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Jude Bellingham is just what PSG need, but is a deal realistic?

Signing a player of Bellingham’s quality would be a massive coup for PSG, and maybe it’s something they’ll look at if more clubs start dropping out of the running for the Borussia Dortmund midfielder. We’ve already seen Liverpool leaving the race for Bellingham, but if top clubs are deciding to drop out of this deal then it’s because the asking price from Dortmund is probably on the exorbitant side.

Personally, I’d be surprised if it came to the point where PSG strongly considered making a move. He’d be ideal for PSG in many ways because he ticks a lot of boxes in terms of what they’re looking for to rebuild their midfield, but he also doesn’t fit in many ways with what they’re trying to put in place with a new culture built mostly around young French talent, and specifically talent hailing from the Paris region where possible. As much as Bellingham and his quality would be welcome at PSG if the opportunity arose, I don’t particularly think the chances are high. If they did make that move they’d have to make some major financial sacrifices, and they wouldn’t have much room for manoeuvre in other areas of the team, when the reality is that PSG have a lot of work to do this summer to pretty much rebuild this team from top to bottom.

In terms of midfield players that I do know PSG really like, Khephren Thuram of Nice is definitely up there. They’d be very interested in trying to bring him in, though it’s not clear how straightforward the relationship between the two clubs will be because of Christophe Galtier. Seko Fofana is another player they could revisit after his good season at Lens, even if he’s not been quite at the level of previous seasons. Thuram and Fofana, rather than Bellingham, are more the kind of profile PSG are interested in.

Will PSG strengthen in defence?

There have been links between PSG and Alessandro Bastoni, and I’m pretty sure it’s not the first time we’ve seen him mentioned as a target for them. In terms of bringing in a big name in defence, we know Milan Skriniar is already set to join on a free transfer from Inter Milan, and I think PSG will continue to prioritise players like that, where they won’t need to worry about negotiating a transfer fee.

Skriniar, despite not having a transfer fee, still has a significant pay packet, so I think that might limit what PSG can do with someone like Bastoni, who is under contract and a key part of this Inter side who are now doing very well, making it to the semi-finals of the Champions League, unexpectedly so. For me, I find it hard to see Bastoni to PSG coming off.

One option PSG might be more interested in is someone like Evan Ndicka, who is French, from the Paris region, and is available on a free this summer, though he might not be available for that long if he gets snapped up by one of the numerous other European clubs looking at him.

Folarin Balogun could replace Arkadiusz Milik at Marseille

Arkadiusz Milik is being strongly linked with making his loan move from Marseille to Juventus permanent. I think they could have been a good match because Marseille needed that established source of goals in attack, a real recognised number 9. Perhaps they’ll now have that in Vitinha, who’s starting to score a bit more.

In terms of Milik, it does sound like his time at OM is done, and if Juve can get a permanent deal done then they’d be ready to do so. We often see Marseille move players on after a year or two, their players don’t stay for that long, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Milik return to Italy.

In terms of replacing the Poland international, I think a lot of what they do in the transfer market will depend on where they finish in Ligue 1. They’re currently in a battle to finish in the top two, as they compete with Lens for a place just behind PSG. I think if they do manage to get that runners-up spot, they could try for something big, and there have been whispers that they’re very keen on Folarin Balogun, the Arsenal loanee doing very well on loan in Ligue 1 with Reims this season.

I think Milik could be the kind of player Marseille try to move on in order to make a move for someone like Balogun if possible. Given the track record Marseille have of loaning players from Arsenal and then either signing them permanently or sending them back more first-team ready to Arsenal, I think this definitely could be an interesting option for the Gunners to explore.

Balogun will feel that, given his performances this season, he deserves to have a go as a starting striker somewhere, but it’s also difficult to justify starting him ahead of the other quality players they have in that position at Arsenal. So another loan move and European experience could be good for him, with that not an option for him if he stays at Reims, which now seems to be being ruled out anyway. Arteta might want to take a look at Balogun in pre-season to see what kind of level he’s at, but it then gives them the opportunity to loan him to another club later in the summer.

It’s also worth noting that Balogun has spoken positively about Marseille as a club, the atmosphere at the Stade Velodrome, so it looks like it’s a place he can imagine himself playing, and it looks like he’s open to staying in France after doing so well there this season. But, with respect to Reims and what they’ve achieved under Will Still, I think it’s time for Balogun to try stepping up a level and challenging himself in European football, which he could do at Marseille.

