Roberto De Fanti – CaughtOffside

Man United want £80m for star Spurs recently held talks with and Arsenal make offer for Serie A striker

Roberto De Fanti — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 17:10:06 +0000

In his third exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Italian super-agent Roberto De Fanti lifts the lid on some of football’s biggest talking points, including Manchester United’s stance on Marcus Rashford, Arsenal’s pursuit of a new striker and why Spurs want one of Italy’s best players…

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Marcus Rashford is wanted by top European clubs…

All the top sides in Spain and Italy have been keen to enquire about Marcus Rashford’s availability and the possibility of him leaving United this summer.

Prior to any discussions, a valuation of around £40m, maybe £50m, seemed fair, but it turns out the attacker would cost a lot more – between £70m and £80m.

United are confident a club is unlikely to pay that, especially off the back of a poor season, so they’re almost certain he will stay. They are happy for Rashford to stay too, also because they know that if they did sell him, they would need to replace him and that is not a priority, definitely not this summer anyway.

Marcus Rashford has had a difficult season at Manchester United.

It seems there have been some discussions very recently between the player’s camp and Tottenham Hotspur. The London club feel negotiating a deal for Rashford is virtually impossible though – so that transfer no longer seems an option.

As for which players are on their way out of United, Andreas Pereira and Eric Bailly for sure.

When it comes to Bailly in particular though, he is on a salary of £7m-per year gross, so it is going to be a massive challenge to find a club willing to meet his wage demands. It will be interesting to see where exactly the centre-back ends up next season.

Serie A side reject Arsenal’s opening offer for striker…

One name – Gianluca Scamacaa.

It is rumoured throughout the industry that Arsenal made a £25m (€30m) offer to Sassuolo for Scamacca in the last couple of days. The club’s general manager also said that it is very likely the striker will leave to play in the Premier League.

Gianluca Scamacca in action for Sassuolo.

Sassuolo has rejected Arsenal’s opening offer though. The fee needed, I believe, will be about £50m. Sassuolo has already pushed back offers from clubs in the Premier League – Arsenal, of course, and Newcastle United.

The Magpies wanted him back in January – it was a really, really good offer, but the player, understandably, did not want to risk joining a club who were facing the possibility of being relegated.

Alessandro Bastoni would be a guaranteed star for Antonio Conte

This deal might happen. I wouldn’t be surprised, at all, if it did.

He wouldn’t come cheap, we’re talking the same kind of sums that Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire, but it is definitely a transfer that could materialise.

Alessandro Bastoni in training with the Italian national team.

Inter Milan really needs to sell some players by June 30 in order to balance their finances and Bastoni is exactly the type of player Antonio Conte wants – he is a young centre-back, also a senior international and is left-footed.

When it comes to signing Bastoni, clubs, especially Tottenham Hotspur, know that although he is only 23-years-old, they would be signing a guaranteed superstar – he really is that good.

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Spurs love Championship prospect, Arsenal put off signing Serie A striker and Tanganga will be ready in time for pre-season

Roberto De Fanti — Mon, 23 May 2022 13:32:18 +0000

In his second exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Italian super-agent Roberto De Fanti lifts the lid on some of football’s biggest talking points, including what this summer’s transfer window could have in store for Spurs, Arsenal’s pursuit of a new striker much more…

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Spurs and Fabio Paratici could complete hattrick of signings from Juventus

Following last weekend’s fascinating final day, one club that will be excited ahead of next season is Tottenham Hotspur.

Clinching Champions League football at the expense of their biggest rivals, Arsenal, is going to be a huge lift for the fans, as well as manager Antonio Conte.

Of course, playing in Europe’s biggest competition is also going to provide chairman Daniel Levy with some additional funds and I am sure he will look to invest it in the playing squad wisely.

One player who is tipped to join Conte at Tottenham Hotspur is Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie.

Weston McKennie in action for Juventus.

When I hear this, I have to say, my first thought is immediately Tottenham Hotspur. Obviously, the club have had great success with signing players from Juventus recently – Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski, especially, have been absolutely excellent. Since Kulusevski came to London his performances under Conte have been devastating. He was not a favourite for Massimiliano Allegri so there is some regret in Turin, but that is just the way football goes sometimes.

Both Bentancur and Kulusevski were not regular starters at Juventus so many people thought ‘how could they be a success at Tottenham Hotspur?’ – But the reality is, both players have been instrumental in the side qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

When it comes to McKennie though, I know, overall, Juventus are happy with him, but with them about to sign Paul Pogba, sometimes the financial books dictate what must be done.

