Lille &#8211; CaughtOffside

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

The Belgian made 352 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 110 goals and providing 92 assists for the club. Many regard Hazard as one of Chelsea’s best ever players and club legend.

Hazard then made his dream move to Real Madrid after spending seven years with the Blues. He spent his final four years with Madrid from 2019-2023, making 76 appearances, scoring seven goals and providing 12 assists, winning two La Liga titles and a Champions League title along the way.

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Transfer news: Man United enquire about Chelsea star, Man City to push for Premier League midfielder, talks ongoing for Lukaku & more

CaughtOffside Team — Sun, 27 Aug 2023 10:37:04 +0000

Good morning and welcome to today’s Daily Briefing – click here to subscribe for this round-up ad-free and straight to your inbox, as well as exclusive columns from Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson, Christian Falk and Neil Jones!

Today’s top stories:

Ajax

Mohammed Kudus has successfully completed his medical in London ahead of becoming a new West Ham player.

Arsenal

Kieran Tierney is in Spain to complete his move to Real Sociedad on loan.

Aston Villa

Philippe Coutinho has reached an agreement with Qatari side Al Duhail over personal terms but an agreement needs to be reached with Aston Villa.

Barcelona

Alexis Sanchez was never close to returning to Barcelona, it was all fake news – more info here.

Brighton

A verbal agreement over a €27m fee, plus €3m in add-ons, has been reached between Lille and Brighton for Carlos Baleba. Personal terms have already been agreed ahead of a move as the player is set for his medical.

Celta Vigo

Gabri Veiga has completed his move to Al Ahli from Celta Vigo.

Chelsea

Roma are in talks with Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku. An important bid has been submitted with a loan fee but how the striker’s salary will be paid is being discussed. The owners are directly involved in order to get the deal over the line.

One player Man United have enquired about for the left-back role is Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella – for more info, click here!
Djordje Petrović has signed for Chelsea on a seven-year contract from New England Revolution.

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace are closing in on a permanent deal for Manchester United’s Dean Henderson. The final details of the deal will be completed on Sunday.

Everton

Udinese striker Beto is set to join Everton after an agreement was reached over a transfer fee, which will be in excess of €30m but under his €35m release clause.

Inter Milan

Alexis Sánchez has joined Inter on a short-term deal until 2024 as a free agent. The player was never close to returning to Barcelona, it was all fake news – more info here.

Liverpool

The latest on Liverpool’s transfer plans for the final week of the window can be found here!

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

Manchester City

Man City will push for Matheus Nunes until the transfer window shuts – full story here.

Manchester United

One player Man United have enquired about for the left-back role is Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella – for more info, click here!
Sofyan Amrabat has once again not been called up for Fiorentina’s next game. The player won’t play or train until his future is resolved and he is waiting for Manchester United.

Crystal Palace are closing in on a permanent deal for Manchester United’s Dean Henderson. The final details of the deal will be completed on Sunday.
The latest on Donny van de Beek’s future can be found here!
Altay Bayindir is in England ahead of €7m move from Fenerbahce to Manchester United.

Real Sociedad

Kieran Tierney is set to complete his loan move to Real Sociedad. The player arrived in Spain on Saturday.

Roma

Roma are in talks with Chelsea to sign Romelu Lukaku on loan. An important bid has been submitted with a loan fee but how the striker’s salary will be paid is being discussed. The owners are directly involved in order to get the deal over the line.
Sardar Azmoun has signed for Roma from Bayer Leverkusen as part of a loan deal until June.

Sevilla

West Ham are currently in talks to sign Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri – more info here.

Sporting CP

Iván Fresneda is ready to join Sporting CP from Real Valladolid. His contract is until 2028 and it is a €9m plus €3m add-ons package agreed between both clubs.

West Ham

Mohammed Kudus has successfully completed his medical in London ahead of becoming a new West Ham player.
West Ham are currently in talks to sign Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri – more info here.
For more information on West Ham’s pursuit of Ibrahim Sangaré – click here!

Wolves

Man City will push for Matheus Nunes until the transfer window shuts – full story here.