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William Saliba absence being felt – his time at Marseille showed he was set for Arsenal stardom

It speaks volumes about William Saliba that he’s been so badly missed by Arsenal during his recent struggle with injury. Though to be honest, it was clear from watching him on loan at Marseille last season, with the impact he had, that he was ready to go back to Arsenal and play regularly, or indeed move elsewhere. He’s still young, but he’s been highly regarded for a long time, and already looked a very polished defender last season.

I’m not too surprised by the impact he’s had, we’ve known for a long time in France that he’s a top prospect and we got a sneak preview of how good he can really be in the second half of the season he spent on loan at Nice, where he formed a strong partnership with Jean-Clair Todibo. I think his loan at Marseille then really cemented his place in Arsenal’s plans and also proved key in strengthening the strategic relationship between the two clubs.

A lot of clubs wanted him before he went to Arsenal as well. Clubs are well aware of the talent coming through at Saint-Etienne, like Wesley Fofana, who’s now at Chelsea, and previously Kurt Zouma a few years before that. There were a handful of top European clubs who were interested in him at that time, PSG were one of those, but Arsenal ended up winning that race for his signature. To this day he still attracts a lot of interest from across Europe because he’s an elite defensive talent.

It is interesting to see him developing some injury problems back at Arsenal because it’s not something that really affected him too much in the early years of his career in France. Obviously, it’s far from ideal timing for Arsenal that he’s having these issues now, and you’d hope that it doesn’t derail their title challenge too much after all that positive momentum they’d built up with him in the team.

They’re facing a key run of games now and they look like they need him back, though of course rushing him to return to the team has its own risks in terms of long-term damage, so they’ll need to manage this situation carefully. If they can get him back, he’ll be a very important player towards the end of this season and next season as well when they’re most likely back in the Champions League. They’ll also no doubt be working hard to tie him down to a new contract soon to ensure he’s one of the cornerstones of this team for many years to come.

Where next for Jonathan David?

Jonathan David’s name is making headlines again after a return to form, and from my understanding he’s always prioritised a transfer to England or Spain for his next move. I think big clubs from those leagues will have the upper hand over Bundesliga clubs like Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.

Fabrizio Romano has said David is probably too expensive for Leipzig, and I understand Bayern have looked at him, so we’ll see if that interest arises again this summer, but they could certainly do with a proven source of goals. He’s been in better form of late, and I expect he’ll push harder for a move this summer having already been linked with a move away in the last year or two.

Even if his preference is for the Premier League or La Liga, I can see him ticking a lot of boxes for Bayern, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens with this one.

The post Exclusive: Bellingham signing ideal for PSG, transfer interest in Arsenal star & more – Jonathan Johnson appeared first on CaughtOffside.

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What next for Houssem Aouar as he laughs off Eintracht Frankfurt links?

There were a lot of clubs around Europe interested in Houssem Aouar after Lyon’s run to the latter stages of the Champions League in 2019/20. I know Arsenal were linked, but my understanding is that there was more strong interest from Juventus. I can’t say for sure how close he was to moving, but there was definitely interest there from Arsenal and Juve.

Of course, Lyon have a history of some top young players being linked with the Premier League, with the moves not always going through, with Nabil Fekir’s failed transfer to Liverpool the most obvious example, with that deal falling through because he got injured.

Aouar continues to attract some interest, and my understanding over the last two transfer windows is that he’s had one foot out of the door at Lyon without any proper opportunities arising just yet. There were one or two conversations in January because he’s now close to becoming a free agent, and it’s a similar situation to Moussa Dembele, because clubs are interested now that he’s a free agent especially. But there wasn’t necessarily a strong desire from clubs to pay Lyon a transfer fee, especially this January when he was so close to the end of his contract.

In more recent times across Europe there’s been interest from Roma, and it was interesting to see his response on Twitter to the Eintracht Frankfurt links. They’re a competitive team, they play regularly in Europe, and they can offer a track record with French players like Randal Kolo Muani, who would help him bed in.

But I think Aouar’s response, as he seemed to laugh off the links, goes hand in hand with what I’ve heard about the people around the player. They’re perhaps looking for a financial package that is more in line with his form from a couple of years ago, rather than his form now.

Premier League and Ligue 1 clubs could agree more loans

We know Arsenal have had plenty of success in loaning young players to Ligue 1 clubs in recent times, with names like Folarin Balogun and Nuno Tavares discussed recently in this column, while William Saliba benefited a great deal from loans with Nice and Marseille before coming back and becoming a regular starter for the Gunners this season.

Arsenal could well look to Ligue 1 again this summer, and other Premier League clubs will probably do the same. The French top flight is a good place to let young talent develop, and clubs up and down the Premier League will undoubtedly look at the progress of the likes of Balogun and Saliba and think they could do well to agree similar deals.

