Chelsea are posing a serious threat as they battle Manchester United for one of the world’s best players, Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain is hopeful of landing a Bayern Munich star for Pep Guardiola, while Wednesday’s Transfer Gossip claims a Liverpool and Tottenham target may end up at Wolves.
CHELSEA MORE LIKELY TO SIGN PSG STAR THAN MAN UTD
Man Utd were recently given a boost in their chase to sign world-class attacker Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain, but that could be a red herring as Chelsea’s chances of capturing him have now been talked up.
Neymar became the world’s most expensive player in August 2017 when PSG paid Barcelona an astronomical €222million (£200m) to sign him. Since then, the Brazilian winger has managed 118 goals and 77 assists in 173 appearances. He has helped PSG win four Ligue 1 titles, three French cups, two French league cups and four French super cups.
Despite Neymar being known as one of the best forwards in the world, and his regular goal contributions alongside Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, he is not loved by all PSG fans.
Neymar is accused of either being injured or not at his best when PSG need him most in the Champions League, a competition they have yet to win.
Earlier this month, a group of PSG ultras headed to Neymar’s house and demanded he leave the club. They have since been condemned by other PSG supporters and the club itself, but this is the kind of event that may force Neymar to find a new team.
On Tuesday, a report revealed how ‘numerous’ Premier League sides hope to sign the 31-year-old, with Man Utd’s interest being the most ‘serious’.
A transfer to England was claimed to be likely given Neymar’s fondness for Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal. He has always ‘dreamed’ of starring in the Prem, having shone in Brazil and Spain before France.
But an update from the Transfer Room, which cites reports coming out of Spain, has reduced Man Utd’s chances of snaring Neymar.
Blues could ruin Man Utd transfer plan
Instead, Chelsea are named as being the ‘only real option’ for him. One of the main reasons for this is the huge finances available to new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, which means the Blues are far more likely to be able to match Neymar’s wage demands than Man Utd.
Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag did not like having Cristiano Ronaldo in his attack as he felt the Portugal star was reducing the impact of his other forwards. History could repeat itself if Neymar heads to Old Trafford.
In contrast, Chelsea co-owner and chairman Todd Boehly is eager to bring the world’s biggest stars to Stamford Bridge to improve the club’s status and following. Neymar certainly falls into this category as he is one of the most famous athletes globally.
Plus, Pochettino has an existing relationship with Neymar from their time together at PSG. He is therefore one of the few coaches in the world who may be able to get Neymar back to his brilliant best.
The report also discusses the potential for Neymar to head back to Barcelona. However, this move is impossible as Barca have enough financial problems without adding Neymar’s huge wages into the mix.
It seems the likelihood of English fans getting to see Neymar in the Prem is growing, although Chelsea are ahead of Man Utd in the race as things stand.
MAN CITY EYE BAYERN RAID FOR TOP-CLASS WIDE MAN
Premier League leaders Man City have once again been linked with a move for Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies.
Pep Guardiola is on the lookout for a new star at left-back after Joao Cancelo forced his way out of the club in January. He has only joined Bayern on a six-month loan, but it is likely his exit will be made permanent in the summer.
On April 17, Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg revealed City had struck up an interest in Davies.
And Plettenberg has now provided an update on the prospective transfer. He claims City director of football Txiki Begiristain ‘would love’ to sign the Canada international for City.
He believes Davies, who has unrivalled pace, would be able to tear up the Prem and take City to even greater heights.
Guardiola’s side have been alerted to the 22-year-old’s situation as his contract expires in June 2025 and there have been rumours about him deciding not to extend it.
However, Plettenberg adds that Bayern consider Davies to be ‘unsellable’ and will try to extend his deal. It seems City managing to complete this transfer depends almost entirely on Davies’ contract decision.
The defender may be up for a new challenge with City. After all, he has won pretty much everything there is to win with Bayern, including the Champions League, Bundesliga, German cup and Club World Cup.
Having only played in Canada, America and Germany before, Davies may be up for testing himself out in England for the first time. He could form part of a formidable left side of defence with centre-back Manuel Akanji.
Transfermarkt value Davies at €70m (£61m), while Salary Sport claim he earns £165,000 a week in Bavaria.
WOLVES MAY BE GIVEN CHANCE TO SNARE LIVERPOOL, TOTTENHAM TARGET
Fabrizio Romano has revealed super agent Jorge Mendes is ‘taking care of Manuel Ugarte’s future’, and this could result in the Liverpool and Tottenham-linked midfielder heading to Wolves.
Ugarte has established himself as one of the best up-and-coming defensive midfielders in Europe. He is only 22 years of age but is already an integral player for Sporting Lisbon, having played 46 games in all competitions this season.
Ugarte is also now a regular in the Uruguay national team setup alongside Real Madrid star Federico Valverde and Rodrigo Bentancur of Tottenham.
Spurs have been heavily linked with the Montevideo-born star in recent months. In April, it was claimed Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has ‘promised’ to submit a £53m proposal for him.
Liverpool have since locked onto him as a potential solution to their midfield woes, while there is also interest from Aston Villa.
Writing on Twitter, Romano has revealed that Mendes will hold talks with several top-flight English clubs in the coming weeks to sort out a big move for Ugarte.
There is a ‘very concrete possibility’ Ugarte will become the latest Sporting man to end up in the Prem, following in the footsteps of Bruno Fernandes and Pedro Porro.
Romano states that there is interest from three Prem teams right now, though he does not name any of them. The race for Ugarte’s services is thought to be ‘open’.
However, there is one big reason why Wolves could pull off a shock and take Ugarte to Molineux. Out of all the Prem clubs, Wolves have the best relationship with Mendes, having signed a host of his players in the past.
Mendes has helped them land top stars such as Ruben Neves and Matheus Nunes previously, despite them being linked with the biggest teams in England.
Therefore, it would not be a surprise if Ugarte’s first experience in the Prem was with Wolves. He could then spend two or three seasons continuing his development in the West Midlands before potentially gaining a huge transfer to Liverpool or Spurs after that.