The post Transfer news: Man United enquire about Chelsea star, Man City to push for Premier League midfielder, talks ongoing for Lukaku & more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Liverpool ready to fight Brighton for 19-year-old starlet worth £30m

Darren Looney — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 20:15:21 +0000

Liverpool are reportedly set to fight Brighton for Lille youngster Carlos Baleba as the Seagulls look to replace Moises Caicedo.

Fabrizio Romano reported earlier on Tuesday that Brighton had made a bid of €17m plus €3m in add-ons for the Cameroonian starlet but that falls short of Lille’s asking price of £30m.

Baleba broke into the Lille first team last season, making 21 appearances across all competitions. Still only 19 years old, he is under contract with the French Ligue 1 outfit until 2026.

Teamtalk report that Liverpool have an interest in the midfielder and will join the race with Brighton as Jurgen Klopp looks to add another to his squad before the transfer window shuts.

In addition to these two clubs, there is other interest from the Premier League in the form of Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Aston Villa and Newcastle.

Brighton are clearly leading the race but will likely need to get close or match Lille’s asking price to make the deal happen..

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

The post Liverpool ready to fight Brighton for 19-year-old starlet worth £30m appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Liverpool and Newcastle on the trail of Brighton’s Caicedo replacement

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 06:16:10 +0000

The defensive midfielder merry-go-round continues after Moises Caicedo was confirmed as Chelsea’s record signing, with old side Brighton and Hove Albion looking to beat a queue of suitors to his replacement.

If there’s one thing that has stood out for the Seagulls over the past couple of years, it’s the strength of their recruitment department as well as a defined and exciting playing style that has become the envy of the Premier League.

Losing Graham Potter to Chelsea could’ve seen the beginning of the end to their forward-thinking project, however, Roberto De Zerbi took on the mantle and took the club to the next level, leading them to their highest ever finish last season.

The progression is obvious and even when losing talents such as Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister, one is left with the feeling that, somehow, they’ll still cope admirably.

One of the players that they are looking at to replace the 21-year-old Ecuadorian is Lille’s brilliant 19-year-old, Carlos Baleba.

The Daily Mail suggest that a deal for in the region of £15m, a fraction of the Caicedo sale price, could be in the offing, but it looks as though Brighton will face competition from both Liverpool and Newcastle as well as Serie A giants, AC Milan and Juventus, and Ligue Un rivals, Monaco.

In keeping with their great business of late it seems that the Seagulls have stolen a march on their rivals as talks have, apparently, already begun with Lille.

It remains to be seen if they can get the deal over the line.

The post Liverpool and Newcastle on the trail of Brighton’s Caicedo replacement appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive: French football expert names logical replacement for Harry Kane at Tottenham

Darren Looney — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 08:31:04 +0000

Harry Kane is on his way to Bayern Munich after Tottenham agreed a deal with the Bundesliga club on Thursday and when it comes to his replacement, French football expert Jonathan Johnson has named a Ligue 1 star as the logical replacement for the English superstar.

That is Lille’s Jonathan David, who has often been linked with a move to the Premier League in recent seasons. It has already been reported this summer that the Canada international is being considered to replace Kane as Tottenham’s striker and according to Jonathan Johnson, that would be the logical move for the north London club to make.

Writing in his latest exclusive column for CaughtOffside, the French football journalist believes it is a deal that could happen due to Lille’s need for cash and that the 23-year-old needs regular game time on Europe’s biggest stages.

Jonathan David to Tottenham?

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

Speaking about David and Tottenham, Johnson said: “It would be a logical move for Tottenham to move for Jonathan David if they end up cashing in on Harry Kane. However, David has been linked with a move away from Lille for quite a long time now and it never seems to materialise.

“He’s one of the few players that Lille would really be able to cash in on to help their financial issues, which makes a transfer possible. The forward is also a player who seems to always find form just before the transfer window opens but then dips during the season. Therefore, it’s quite hard for clubs to be absolutely sure that they want to make the move because you sometimes get these inconsistent periods of form, which I think makes some clubs, certainly some of the bigger clubs around Europe, reluctant to step in and make a bid.

“There’s only so much David can aspire to do at Lille, having already won the Ligue 1 title with them so a move would be best this summer and I think, like Todibo, he needs regular game time now on the continental stage.”