One shouldn’t overlook the benefits of building up a rapport with a club in France – it allows players to go and accrue the necessary experience to then go and make it in the Premier League. There’ll also be Ligue 1 clubs ready to take on a player who perhaps isn’t seeing that much playing time, like Morgan Sanson who’s on loan at Strasbourg from Aston Villa.

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On Balogun, it can’t be ruled out that Reims look at keeping him on for another season. It doesn’t look likely at the moment, but if Reims continue their fine form and qualify for Europe then you can’t completely rule it out. It’s been a really successful deal for both clubs and for the player, so you can see why there’ll be other teams leaning towards a similar arrangement.

Why Benoit Badiashile chose Chelsea over Premier League rivals

Benoit Badiashile has really impressed me with the way he’s started at Chelsea. He’s performed really well when he’s played but it’s not been the perfect start at Chelsea because I don’t think he’ll have expected not to be part of their Champions League squad, which can only contain three signings made in the middle of the season. Personally I think that might have been a bit short-sighted by Chelsea, but of course they’re now into the quarter-finals so let’s wait and see how Graham Potter fares in the competition. It wouldn’t have been easy leaving out Joao Felix, Mykhaylo Mudryk or Enzo Fernandez either, but I do think Badiashile would have been a valuable addition to the squad.

In terms of links with other Premier League clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United, I think Chelsea’s focus on recruiting some of the best young talents in Europe at the moment for a project that will be medium to long term at the very least, I think that proved very attractive to Badiashile. Chelsea are also offering famously long contracts to their players in order to make the overall transfer value a bit lower.

So I think Badiashile was won over by Chelsea and he’s proven a shrewd piece of business. He still looked like he had room for improvement at Monaco, but he’s progressing well and I think he’s going to be an influential player for them for a long time.

It will be interesting to see how Badiashile continues next season if there is an overhaul of Chelsea’s defence. The ageing Thiago Silva has just picked up an injury keeping him out for six weeks, while there have been rumours of Kalidou Koulibaly moving on, so if Chelsea continue to pursue someone like Josko Gvardiol, we could see Badiashile forming part of a younger, new-look back line next season, forming a more long-term partnership with someone closer to his age range than the likes of Silva and Koulibaly.

Premier League transfer appeals to Adrien Rabiot

Adrien Rabiot is coming towards the end of his contract with Juventus and it does seem like his time at the club is going to be coming to an end, but we’ll have to see where he ends up next.

With Manchester United last summer, there was some talk that the move fell through because of his wage demands, but it’s also worth remembering that United were not in the best shape at that time. I know they’ve just been thumped 7-0 by Liverpool now, but generally speaking they’re in a better place than they were when that interest in Rabiot was first explored.

I don’t think it’s necessarily clear that Rabiot still fits in with what Ten Hag is trying to do now, but Rabiot on a free transfer is a lot more tempting than having to pay a transfer fee for him, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see clubs revisit that. I think many people also forget that, although Rabiot burst onto the scene at senior level with PSG, he actually spent a few years in the Manchester City academy, so he does have experience of playing in England I think it’s somewhere he’d like to test himself again at some point in the future.

There have been suggestions that PSG might explore bringing him back to France, but given how he left and his relationship with the club I think that’s a difficult one to envisage, so I think the Premier League is definitely a potential destination for him, especially one who can offer European football. Still, he will come with some quite specific demands from his entourage – everyone knows he’s famously represented by his mother, and that can turn a lot of clubs off Rabiot’s talent. The talent is definitely there, though, as we saw in the World Cup with France.

Rennes’ demands could put clubs off Jeremy Doku

There has been interest in Jeremy Doku down the years, with long-standing links with Liverpool and other big clubs. He first came through the ranks in Belgium and has always been highly rated whilst developing his game at Rennes.

What I would say about Doku is that although he’s had moments of brilliance in his time in France, he’s struggled for consistency. He’s quite a difficult player to judge accurately, because there are some great moments there, and he’s got really explosive pace, but then sometimes there are questions over certain aspects of his end-product.

To be honest, I think there are enough questions about his overall profile at the moment that means Premier League clubs would have to do a lot of research on him, and a lot of scouting before being sure they can work out how to get the best out of him. He’d probably command quite a significant transfer fee, and though I don’t think his wages would be an issue for most Premier League clubs, I think most teams would struggle to justify spending the kind of money that would be required to bring Rennes to the table for him right now.

