Jype

The money they 'lost' by keeping Sancho for another year wasn't anywhere close to the decrease in value Haaland will have if they keep him till next year though. They'll still get 90-100m€ for Sancho this year and could have got maybe 120m€ last year, and while the difference is a still a big pile of money it can't even be mentioned together with 75m€ vs 170m€ for Haaland (assuming the release clause and approximated price for this year are even close to reality). And I would guess they'd have sold Sancho even last year if United just coughed up the full asking price, but they didn't and instead tried to haggle till the very end of the transfer window despite Dortmund being very clear about the price and about their internal 'transfer deadline' when everything had to be settled or they won't sell. Also another thing worth noting is that if they keep Haaland till the release clause kicks in, they might easily end up losing him to Bayern and by selling outside of Germany this year they can dodge that potential bullet completely. With Sancho there wasn't such risk because it was always going to be an EPL club next for him. Any deal for Haaland to Chelsea is probably still incredibly unlikely to happen but I don't believe for a second that a sale this year is 100% ruled out by Dortmund. If the club give them an offer they simply can't refuse they'd be stupid not to sell, and the reason for that is the release clause for next year. Whether a deal Dortmund would be happy with is at all financially viable for Chelsea is a whole other matter.

They must have changed the rules for international eligibility then. I remember in the past it's always been one competitive game and that's it, no more changes. Previously the only exception to that rule was the forming of a whole new national team like Kosovo a few years ago and players who were eligible for Kosovo but had played for other national teams were allowed to switch if they wanted but other dual nationals could only switch allegiances at youth international level after appearing for one country but full internationals were locked. In that case declaring for Ghana could be really good for CHO himself. Can't see him getting back to the England team anytime soon with players like Sancho, Foden, Grealish Rashford, Sterling, Mount etc. to compete with.

How can he switch? He's already declared for England and played in competitive matches (Euro 2020 qualifiers). As far as I'm aware, you can't switch after that anymore. Friendlies don't count but competitive games mean he's locked for England, right?

Depends which source you believe. Some say €75M and some say it's closer to €100M. Either way it's a lot less than what Dortmund could potentially get this summer.

But still the point stands, these days a lot more players will consider opportunities abroad than the previous generation. If Tammy had a choice between Dortmund and say West Ham, I struggle to believe anyone in their right mind would choose the latter. Assuming both offer similar wages, a starting role etc.

These days definitely more than before. Currently there are Sancho, Bellingham, Tomori, Trippier, Smalling, Young playing in Spain/Germany/Italy just off the top of my head, as well as some academy youngsters who've left the UK to pursue first team football elsewhere. Ramsey is Welsh but I guess you could count him with the lot too. Most will definitely stay in England, especially because English clubs can generally pay higher wages, but I don't think the current generation of players are as picky about where they play as the ones say 10-15 years ago.

Telegraph paywall is a joke, you can always bypass it and read the full article by stopping the page refresh before the log-in window appears. Says there the club are also exploring the idea of negotiating a deal for next summer in advance if Dortmund are holding firm in not wanting to sell this summer. Similar to the Pulisic deal when he stayed in Dortmund till the rest of the season but everything was agreed in the January window. Haaland has a release clause for next year but I'd imagine in that case the club would pay more than the release clause now in order to clinch a deal before others can come compete for his signature, a little bit like Naby Keita to Liverpool a few years ago.

Lazio won't have money to buy him, just loan.

Well to be fair they are really unlikely to find a striker even close to as good as Haaland anywhere. But if they got say Tammy + 110M they could use the remaining cash to improve on other areas of the team as well so it might not even matter if Haaland's direct replacement isn't as good.

Feeling the same skepticism as last year when rumors of Havertz first started appearing. That one turned out okay in the end. 😆 Probably not quite impossible but really, really difficult to make happen. Whatever happens, let's hope it gets settled rather quickly. Would hate a lengthy transfer saga.

https://streamable.com/f9qa2f Subbed on at HT against Latvia and scored within five minutes. Great finish too.

Good, if true. The club will have so many players in the Euros and once they're done with the tournament they'll have a few weeks holiday before joining pre-season training so if Pulisic will be there from the very start in July he can have a bit of a head start. As a player whose role in the team is not quite secured he should really take that opportunity to get back in. Same for Ziyech btw.

Only one year left on his contract so I'd guess anything close to 5 mil would do the trick.

From what I've seen and read he's not been as good this season as previously, but before this season he was always one of the top performers for Atletico. I'm just speculating but maybe Thomas Partey's departure changed his role a little bit and he's not been as effective as before? That being said they still won the league title with Saul playing most games (22 starts, 11 sub appearances in the league) so he can't have been that bad, can he? Still has five years left on the 9 year (!!) contract he signed in 2017 so won't be cheap unless Atletico are open to selling. I could see him fitting alongside Kante in midfield quite well.