The post Exclusive: French football expert names logical replacement for Harry Kane at Tottenham appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Transfer news: Tottenham agree fee with Bayern Munich for Harry Kane, Liverpool win Moises Caicedo race, Premier League star wants to join Man City and more

CaughtOffside Team — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 06:19:40 +0000

Good morning and welcome to today’s Daily Briefing – click here to subscribe for this round-up, ad-free and straight to your inbox, as well as exclusive columns from Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, Jonathan Johnson, Christian Falk and Neil Jones!

Today’s top stories:

Tottenham have accepted Bayern Munich’s latest offer for Harry Kane
Liverpool are set to break the British transfer record for Brighton’s Moises Caicedo
ICYMI – Jonathan Johnson’s latest column

AFC Bournemouth

Alex Scott has joined Bournemouth from Bristol City as part of a £25m deal with add-ons included.
Max Aarons has completed his transfer to Bournemouth from Norwich City for £7m plus add-ons.

Ajax

Edson Álvarez has left Ajax to join West Ham for €38m, which can reach €41m with add-ons.
Stade de Reims are set to sign Ajax’s Mo Daramy on a permanent transfer — €17m package add-ons included – deal also includes a sell-on clause for Ajax.

AS Monaco

Denis Zakaria will join AS Monaco from Juventus after a fee of €20m plus an important sell-on clause was agreed between the clubs.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa’s Aaron Ramsey is close to joining Burnley. A deal is in place for £14m plus add-ons.
Aston Villa are pushing to sign Galatasaray’s Nicoló Zaniolo after Emi Buendía suffered an ACL injury during training this week. Villa’s offer to the Turkish side will be for a loan deal with an option-to-buy clause.

Barcelona

Neymar Jr and Paris Saint-Germain are working to find the best solution to part ways this summer. The player has proposals from Al Hilal and MLS. Barcelona also have to decide whether they want to try and bring their former player back.
Ousmane Dembélé has completed his medical tests as a new PSG player — he’s set to be unveiled by the end of the week.

Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with Tottenham for Harry Kane with a package worth more than €100m accepted by the Premier League club. The player has been given permission to travel to Germany to complete his medical tests ahead of transfer to Bayern. The Bundesliga club are confident the deal will be done by Friday.
Benjamin Pavard is open to leaving Bayern Munich this summer and is keen on a Manchester United move. United manager Erik ten Hag will decide soon between Pavard and Jean-Clair Todibo.

Brighton

Liverpool have submitted their official bid for Moisés Caicedo in the early hours of Friday morning and Brighton are set to accept. The offer is a fee of around £110m – a new record for a British transfer. Caicedo will become a Liverpool player on Friday if all goes to plan.

Burnley

Aston Villa’s Aaron Ramsey is close to joining Burnley. A deal is in place for £14m plus add-ons.

Chelsea

Liverpool submitted their official bid for Moisés Caicedo in the early hours of Friday morning and Brighton are set to accept. The offer is a fee of around £110m – a new record for a British transfer. Caicedo will become a Liverpool player on Friday if all goes to plan. Chelsea miss out on their long-term target and will now move on to other players.
Tyler Adams is set to join Chelsea after the relegation clause worth £20m in his Leeds contract was activated on Thursday. Personal terms have been agreed and medical was completed on Thursday.
Santos’ Deivid Washington will travel to England at the end of the week in order to complete his move to Chelsea.

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

Espanyol

Mallorca are closing in on a €8m deal to sign Spanish midfielder Sergi Darder from Espanyol.

Everton

Willy Gnonto wants to move from Leeds to Everton before the transfer window shuts. An agreement on personal terms has already been agreed with a five-year deal offered.
Everton have completed a deal for Sporting CP’s Youssef Chermiti.

Juventus

Denis Zakaria will join AS Monaco from Juventus after a fee of €20m plus an important sell-on clause was agreed between the clubs.

Leeds United

Tyler Adams is set to join Chelsea after the relegation clause worth £20m in his Leeds contract was activated on Thursday. Personal terms have been agreed and medical was completed on Thursday.
Willy Gnonto wants to move from Leeds to Everton before the transfer window shuts. An agreement on personal terms has already been agreed with a five-year deal offered.

