he could leave Real Madrid during the summer transfer window. In an interview with the Spanish outlet, Hazard said: “In January it is impossible, because I have family and I like the city, but in summer it is possible that I go … I have one more year on my contract and it’s the club’s decision. If the club tells me ‘Eden, thanks for four years, but you have to go’, I have to accept it because it’s normal. But I would like to play more, show more that I can play, that I am a good player.”
– Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg has suggested that contract talks between Liverpool and Roberto Firmino are progressing well, although the deal isn’t in its final steps at this stage. The Brazilian’s contract expires in the summer of 2023 but he can see himself extending the deal to stay past that, with it helping that the forward has positive relations with Jurgen Klopp.
– Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Girona midfielder Aleix Garcia as a free agent when his contract ends in the summer, reports AS. Atleti’s financial situation is fragile after their European exit in the group stage, which is leading them to look at the free market, although there could be competition from Barcelona when it comes to Garcia.
– Clubs from England, Spain and Portugal are watching Santos duo Angelo Gabriel and Marcos Leonardo, according to Ekrem Konur. Of the two teenagers, Gabriel has 10 goal contributions across all competitions this season, while Leonardo has amassed 27 for the Brazilian club.