Any idea on how good this guy is? 51 league goals in Austrian Bundesliga across the last two seasons in 59 games (42 starts) seems pretty similar to what Haaland got for Salzburg, although Daka is a couple years older. Could be worth a shot if no proven top class strikers are available this year?

Well that's one I certainly didn't see coming. The club statement even says the option to extend was activated by the club already in April. With some complications in the club's hunt for a new striker I suppose it makes some sense to have him as a backup option if the man himself agrees with a smaller role now? Surely an experienced player like Oli is a good influence in the dressing room.

That's where I would suggest getting Broja back from loan to provide cover. He might not be ready for a big role and might never be good enough, but he's had a good season out on loan and seems to be developing in the right direction. He would still likely be a decent enough choice for some cup games and the occasional sub appearance here and there to ease the load off others. Definitely a much better option than spending a ton of money on someone like Wilfried Zaha or a stop-gap striker like Danny Ings or whoever. I really hope Tuchel and the board make wise decisions this summer. Either go all-in to get the top targets or don't sign anyone for the position. The squad is already deep enough (in some areas maybe even too deep) and the problem is definitely not quantity, it's quality. If the top attacking targets are unavailable this year, spend the budget on improving other areas (ie. midfield, perhaps CB) and go back next year. That's where the club have done horribly wrong in the past by getting likes of Zappacosta, Barkley etc. rather than wait out and target top quality later on.

No. The only reason the club are after a striker is to get someone who guarantees goals. As a player type Zaha would be way too similar for the lot we already have, and also not even close to being as good. No need to buy just for the sake of buying and the only attacking players we should be going after are ones who would elevate the team to a new level. Otherwise no point and better to just start hoping Werner, Havertz, Pulisic can start scoring more goals at a similar rate as they have in the past.

Nah. For starters Eredivisie > Belgian League any day and not to mention Broja is a full three years younger than Ugbo, at such young age being 19 or 22 makes a massive difference. Can't see much of a future at the club for Ugbo (the club even allowed a buy option for his latest loan) but for Broja the club seem to be very much invested in his future, hence contract extension plans and invite for pre-season.

Romano also just said Chelsea could be in the running for Saul Niguez. Can't say I've watched much of Atletico in the last couple of years but I've always rated Saul. Could be a good fit in Tuchel's midfield.

If all top striker options are out of the question for this summer, I probably wouldn't mind sticking with Havertz in the false 9 role and Werner / Broja other options depending on tactical setup. Seems like a better bet than going for some second rate option who'd still cost a lot of money. Would prefer Tammy to stay if that's the case but he looks too far gone and Tuchel clearly doesn't rate him. Choosing not to spend on a striker would likely leave a massive budget for improving other areas. Then just need to win back-to-back CLs and get Haaland next year. 🤣

But he's much better at RWB and definitely good enough to continue being a starter there. Azpi had a great time at RCB under Tuchel too and isn't any signs of decline so why change something that works just for the sake of signing the flavor of the month player? Sure Azpi isn't getting any younger but for next season he'd still play RCB a lot and James would have limited game time rotating with Azpi at RCB and being back-up for Hakimi at RWB. Don't get me wrong, I rate Hakimi highly but he's just not something the club needs at the moment.

You want Reece James to be dropped? Because that's what's going to happen if the club sign Hakimi. While we're at it, how about binning Mount and going for someone like Dybala?

In the PL Werner had 13.43 xG and 6.67 xA. By no means is it 'brilliant' when factoring his minutes played but definitely much better than what he really got (6 goals, 8 assists). That's one of the reasons I'm not worried about Werner. His general play has been, if not great then at the very least quite decent. If he can start finishing chances even at average level then he should easily get 20+ goal contributions in the league next season and maybe around 30 overall in all competitions. And IF he can even outperform his xG and xA like he did in a couple seasons at Leipzig he can potentially be a massive player. Overall in his career he's got 97 xG and 34 xA in league games at EPL and Bundesliga, which is quite close to his actual stats 93+39. The only other season he underperformed his xG by this much was his first season as a regular starter at Stuttgart but once he got going he's always performed quite well up until this season. It's all about the confidence and if he gets that back he'll start banging them in no doubt. I hope the return of the fans to the stadium will be a big factor in Werner getting his mojo back.

Edouard Mendy in the Champions League played one of the best seasons a goalkeeper has ever had in the history of the competition by only conceding three goals throughout the season (Kepa played in the 1-1 against Krasnodar) and having a save percentage of more than 90%. And in the Premier League he was top class too, only behind Ederson in clean sheets and that's despite him missing a bunch of games early in the season before joining the team and Kepa playing a few games before/after cup games as a 'reward'. Why would the club disrupt Mendy's flow by going for Donnarumma, it makes zero sense whether it was to displace Mendy as number one or having a young top keeper like Donnarumma as an expensive backup goalie who would no doubt soon be unhappy about the lack of playing time? And why would Donnarumma even want to join if his place as number one keeper isn't 100% guaranteed?