Liverpool

Liverpool have submitted their official bid for Moisés Caicedo in the early hours of Friday morning and Brighton are set to accept. The offer is a fee of around £110m – a new record for a British transfer. Caicedo will become a Liverpool player on Friday if all goes to plan.

Thiago Alcantara is not in talks with Al Ahli over a move. The player is fully focused on Liverpool this season.

Manchester City

Lucas Paquetá wants to join Manchester City after their initial verbal approach for £70m was rejected. Negotiations will continue as City are set to bid again.

Manchester United

Fred is set to leave Man United and join Fenerbahçe after an agreement was reached over a €15m transfer. The player has agreed personal terms with the Turkish club and will travel for medical tests soon.
Rasmus Højlund will become Man United’s new number 17 after the Fred deal is complete.
Benjamin Pavard is open to leaving Bayern Munich this summer and is keen on a Manchester United move. United manager Erik ten Hag will decide soon between Pavard and Jean-Clair Todibo – Jonathan Johnson has more info on Todibo.
Bayer Leverkusen have signed Matěj Kovář from Man United on a permanent deal. The fee for the goalkeeper will be €9m.

Paris Saint-Germain

Neymar Jr and Paris Saint-Germain are working to find the best solution to part ways this summer. The player has proposals from Al Hilal and MLS. Barcelona also have to decide whether they want to try and bring their former player back.

Kylian Mbappe’s situation at PSG won’t change until the transfer window is shut – French football expert has more here.
Ousmane Dembélé has completed his medical tests as a new PSG player — he’s set to be unveiled by the end of the week.
Galatasaray are on the verge of reaching an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain for Leandro Paredes. €6m fee but no agreement yet with the player. Talks are ongoing with Roma also interested.

Real Madrid

Real Madrid are prepared to enter the transfer market for a new goalkeeper after Thibaut Courtois injured his ACL.

Roma

Roma have had contact with Leandro Paredes over a move but Galatasaray are on the verge of reaching an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain for the midfielder. €6m fee but no agreement yet with the player – talks are ongoing.

Southampton

Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse arrived in London on Thursday night ahead of his medical on Friday. An agreement has already been reached between the two clubs.

Tottenham

Bayern Munich have reached an agreement with Tottenham for Harry Kane with a package worth more than €100m accepted by the Premier League club. The player has been given permission to travel to Germany to complete his medical tests ahead of his transfer to Bayern. The Bundesliga club are confident the deal will be done by Friday.
Lille’s Jonathan David would be a great replacement for Harry Kane at Tottenham – Jonathan Johnson has more here.

West Ham

Edson Álvarez has joined West Ham from Ajax as part of a €38m deal, which can reach €41m with add-ons.
Lucas Paquetá wants to join Manchester City after their initial verbal approach for £70m was rejected. Negotiations will continue as City are set to bid again.
Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse arrived in London on Thursday night ahead of his medical on Friday. An agreement has already been reached between the two clubs.

The post Transfer news: Tottenham agree fee with Bayern Munich for Harry Kane, Liverpool win Moises Caicedo race, Premier League star wants to join Man City and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive Jonathan Johnson column: Latest on Neymar and Mbappe, is Todibo ready for Man United? Ligue 1 star would be logical replacement for Harry Kane & more

Jonathan Johnson — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 17:00:00 +0000

Hello and welcome to my weekly column for CaughtOffside – click here to subscribe for more exclusive content from Fabrizio Romano, Ben Jacobs, and more!

Neymar finds himself in a really interesting situation in Paris

The situation regarding Neymar is really interesting; of course, a player with his ability will likely play if he ends up staying at PSG, which may well be the case. A role can be created for him in Paris, especially under a coach like Luis Enrique who knows him and has had previous success alongside the superstar. The forward’s cameo in pre-season during PSG’s final friendly showed that he still has something to offer. The problem is so many people these days, even people who’ve formally played or coached him, can see the fact that Neymar has declined over the last couple of years, which makes a transfer difficult.

I think it’s quite telling that Xavi publicly, although he wanted to speak highly of his friend, didn’t want to play out the possibility of him coming back to Barcelona. Luis Enrique, who arguably oversaw his most impressive spell in Europe, is also not entirely convinced that he has a future in his PSG plans. It’s an interesting time right now because both the club and the player are keen to move on from his spell in Paris.

