WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH?

Manchester United, Liverpool fight for Benfica striker Nunez

Nunez is bound to be compared with Edinson Cavani as both are Uruguayan. The 22-year-old is valued by Benfica at around £85m (Sh12.4bn).

In Summary

• The news concerning Gabriel Jesus is that Manchester City have offered him to Spanish club Atletico Madrid with Arsenal also anxious to be involved if the player decides to move. 

• Tottenham’s Steve Bergwijn has been in touch with friends in Holland and wants to return and play for Ajax. 

Benfica's Darwin Nunez celebrates during a past match
Benfica's Darwin Nunez celebrates during a past match
Image: REUTERS

Erik ten Hag and the Manchester United executive board are searching for a striker as back-up and eventual replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo. Liverpool are planning for life after Sadio Mane.

Portuguese club Benfica seem to have the answer, in Darwin Nunez. He has scored 34 goals in 41 matches which includes six in the Champions League. Virgil van Dijk says Nunez is in the top five of most difficult opponents he has ever played against.

Nunez is bound to be compared with Edinson Cavani as both are Uruguayan. The 22-year-old is valued by Benfica at around £85m (Sh12.4bn).

 

Jesus being squeezed out of City

The news concerning Gabriel Jesus is that Manchester City have offered him to Spanish club Atletico Madrid with Arsenal also anxious to be involved if the player decides to move.

After scoring in Brazil’s win over South Korea, Jesus said he is playing a waiting game and wants to see all options before deciding whether to move. The arrival of Erling Haaland will certainly limit his chances and Pep Guardiola is agreeable to letting him move on.

Arsenal have already talked with his agent, Marcelo Pettinati, and have discussed upping his salary from £100k-a-week (Sh14.6m) at City to £190k-a-week (Sh27.8m)at the Emirates.

My contacts at Atletico Madrid tell me their club are not looking to increase their wage bill dramatically and will not make a bid if Jesus does not drop his demands. Guardiola used Jesus only 28 times last season which was equal to his lowest involvement since transferring from Palmeiras. He would expect greater game time at Arsenal where Mikel Arteta is looking to strengthen his attacking options.

 

Bergwijn out and Bastoni in

Tottenham’s Steve Bergwijn has been in touch with friends in Holland and wants to return and play for Ajax. Coach Antonio Conte has agreed to release him but the clubs cannot agree on a price. Ajax have offered less than Spur’s valuation of £20m (Sh2.9bn). Bergwijn did not start a game after Tottenham’s 2-0 loss to Chelsea in January.

Meanwhile, Tottenham’s fanbase have let the club know that they want Alessandro Bastoni as their new left-sided centre-back for the 2022/23 campaign.

Ben Davies has done well in the position but Fabio Paratici wants two players for each position. Conte knows Bastoni well having worked with him at Inter Milan. Tottenham will have to pay around £50m (Sh7.3bn) to secure his services for next season.

Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah in action with Chelsea's N'Golo Kante
Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah in action with Chelsea's N'Golo Kante
Image: REUTERS

Change of mind for Nketiah

Arsenal forward Eddie Nketiah in on the verge of changing his mind regarding his desire to leave the Gunners, something he had lasready informed head coach Mikel Arteta.

His desire to move was due to Arsenal’s inquiry on Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez, which would have limited his chances at the Emirates. However, Alexandre Lacazette is definitely moving on and after a heart-to-heart meeting with Arteta, Nketiah was convinced he would play more matches and have greater opportunities next season.

Ex-captain and now Crystal Palace manager Patrick Viera will be disappointed as he looked to add Nketiah to his strike force despite Palace having a £6m (Sh879m) offer rejected in January.

Meanwhile, after some confusion, Arsenal’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny signed an extension to his current deal. This is after he effectively replaced Thomas Partey during his injury time and earned Arteta’s praise, respect and that new contract.

 

New strategy at Chelsea

New Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has not bought the club to make a quick profit. The days of buying big name players who trade on their reputations, such as £100m (Sh14.6bn) Romelu Lukaku, are over. Boehly wants new signings to have long-term futures at the club or if they are later sold they will have value and he will also inject more money into Chelsea’s impressive academy.

Boehly and Thomas Tuchel met this week and discussed Lukaku’s future. The striker has been unhappy with his time at Chelsea since the beginning of 2022 and apparently messaging the coach and directors of Inter Milan to persuade them to take him back. He is, I am told,

ready to lower his Chelsea salary by a third to make himself more attractive to Inter. Lukaku is due to fly back to London after being on international duty for Belgium where injury curtailed his appearances. Tuchel and Boehly are looking at Arsenal target Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, Lille’s Jonathan David and Benfica’s Darwin Nunez as his replacement.