Unless he goes on a really terrific run of form in the weeks and months ahead, it wouldn’t surprise me if we still see him at Rennes next season. Still, there is potential there so he could be one to watch in the future.

The post Exclusive: How Chelsea won Badiashile transfer race, future Arsenal and Ligue 1 deals & more – Jonathan Johnson appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Liverpool recently sent scouts to attend Egypt vs Guinea during this current international break, keeping a close eye on a 19-year-old defender.

Liverpool recently announced the signing of Fabio Carvalho, 19, from Fulham, outlining their clear strategy to being to recruit young stars for the future. A similar situation occurred with Harvey Elliot in 2019, again from Fulham, as the Merseyside begin to stockpile some of the best young players in Europe.

Another player Liverpool are now showing an interest in is Saint Etienne defender Saidou Sow, according to L’Equipe. The 19-year-old hasn’t played regularly for his club side, due to his age, but Jurgen Klopp doesn’t necessarily need to improve his defence in the immediate future.

Virgil Van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Joel Matip all performed exceptionally last season, so the potential signing of Sow would be a long-term plan.

The Guinean is already a regular for his country at the age of 19, so the valuable experience of international football should be pivotal in his development.

Klopp could look to use Keita’s connection with Sow to facilitate any transfer, with the Liverpool midfielder the current captain of the Guinea national team.

The post Liverpool send scouts to watch African star appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Saint-Etienne fans stormed the pitch and threw flares everywhere in absolutely crazy scenes following the club’s relegation to Ligue 2.

Auxerre won on penalties in this relegation/promotion playoff, with Auxerre celebrating going up whilst condemning their opponents to life in the lower division next season.

Here’s what went down after the end of the game…

Saint-Étienne are relegated to Ligue 2 and what happened next was absolutely insane from the fans ?

pic.twitter.com/IxywaoYqQH

— 101 Great Goals (@101greatgoals) May 29, 2022

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We’re seeing more and more of this kind of behaviour recently, and these are pretty terrifying scenes to witness.

It follows chaos at the Champions League final in Paris at the weekend, with French football clearly having similar issues to English football, if not worse.

One just has to hope this is a case of the pictures and video making it look worse than it actually was, but it’s certainly not somewhere you’d want to be if you were watching the game with your family and kids last night.

The post Video: Crazy pitch invasion with flares thrown as Saint-Etienne relegated from Ligue 1 appeared first on CaughtOffside.

There was a time when goals from your own half were unheard of, but since David Beckham’s incredible effort for Man United against Wimbledon back in the 1990s, it’s become a much more common occurrence.

The latest player to attempt the almost impossible was St. Etienne’s Wahbi Khazri, whilst playing against Metz in Ligue Un on Saturday evening.

The visitors were already 1-0 down to an early Farid Boulaya effort before Khazri took matters into his own hands.

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Picking the ball up just inside his own box, he strode purposely forwards before unleashing a stunning 70-yard drive to silence the home fans.

Wahbi Khazri casually scoring from 70 yards for Saint-Etienne against Metz yesterdaypic.twitter.com/PYXaNkMQzz

— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) October 31, 2021

The post Video: Wahbi Khazri nets 70-yard stunner from his own half for St. Etienne appeared first on CaughtOffside.

St Etienne are one of the biggest historical clubs in France with a history of success and a huge fanbase, but they’ve not had a great time of things in recent seasons as they’ve started to slip down the table.

This season has the early signs of a major disaster as Claude Puel has them rock-bottom, while they also have the dangerous combination of scoring less than a goal a game while also leaking plenty at the other end.

The fans are obviously furious, and they’ve forced tonight’s game against Angers to be delayed by throwing a ton of flares onto the field prior to kick-off:

Tonight’s Saint Étienne-Angers kick-off has been delayed, with multiple flares being thrown onto the pitch. The players have returned to the changing rooms. (?@EDWARDJAY73) pic.twitter.com/eAebACwhie

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) October 22, 2021

They’ve made it clear that they aren’t happy, and it puts more pressure on the board to get rid of Puel, especially if they do lose the game when it’s eventually played.

The post St Etienne fans force match vs Angers to be delayed due to a mass flare protest appeared first on CaughtOffside.

As has been seen with the likes of Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho, young English players continue to make something of a splash on the continent.

Whilst not quite out of sight, out of mind, the glare of publicity perhaps isn’t so bright for those players plying their trade outside of the Premier League.

It therefore allows development to continue relatively unhindered during what might be considered one of the most important phases of a player’s career.

That’s certainly been the case for 21-year-old goalkeeping sensation, Etienne Green, a 6ft 4in stopper that is currently plying his trade, coincidentally, at St. Etienne.