Another problem is the lengthy contract that the Brazilian superstar has with PSG and the fact that he is being paid massive money. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of weeks as the Kylian Mbappe factor will need to be considered too before anything with Neymar is finalised. The feeling is one of the two will go – if it is at all possible for PSG to move them on.

Kylian Mbappe’s current situation won’t change until the transfer window shuts

There’s frustration surrounding the Kylian Mbappe saga, but there’s frustration on both sides of that situation. Kylian just wants to be out there playing football, getting ready for the new season and getting ready for what in his mind has been building up to be his final season with PSG. The PSG hierarchy are still unwilling to compromise with the fact that he will not sign an extension with the club and until something changes between the two, it’s very difficult to imagine a positive conclusion.

Real Madrid have yet to put an offer on the table because nothing has changed. As I said in last week’s column, PSG have a suspicion that Mbappe has an agreement with Madrid over a signing-on fee for next summer, which is believed to be in the region of €160million. It’s very difficult for PSG to get him to at least consider coming to the table and having a proper talk about his future when he feels so close to potentially being able to make that move to Spain happen in 12 months.

For now, that deadlock may be broken if Real Madrid were to come to the table with a fairly respectable offer that PSG might consider; but for the moment, Mbappe is training with the group they call ‘the loft’ and that probably won’t change until the end of the transfer window.

Because legally, PSG are allowed to do that, they are allowed to marginalize those players who could potentially move on while the window is open; but if the transfer window closes and Mbappe remains a PSG player, he will have to be reinstated and reintegrated into the squad, and there may be legal ramifications of substantial stature for PSG to face.

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano responds to apparent Kylian Mbappe Real Madrid transfer hint

Jean-Clair Todibo would be ready for Man United move

I think Jean-Clair Todibo is getting close to being ready for a move to the Premier League. I think his playing style suits it and I’m not surprised that Man United, having been linked with Disasi in the past, are being linked to the Nice star.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see him move on between now and the end of the transfer window as I think Nice would do very well to hold on to both Todibo and Thuram. While Nice remain out of European competition, it is going to be difficult for him to build on the call-up he had to the French senior squad not that long ago. So, I do think there is the potential that Todibo makes that kind of Man United move in the near future and if the Manchester club do get him, I think there are some similarities with Raphael Varane in many ways.

He’s bounced around a bit more than the Man United star though since he left France very early on in his career and I think he is in need of a more permanent home, which he has been deprived of. Wherever he goes next, he’ll definitely need that exposure to continental football to continue developing.

Jonathan David would be a logical move for Tottenham

It would be a logical move for Tottenham to move for Jonathan David if they end up cashing in on Harry Kane. However, David has been linked with a move away from Lille for quite a long time now and it never seems to materialise.

He’s one of the few players that Lille would really be able to cash in on to help their financial issues, which makes a transfer possible. The forward is also a player who seems to always find form just before the transfer window opens but then dips during the season. Therefore, it’s quite hard for clubs to be absolutely sure that they want to make the move because you sometimes get these inconsistent periods of form, which I think makes some clubs, certainly some of the bigger clubs around Europe, reluctant to step in and make a bid.

There’s only so much David can aspire to do at Lille, having already won the Ligue 1 title with them so a move would be best this summer and I think, like Todibo, he needs regular game time now on the continental stage.

The post Exclusive Jonathan Johnson column: Latest on Neymar and Mbappe, is Todibo ready for Man United? Ligue 1 star would be logical replacement for Harry Kane & more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Spurs keep 23-year-old international top of list to replace Harry Kane

Andrew Walker — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:56:18 +0000

Spurs are set for an important 24 hours.

According to recent reports, including this one from ESPN’s James Olley, the Lilywhites have received an offer worth up to £104 million (€120 million) from Bayern Munich for star striker and club record goalscorer Harry Kane.

Interestingly, Bayern Munich’s ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer is thought to only be valid until midnight on 4 August. Failure to respond, or reject the proposal could see the Bundesliga giants walk away from negotiations and sound out alternative striking targets.

More Stories / Latest News

Newcastle looking at red-hot striker with 21 goals in 42 games

Exclusive: Arsenal had two transfer suitors for important squad player this summer, says Fabrizio Romano