 

Gerrard demonstrates transfer speed skills

Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard is looking to finish his transfer dealings before Villa travel to Australia for a pre-season tour in July.

Villa reached agreement to sign Sevilla defender Diego Carlos for £26m (Sh3.8bn) and this follows Philippe Coutinho making permanent his loan from Barcelona. Villa have also acquired the services of Boubacar Kamara from Marseille. In addition, Gerrard told the

­­­Villa board he wants Burnley’s 29 year-old James Tarkowski, who is available on a free transfer but Everton are challenging strongly for his signature. As a final piece of his jigsaw, Gerrard and his executive team are seriously considering approaching Liverpool about signing

28-year-old midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He has only one year left on his current deal and Liverpool would want a fee of around £10m (Sh1.4bn) if a deal can be done.

West Ham have also shown interest in Alex and will possibly mount a deal themselves. Jurgen Klopp is aware that his proposal to use five substitutes per match means he will have to keep a strong reserve team and that might influence his decision to keep Oxlade-Chamberlain.

 

Manchester City's Nathan Ake in action with Burnley's Ashley Barnes
Manchester City's Nathan Ake in action with Burnley's Ashley Barnes
Image: REUTERS

City tells Ake he can move on

I understand Manchester City have told Nathan Ake that he is free to look for another club this summer. The Dutch centre back is of interest to Newcastle who, with their new Saudi-backed riches, are being linked with just about any Premier league player who is for sale.

Newcastle have not confirmed to me that they are going to buy Ake. However, a move to the northeast would reunite him with his Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe. He played in 121 matches and then transferred to City for £41m (Sh6bn) two seasons ago. Ake has won two title medals but has played only 24 Premier League matches.

 

Sterling due to meet with City executives

Raheem Sterling has confirmed that he wants to play in Europe. The 27-year-old will meet Manchester City executives after international duty. He has won four Premier League titles, the FA Cup and four League cups during his time at City however he did not start the final

two games and did not feature in City’s Champions League defeat by Real Madrid. Currently, he earns a huge £300k-a-week (Sh43.9m) salary but is looking for a raise and assurances from Pep Guardiola that he will get more game time despite Erling Haaland’s arrival.

Raheem’s contract expires next season and he will be free to join any club he wishes. His current value is around £80m (Sh11.7bn) after scoring 18 goals last season.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are all interested and City will accept his transfer request this summer instead of letting him leave for nothing next summer. Talks for a new deal are ongoing but I am told agreement is far from assured.

Liverpool's Sadio Mane reacts during a past Premier League match.
Liverpool's Sadio Mane reacts during a past Premier League match.
Image: REUTERS

Mane wants to meet new challenges

Liverpool have rejected Bayern Munich’s opening offer of £25m (Sh3.6bn) for Sadio Mane. The package was a

basic £21m (Sh3bn) with another £4m (Sh585m) if the German club wins the Champions League during Sadio’s stay at the club. He has scored 120 goals in 269 matches since he joined the Reds from Southampton in 2016. Mane scored an impressive hat-trick

in the Africa Cup of Nations against Benin last week. Commenting on his remarks before that game, he said he could leave Liverpool but claimed afterwards that: “I spoke while joking with a bit of humour. Liverpool is a club I respect a lot. The fans adopted me from day one. Regarding my future, we will see.”

There has been tension recently between a frustrated Mane and Mo Salah, who often keeps the ball, taking shots at goal when his strike partner was in a better position to score.

I am hearing whispers from French club Marseille that they could enter the race to sign Mane if he becomes available and they are the Senegalese player’s favourite team.

Meanwhile, James Milner has turned down several lucractive offers from home and abroad to, at 36 years, sign a new 12-month contract extension with Liverpool. However, he has taken a big pay cut.

 

Eriksen could be the answer for United

Manchester United have joined the queue to sign Brentford’s Christian Eriksen this summer.

New manager Erik ten Hag has a modest budget to spend in comparison to other big club’s spending plans but he wants six new players brought in.

Carefully, managing the budget sheet will be important and he sees Eriksen as offering outstanding value. The Danish international will be available on a free transfer in a few weeks' time although Brentford manager Thomas Frank has vowed to fight to keep him.

United’s negotiations to sign midfielder Frenkie de Jong are not going well and Eriksen could be the answer to strengthen their midfield. In addition, scouts from West Ham watched Eriksen and Joakim Maehle during Denmark’s 2-1 win over Austria on Tuesday. Both were impressive. Maehle plays for Atalanta in the Italian Serie A and has won 26 caps for Denmark.