McKennie is a very good player and one Fabio Paratici knows well so I won’t be surprised if he tries to make it a hattrick of Juventus players.

Gabriel Jesus ticks a lot of boxes for Serie A’s biggest clubs

The Italian clubs are very smart now – a lot of their transfer strategies are based around affordable players who could genuinely be looking to move.

The biggest Italian clubs are smelling the fact Gabriel Jesus is unlikely to be a starter for Pep Guardiola once Erling Haaland arrives and with his contract up in just 12-months, this striker ticks a lot of boxes.

I am sure the top clubs will make contact with him, like they did Edin Dzeko, and propose something based on the fact he is only going to become more redundant at Manchester City as time goes on.

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Arsenal want Tammy Abraham but a deal is complicated

Of course, though, it isn’t just Italian clubs who could make a move for Jesus – in the Premier League, Arsenal is another.

The Gunners want a striker and I know for sure only a week or so ago, they discussed signing Tammy Abraham from Roma but a potential deal is very complicated.

Tammy Abraham has shone for Roma since his move from Chelsea nearly 12-months-ago.

Although Abraham is a Roma player, the club’s sporting director confirmed to me that the deal finalised with Chelsea last summer means the striker is effectively on loan for two years before a mandatory fee has to be paid, therefore, given the legalities, if Arsenal were to make a formal approach, they must do so to both Roma and Chelsea, and this is putting Arsenal off, for obvious reasons.

Spurs and Paratici facing transfer challenge

One of the biggest issues with Tottenham Hotspur is the number of home-grown players they have. If they lose the likes of Harry Winks, the problem is going to become even bigger so buying English players is going to be crucial this summer, and this is one of the reasons why they’re really trying to get Middlesbrough’s Djed Spence.

On-loan Middlesborough defender Djed Spence in action earlier in the season for Nottingham Forest.

But when it comes to identifying potentially shrewd home-grown signings, because Tottenham Hotspur’s head of recruitment recently moved on, I know the club is looking to bring someone else in, someone who knows the English market better, to work alongside Paratici.

Japhet Tanganga will be ready for Spurs’ pre-season

One player who is homegrown who is continually linked with leaving is a player I represent – Japhet Tanganga.

Tanganga played very well before his injury and he is very versatile so can play as part of a back-four, or back-five, and we have seen Conte use both of these formations before.

I think Tanganga’s first thought needs to be on fully recovering but he will certainly start pre-season with Tottenham Hotspur.

Given how much he played at the start of the season, it is not guaranteed he will leave this summer, in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Conte bring him back into starting contention.

Of course, every player must accept that when a side is competing on multiple fronts, rotation is inevitable, but getting back to playing regularly would be great for Tanganga because he is a player who wants to feel important to a club, especially if they’re one that is going to be challenging for titles and trophies.

The post Spurs love Championship prospect, Arsenal put off signing Serie A striker and Tanganga will be ready in time for pre-season appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Milinkovic-Savic is ready for EPL move, Pogba’s future and the three positions Spurs want this summer

Roberto De Fanti — Fri, 13 May 2022 17:00:05 +0000

In his first Exclusive Column for caughtoffside, Italian super-agent Roberto De Fanti lifts the lid on what’s really going on in European football.

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The summer transfer window is nearly upon us and it’s going to be really interesting to see where some of the sport’s biggest names end up.

In my home country of Italy, we have Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is one of the best players in Serie A and has been for a few years now. The chairman of Lazio, Mr Claudio Lotito, is somebody who is very outspoken and even said just the other day that the midfielder is not going to be up for sale this summer. But sometimes when chairs of clubs say this, it means the total opposite – often an attempt to raise the asking price.

I believe this summer could be the time that Milinkovic-Savic leaves Lazio and I won’t be surprised if the destination is Manchester United. I can say for sure that there are already whispers in the industry that he could move to Old Trafford in time for next season.

Manchester United are obviously about to lose several midfielders of their own, one of which is, of course, Paul Pogba and I think when it comes to Milinkovic-Savic, particularly his characteristics, he would be a great replacement, as well as a great fit in the Premier League.

Although his valuation is going to be fairly high, when I hear things about his price tag being set at something crazy like €100m, I just know it will never be that much, especially because he has just one year left on his contract.

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