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Born in Colchester, Essex, Green moved to France with his family aged four, and has previously represented France at U21 level.

However, though the reasons aren’t clear, he has swapped his allegiance back to the Three Lions, and is on the verge of a senior breakthrough after impressing for Lee Carsley’s U21 side and for Claude Puel at St. Etienne, where he’s making a real name for himself.

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Teamtalk note that both West Ham and Tottenham are keeping tabs on Green, with their current custodians, Lukasz Fabianski and Hugo Lloris, both in their mid-thirties and, perhaps, with their best days behind them.

The post Unsung England U21 star on verge of senior honours courted by Tottenham and West Ham appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Who else but Matteo Guendouzi to be enjoying his football on a day that saw Arsenal absolutely thrashed against a top Premier League side in Manchester City…

In the 22nd minute of this evening’s Ligue 1 tie between Marseille and Saint-Etienne, Dimitri Payet sparked danger with a beautiful outside-foot pass in behind for Cengiz Under.

Under drilled a low cross into the box from the right side, which Konrad de la Fuente was primed to convert but couldn’t due to some last-ditch defending from Saint-Etienne.

The Barcelona academy graduate didn’t stop there though, he hustled for the ball, eventually laying it back to Guendouzi, who steadied himself and drilled the ball into the back of the net with a fine finish.

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Mattéo Guendouzi!! ?

His first goal for Marseille! ??

A smart finish from the Arsenal Loanee ? pic.twitter.com/orEpjM3qWE

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 28, 2021

Pictures from BT Sport and Canal+ Sport.

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Guendouzi fell out of favour at Arsenal after an outburst in the clash against Brighton during the summer restart of the 19/20 season. Mikel Arteta has not called on the Frenchman since, instead casting him away on loan to Hertha Berlin last season and now Marseille.

The 22-year-old has enjoyed a nice start to life back in his homeland, before he missed the last two matches, Guendouzi played the entirety of the win against Montpellier and netted an assist vs Bordeaux.

Guendouzi wasn’t the only Arsenal loanee to score today, Konstantinos Mavropanos fared much better than his defensive colleagues with a brilliant, hard-fought goal for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga.

The post Video: Arsenal outcast Matteo Guendouzi hammers in first goal for loan club Marseille appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Reported Chelsea target Lucas Gourna-Douath is set to sign a new long-term contract with Saint-Etienne, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Gourna-Douath is considered one of French football’s biggest hopes for the future. He’s only 17-years-old, but he’s showing promise of having a huge future in the game.

The teenager has already made 27 appearances in Ligue 1, which is testament to how highly he is thought of at Saint-Etienne, even at his tender age.

RMC Sport have linked Gourna-Douath with Chelsea, as well as Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund, but he doesn’t appear likely to go anywhere this summer.

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As per Fabrizio Romano, he will instead be committing his future to his current employers, signing a new contract until 2025.

Lucas Gourna is set to sign a new contract with St-Etienne until June 2025, total agreement reached. Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund among clubs scouting him as future top talent. ?? #StEtienne #transfers

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 2, 2021

That looks to be a shrewd move from Gourna-Douath, who will only be 21 upon the contract’s expiry, a more appropriate age for him to seek out a big move.

Should his development continue on the right track, we could see a future French midfield of Gourna-Douath, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, which is utterly mouthwatering.

The post Fabrizio Romano reveals Chelsea-linked midfielder is set to sign new contract appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Chelsea are interested in signing Saint-Etienne prospect Lucas Gourna-Douath, according to RMC Sport.

Chelsea have made a habit in recent seasons of stockpiling some of the world’s most exciting talent.

It may seem a little inconsequential reporting on links between the Blues and players like Gourna-Douath, who is just 17-years-old, with the reality being he’ll likely never make an appearance for the club, should he sign.

Still, RMC Sport believe that the teenager is of interest to Chelsea, with Marina Granovskaia probably licking her lips at the prospect of flipping him for big-money further down the line.

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The report claims that Chelsea will face competition from Atalanta, who are thought to be preparing a €10M bid, as well as Borussia Dortmund, who LOVE a talented youngster, as has been well-established.

Ultimately, if Chelsea want a player they usually get them. That’s not applicable in all cases, but when we’re discussing a 17-year-old playing his football for a club like Saint-Etienne, it applies.

We’ll have to wait and see if Marina is able to work her magic and get him through the door.

The post Chelsea tracking Saint-Etienne teenage prospect, Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund also keen appeared first on CaughtOffside.