Many coaches now on the block; Rafael Leao a superstar, but the renewal with AC Milan is still missing; while Manchester United need a striker. Here are some of the big stories of the last few days in the transfer market from TribalFootball’s transfer expert Rudy Galetti.
INTER ALREADY WORKING ON NEXT SEASON
The umpteenth defeat in Serie A, the 3rd in a row, has opened a real crisis at Inter. The one who risks the most, now, is undoubtedly the coach, Simone Inzaghi – considered by many to be primarily responsible for a disappointing season – who must stake everything both on the Champions League and the Italian Cup to save his position.
Despite the rumours about Antonio Conte, Sergio Conceicao is the hottest name to threaten his bench, replacing him at the end of the season in case of sacking. Not only the coach in Inter’s plans: CEO Beppe Marotta is already moving to strengthen the squad and fill the gap created with Napoli this season.
In defence, with the farewell of Milan Skriniar, the Nerazzurri are continuing to follow Chris Smalling and – above all – the Swedish defender Victor Lindelof: Inter are interested in him but just for a loan, while Manchester United would like to get rid, at least including the obligation to buy.
As for the outgoing market, Inter will try to monetise with Marcelo Brozovic and Andre Onana: for the midfielder the request is around 20-25 million euros, for the goalkeeper about 40 million euros. PSG and Barcelona are interested in the Croatian player, while there are many requests from the Premier League for the Cameroonian, including Chelsea and Manchester United.
PSG – GALTIER SAYS GOODBYE AT THE END OF THE SEASON
After being eliminated from the last 16 of the Champions League, PSG also struggled in Ligue 1, with home defeats against Rennes and Olympique Lyon. Galtier’s future is now decided, with the French coach leaving the team at the end of the season.
The race to the bench next year, however, is wide open. PSG’s president has a dream: Zinedine Zidane. Although the former Real Madrid coach has already rejected two contract proposals last summer, the Parisians are ready to try again with the World Champion.
In particular, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi in person is pushing for Zidane, despite the conflicting opinion of some members of the management who would prefer Josè Mourinho or Marcelo Gallardo.
Talks between the PSG president and Zidane, however, will continue in the shadows. Already during the month of April, new meetings are scheduled to try and convince Zizou to accept the contract proposal for the Paris Saint-Germain bench. Speaking about players, the French club would like to give the next coach a big purchase: that’s why Luis Campos re-established relations with Chelsea for Hakim Ziyech.
After the incredible story of last transfer market session, the French club would like to find an agreement for the Moroccan player soon in the next few weeks.
MANCHESTER UNITED NEED A STRIKER
Despite the defeat against Newcastle, Manchester United are living a mostly positive season: the victory in the Carabao Cup, the race for the Europa League still open and the 4th place in the Premier League are – at the moment – results that can be considered satisfactory for the Red Devils.
However, United still have some gaps in the squad: in the summer, Man Utd will have to take action again in the market in order to strengthen the quality of the team and to raise the bar of expectations. That’s why the strategy planning for the next transfer window is in progress, with the Red Devils having a striker as their main target.
Various profiles are observed around Europe, with a particular focus in Serie A: Dusan Vlahovic and Victor Osimhen are the 2 players who best suit Erik Ten Hag’s tactical idea and, for this reason, are highly ranked on the list of the Dutch coach.
The sensational surprise, however, could come from Benfica: Manchester United, in fact, have also targeted Gonçalo Ramos for next season. The Portuguese club values the young talent at around 80 million euros: a figure that United could seriously consider bringing to the table.
LEAO MAKES MILAN HAPPY – BUT WHERE IS THE RENEWAL?
Rafael Leao was one of the absolute protagonists of the incredible victory (0-4) of AC Milan against Napoli. In anticipation of the double challenge of the Champions League, the Portuguese player scored a beautiful brace, winning the long-awaited duel with the spearhead of the hosts, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
A high-level performance, with Rafa Leao confirming on the pitch what his teammate Sandro Tonali declared in a recent interview: “When he lights up, Milan go on goal in an instant”.
A fundamental player for coach Stefano Pioli, therefore: this is why the issue of renewing Leao’s contract is so important for the whole Milan environment. The Rossoneri fans are obviously hoping for an acceleration in the negotiations, but at the moment all the talks have been put on standby. The intention of the parties, in fact, is to arrive to the end of the season and, once the final results are achieved, try to find a compromise that brings everyone to an agreement.
It’s good to remember that Leao’s contract will expire in the summer of 2024 and AC Milan, after losing Gigio Donnarumma, Hakan Calhanoglu and Franck Kessie as a free agents in recent years, surely don’t want to repeat the same mistake. In this regard, let’s pay attention to PSG: Leao is among the names on Luis Campos’ list.
POTTER LEAVES CHELSEA: NAGELSMANN IS THE NEW NAME
Graham Potter is no longer Chelsea’s manager and probably many Blues fans would also like to add the word “finally”. The path in the Premier League, in fact, is absolutely unsatisfactory, with the 11th place and only 38 points gained.
The only gratification – at the moment – has been the journey in the Champions League, thanks to the victory against Borussia Dortmund and the consequent qualification for the quarter-finals where they will face Real Madrid.
However, the last defeat at home against Aston Villa was no longer accepted by a management that was fed up and that, in recent days, had already made contact with former Bayern Munich manager Nagelsmann. Immediately after his sacking, Chelsea had spoken to Julian and the sensations about taking over at the end of the season have been very positive. After the defeat with Villans, the English board got in touch again with Nagelsmann to speed up things, moving closer to an agreement in principle.
Nothing has been decided yet, because the risks in taking control of a team during the season should not be underestimated, but important developments are expected in the next few hours.
