Lacazette considering a move from Arsenal

I understand Arsenal have yet to make a decision whether or not to offer club captain Alexandre Lacazette a new contract when his current deal expires in June. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season and his agents are in discussion with several European clubs including his previous French club Lyon. His main motive is to join a club that can offer Champions League football.

He said, “I keep in contact with Lyon and visit twice a year and see their medical staff and we are close. It is complicated about me possibly joining them and it depends on whether or not they qualify for Europe. It’s been a long time since I played in the Champions League and I miss it.” 

*I am told that inside the dressing room, there is much speculation that Norwegian Martin Odegaard will be handed the captain’s armband next season. Mikel Arteta said of him, “His leadership skills are different than how leadership is defined by many people. He has special abilities we’d develop. He needs to feel important, which has been difficult for him the last couple of years.”

Ten Hag reputation takes a knock

Is Ten Hag a truly quality coach who is worthy of guiding the great Manchester United?

I didn’t see the game in which his current club Ajax were beaten in the KNVB Cup Final. After that game, the influential newspaper De Telegraaf told him he is not a “game-changer”.

The media outlet then went on to say that Ajax have managed to work their way through matches this season without being particularly impressive and although they remain top of the Dutch Eredivisie the quality of their football has declined.

The Ajax boss did not accept the defeat with dignity and hit back immediately by saying that his team were the better side and were playing against “more than” eleven players! De Telegraaf commented that his remarks were “nonsense”.

Ten Hag has already been warned by many insiders that he might find the Manchester United dressing room too powerful for him with several players speaking through the media so that every move he makes will be picked apart by his own players.

Gerrard worries he might lose Coutinho

Steven Gerrard is worried that Aston Villa might not be able to secure the permanent services of Philippe Coutinho. The 29-year-old Brazilian is on loan from Barcelona with Villa paying £125k-a-week of his £400k-a-week Barca salary.

Villa has a £33million signing-on fee written into the loan agreement but Coutinho’s agents are asking for a high wage which Villa might not be able to meet. Gerrard has spoken with his sporting director and asked him to negotiate with Coutinho’s agent and Barcelona as soon as this season finishes.

If they cannot agree on a price, Villa will likely make Brighton’s Mali international Yves Bissouma their main target or Leed’s England midfielder Kalvin Phillips who would cost them around £60 million.

Fast gossip from inside the clubs…

**Marina Granovskaia

Chelsea’s management team look set for a shake-up and I am told that Roman Abramovich’s chief player transfer negotiator Marina Granovskaia is likely to leave by the end of the season. That will pose problems for Thomas Tuchel and his plans for next season.

**Burnley manager

Following the shock sacking of Burnley manager Sean Dyche, five names are being discussed around the club. Middlesborough manager Chris Wilder, Derby manager Wayne Rooney and the old warhorse Sam Allardyce, now living in Spain, are on the list.

A new name appeared on Thursday, ex-Norwich boss Daniel Farke. Allardyce might be too expensive and Wayne Rooney says he has a job to do at relegated Derby but as they will play in League 1 next season and the club is being sold, Rooney might be tempted and he has done a good job under extreme circumstances at chaotic Derby. Slaven Bilic is the other name on Burnley’s list at the moment.

The appointment is desperately urgent as Burnley have seven games left to save their Premier League place.

** Harry Maguire

I can’t yet confirm this but a phone call from a close contact in Spain, who has close connections to the Premier League, told me that Newcastle are preparing a bid of £40 million for Manchester United’s Harry Maguire. Harry has had a tough time at United and was accused of under-performing. United will have a big clear-out of players this summer and Harry could find his place in jeopardy so he might elect to jump ship before being pushed. A fresh start for him might be what he requires and Newcastle manager Eddie Howe wants to further strengthen his defence after signing Dan Burn from Brighton.

**Antonio Rudiger

Despite trekking around several clubs in Europe, Antonio Rudiger’s agents cannot find a club to meet his wage demands. Therefore they have made contact with Real Madrid which would meet with Rudiger’s approval.

**Fernandinho

Fernandinho’s nine-year career at Manchester City looks like ending this summer. He is in talks with the Brazilian club Athletico Paranaense and wants to take his family back to where he started his career. He said this week, “I decided with my family which is the most important thing for me.”

