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No truth to Enzo Fernandez Chelsea exit rumours
Enzo Fernandez’s agent has denied all the rumours coming from England about the player possibly looking to leave Chelsea at the end of the season. We’ve had a lot of stories about Chelsea, a lot of negativity, but Fernandez’s agent has denied the reports.
The Argentine, who joined from Benfica just over a year ago, is happy at Chelsea – he knows it’s a long-term project built around young players, so it’s going to take some time, but he’s confident about the future of Chelsea.
Of course, Fernandez’s agent also mentioned that the player wants to see Chelsea in a better position than they are at the moment, but that will come with time. There are no plans for Fernandez to leave Chelsea, and he looked like he was making that point last night with the way he celebrated his goal against Aston Villa.
Another story that could be relevant for Chelsea, who want to sign a striker this summer, and also for Arsenal, is that Thomas Frank has spoken publicly about Ivan Toney being likely to leave at the end of this season. He’ll have just a year left on his contract, so his price tag will likely be lower than the £100m it would have cost to sign him in January.
I think this situation makes sense and I don’t think clubs needed Frank to say that, it’s quite obvious and also one of the reasons why no one wanted to pay that amount of money in January. In the summer it will be different, for sure.
New Barcelona contract soon for Lamine Yamal
Barcelona have a pact with Lamine Yamal and his agent Jorge Mendes to extend his contract again in 2025, as soon as the player turns 18. This is part of the verbal agreement with the player and his agent, and it was confirmed by Deco in an interview in recent hours.
Barca extended Yamal’s contract last summer, but they will do so again when he turns 18 and this is an important message from Barca – it will have the same release clause of €1bn, and a better salary.
Man Utd director latest + Christian Eriksen rumours
We’re hearing a lot of continued speculation about the director role at Manchester United, and of course it’s an important story, but my information remains much the same as I’ve previously mentioned on here.
Although Christoph Freund and Tiago Pinto have also been linked with the job at Man United, I’m not aware of these two names at this stage, honestly. Paul Mitchell remains on the list, Dan Ashworth is the favourite candidate but nothing is done yet as Newcastle insist to keep him at the club for their long term project.
I would also take reports about Christian Eriksen’s future with a pinch of salt. He’s been linked with Galatasaray, but I have no confirmation of concrete discussions taking place. I’m not expecting Man United to touch anything at this point of the season.
In other news…
Marquinhos – It looks like Marquinhos is set to leave Arsenal on loan with Fluminense also having the option to buy him permanently. Fluminense wanted that and the buy option clause should be there. The value is one of the final details discussed between clubs in order to complete the agreement soon. Marquinhos has already accepted the destination.
Teun Koopmeiners – There have been reports linking the Atalanta midfielder with Tottenham, but I’m not aware of anything concrete yet from Spurs. I’m aware of Juventus strong interest in Koopmeiners for the summer, but it’s never easy to negotiate with Atalanta. This could be one to watch for the summer, there’s nothing being negotiated in February or March.
Leroy Sane – Sane has new agent now, so it will be time to discuss his contract situation at Bayern again and with new person in charge soon. Discussions will take place and the situation will be clarified. However, I don’t know where Liverpool links are coming from as they don’t have a director nor a manager in place for next season, and these appointments will be crucial before deciding transfer targets.