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!
TOP STORY: Barcelona willing to end standoff with Atletico Madrid over Antoine Griezmann
Barcelona are pushing to end their dispute with Atletico Madrid over the loan of Antoine Griezmann, and they are willing to settle the issue for a €25 million fee, according to Mundo Deportivo.
In the summer of 2021, Griezmann joined Atletico on a loan that is due to end upon this season’s culmination. But there is the looming possibility that the courts could get involved when that time comes, although Barcelona want to find an amicable solution instead.
Barca’s current position is that Atletico have triggered the contract clause to make Griezmann’s loan a permanent transfer because he exceeded 50% of games played while with Madrid. However, Atletico argue that the 50% threshold applies across the two years of the loan.
Barcelona want to recoup some of the money they spent to sign Griezmann, while Atletico manager Diego Simeone wants to be able to use the attacker freely without concerns around triggering the €40m clause. Up until last week’s Madrid derby where Griezmann started, Simeone has only fielded the Frenchman for 30 minutes or less as a substitute.
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While there has been no direct contact, per the report, Barca want to negotiate, and despite the disputed contract clause’s price, they are willing to accept a minimum of €25m, which is €15m less than they were asking. In addition, Barcelona are seeking to find a solution before the first weekend in January, so that this doesn’t interfere with the match played between the two clubs.
Griezmann may not be privy to all of the intricacies of the negotiations, but is said to hope this will be sorted quickly so he can help Atletico without the restrictions imposed by the clause — especially as he’ll need as many minutes as possible ahead of the World Cup.
PAPER GOSSIP
– Liverpool and Manchester United are both monitoring Flamengo midfielder Joao Gomes, although ESPN’s Tim Vickery has stated on talkSPORT that this isn’t the first time the Red Devils have looked at the 21-year-old. “It looked like they [United] might have been interested in him when Andreas Pereira was on loan from United at Flamengo,” Vickery explained. “In the end [Pereira] ended up going to Fulham. There was speculation that in exchange for that deal they might take Joao Gomes, but they didn’t.”
– Sport Bild have reported that Bayern Munich have a clause that would allow them to re-sign Tanguy Nianzou from Sevilla for €50m, which rises to €55m from Sept. 19, 2023. The 20-year-old Frenchman joined the club in LaLiga for €16m in August, with that fee potentially going up to €20m.
– There have already been plenty of names linked with Juventus for the summer transfer window in 2023, and La Gazzetta dello Sport report that I Bianconeri are looking at Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio and Benfica’s Alejandro Grimaldo. Juventus are particularly keen to strengthen in the wide areas of their attack and in defence, and both of the players named would be available as free agents with their current contracts ending next summer.
– Massimiliano Allegri is under pressure following a torrid run of form for Juventus, which has seen them go five consecutive matches in all competitions without a single victory, and Tuttosport have compiled a list of seven managers who could replace the Italian if he leaves: Thomas Tuchel, Paolo Montero, Mauricio Pochettino, Paulo Sousa, Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps and Roberto Mancini.