Lukaku looks set to move

Despite Thomas Tuchel saying Romelu Lukaku can still succeed at Stamford Bridge, he has scored only 5 goals this season. After a successful stint at Inter Milan, Chelsea bought Lukaku for £97.5million to strengthen their striking options.

Regrettably, the move hasn’t worked out. Although Tuchel has encouraged the Belgian striker, the truth is that he simply doesn’t trust him any longer.

While Lukaku has dropped down the selection order, Timo Werner is rapidly becoming the player Chelsea thought he could be. From what I have heard, and against Tuchel’s public support for Lukaku, it looks likely to me that he could be offered for sale in the summer.

Tuchel has indicated that he will stay longer at the club than expected and whereas players such as Eden Hazard waited for Mourinho to depart before breaking back into the side and Rudiger waited until Frank Lampard was sacked before reclaiming his first-team selection status there is no way for Lukaku to redeem himself with Tuchel in charge after a series of failed performances.

West Ham looking at goalkeeper Nick Pope

West Ham are watching closely Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope. They are considering him as back-up to their No1 goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.

Their current number 2 is Alphonse Areola who is on loan from PSG and the Hammers have a £10million option to sign him permanently however his wages of £120k a week would make him one of the club’s highest-paid players.

Fulham made a quick return to the Premier League curtain with promotion from the Championship and they too are looking at Pope as they will have to strengthen their squad to compete next season.

Pope has notched up 51 clean score sheets in 150 games for Burnley who are likely to drop down into the Championship for next season.

*The Hammers have been dealt a severe blow with the loss of Issa Diop their main center-back. He was injured in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at the weekend and my medical contacts told me that his ankle injury looks serious and could mean he will play no further part this season.

Guardiola is okay at losing Kane as Haaland terms agreed

Manchester City have agreed on terms to bring Erling Haaland to the Etihad Stadium. £500k-a-week I am told is the agreed figure and both the player and his club Borussia Dortmund have agreed.

I am expecting City to trigger Haaland’s £63million release clause with an agreement from City owner Sheik Mansour. 

Pep Guardiola has admitted that his tactic of playing this season without a recognized central striker was a gamble on his part.

He was partly forced into the position because Tottenham fought back against four offers from City for Harry Kane. Four times they rejected the offers and City eventually backed off.

Guardiola said, “We tried to sign Kane but when you are rejected three or four times it is time to give up and walk away. We looked at our squad and we were not totally confident that it would be okay at the start of the season.

Harry Kane did not come but everything is going well but at the time I did not know if it would work.” City have certainly done extremely well but this week looks like solving the striker position.

Tuchel considers bringing back on-loan Gallagher

With many uncertainties at Chelsea due to the sanctions imposed on the club due to owner Roman Abramovich’s links to Vladimir Putin and his illegal attack on Ukraine, the Blues can take one bright highlight from this season.

Thomas Tuchel might have regretted loaning Conor Gallagher to Crystal Palace as Covid took its toll and injuries mounted up. Gallagher impressed on loan at West Brom last season and this year he has excelled at Palace.

Manager Patrick Viera quite literally hounded Chelsea to loan our Gallagher by calling them every day last summer. His persistence paid off and Tuchel rubber-stamped the loan as he recognized the value of Viera’s promise to play the midfielder in every match which Tuchel could not guarantee at Stamford Bridge. Working with legendary midfielder Viera was another reason for the move.

The big question now is, will Tuchel bring Gallagher back this summer and can he guarantee him playing time in a midfield with such quality as N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, and Jorginho?

Conte’s tough training methods pay off

One reason Manchester United did not consider Antonio Conte as Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s replacement is his record of moving clubs after only a short time and his playing and training style.

United have been proven wrong in that Conte inherited an unfit Spurs squad and the ground they covered during a match was the lowest in the league.

He worked for the team relentlessly with the result that a fitter, leaner Harry Kane is back to his scoring best, and Spurs are challenging for the top honours.

Conte is usually first to the training centre on Monday morning and his track-suited approach, working with his assistants, is highly respected by the players.