There’s a sale on in Manchester
Manchester United are ready to put seven first-team players up for sale in the winter transfer window, according to the Sun. Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to raise additional funds to his transfer budget and is planning to do so through sales. The seven players who will be allowed to leave Old Trafford are Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly, Anthony Martial, Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles. Although they are all members of the first-team squad, none of them are viewed to have a long-term future at Manchester United by the Norwegian manager.
Transfers
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Paper Round’s view: It’s unlikely that Manchester United will sell seven first-team players in January. The club have probably just identified which players will be allowed to leave the club over the next year or so – should an acceptable offer come in. The majority of these would still need to be replaced if they departed as they are back-ups to the first eleven. Jones and Martial are the only two expendable names that wouldn’t need to be replaced. Van de Beek and Lingard can both still be very useful players at Old Trafford, but it just doesn’t seem like Solskjaer fancies either enough to give them a consistent run of games.
Barca plan revolution in summer 2022
Barcelona are raring to bounce back in the transfer market after an embarrassing summer, which saw them lose Lionel Messi for free to Paris Saint-Germain and Antoine Griezmann on loan to La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid. The Mail report that the Blaugrana are already working on a deal to bring former academy prospect Dani Olmo back to the Camp Nou and are planning “dream” moves for Erling Haaland and Paul Pogba next summer. Barca already have a deal in principle with Olmo and club officials have spoken with Haaland and Pogba’s super-agent Mino Raiola.
Paper Round’s view: …and we all thought Barcelona were in a financial crisis. It doesn’t mention how much Olmo will cost, but he certainly won’t come cheap. It’s even worse when you think that Barca could’ve still had him because he was produced in their famed La Masia academy. Obviously every top club will be trying to sign Haaland due to his cut-price £76-million release clause that becomes active next summer and a handful will be in for Pogba if his contract expires at Manchester United. But do Barca back themselves to win those battles after their much-publicised crisis in the summer? It will be tough against the likes of Juventus, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
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Sterling’s City future is in doubt
Raheem Sterling’s future at Manchester City has been thrown into doubt in a new report from the Telegraph. The 26-year-old is yet to sign a contract extension with the Premier League champions, despite his current deal expiring in 2023. Sterling has been in sparkling form for the England national team, but has only scored twice in his last 22 appearances for Man City. His reluctance to sign a new contract at the Etihad has “alerted the wider football industry” and there have even been reports in Spain linking him with a loan to Barcelona.
Paper Round’s view: This might be a report that gets blown out of proportion. It’s not the end of the world that Sterling hasn’t agreed to sign a new contract at Manchester City if his current deal runs until 2023. It will become an urgent issue if progress has not been made by the summer. We previously saw Leroy Sane leave Manchester for Bayern Munich when he entered the final year of his deal and something similar may happen with Sterling. However, there is still plenty of time for him to rediscover his form and negotiate a new contract at the Etihad.
Revealed: Fati’s secret contract clause
Spanish media source Sport reveal that Barcelona forward Ansu Fati has a “secret clause” in his current contract with the Catalan club. The teenager signed a contract renewal with Barca back in 2019 which extended his deal to 2022. This means that Fati will be free to leave the Camp Nou for free next summer, if the two parties fail to agree to a contract extension. However, Sport state that Barcelona have the option to active a clause that would extend Fati’s contract by an additional two years if they inform the 18-year-old before 15 June 2022. Despite this, it is expected that Barcelona will offer Fati a new contract before the summer.
Paper Round’s view: It’s a clever clause for Barcelona to have put in – especially due to their current financial mess. However, there seems to be a bit more room to breathe in the wage budget after the loan exit of Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid. If it’s expected that Barca will offer Fati a new contract soon, they probably won’t even need to activate the two-year extension clause. Fati will also be keen on a pay rise after being given the number 10 shirt following Lionel Messi’s shock summer exit, so a completely new contract makes sense.
Transfers
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Transfers
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