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Maresca to be involved in some key Chelsea transfer decisions

We’re just waiting for the official announcement on Enzo Maresca being named the new Chelsea manager. As I told you yesterday, it’s a ‘here we go’ – everything is done, and I can confirm it’s a contract until 2029 with the option of a further year. Everything with Maresca’s staff is also almost sorted – he will bring five members of staff with him from Leicester City, including former Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero, with everything being completed between all the parties involved.

Maresca will also have an important role in deciding what to do with some of the talents at the club. There are some players who will leave Chelsea, for sure, and there are some waiting to speak to the manager and to see what he will decide to do. The Chelsea board are also waiting to have a conversation with Maresca to see what he will do with, for example, Omari Hutchinson.

Hutchinson impressed on loan at Ipswich Town last season and now many clubs have asked about him, including Ajax and Stuttgart, while Ipswich are also pushing to have him back after his fantastic season with the club. There is strong interest in the player, and Maresca will be involved in the decision.

It’s the same with Andrey Santos – there is a lot of interest from different countries, and it’s also possible we could see him return to Strasbourg. His performances there since joining Patrick Vieira’s side on loan in January have been great, so there is a possibility that he will continue there, but Chelsea want to discuss it with Maresca first.

New Arteta contract and Sesko to Arsenal transfer update

Arsenal are prepared to enter into advanced conversations with Mikel Arteta and his representatives to extend his contract. Arsenal didn’t want to discuss it during the season, they were waiting for the end of the Premier League, but in private conversations they always made it clear that they wanted to extend his contract.

Arteta’s current contract expires in 2025 and they didn’t want to enter into the new season with this still being unresolved, so the idea is very clear – after some initial contacts in April/May, now he will enter into concrete and advanced talks to extend his contract.

Mikel Arteta to sign new Arsenal deal

Arsenal want Arteta to be one of the best paid managers in Europe, and to give him new power with the new contract. Despite links with Barcelona, he was never a candidate for the job because he’s super happy at Arsenal, convinced by the project, 100% involved in the planning for the future, and also Edu and all the directors are very happy with Arteta. Obviously they want to finally win titles, but credit to everyone involved because the way they are progressing is something very special.

Everyone at Arsenal, including the players of course, is very happy with Arteta’s management style, and that’s why the expectation is to continue together, and to reach an agreement soon.

Staying with Arsenal, I’m also aware that there have been new reports about Benjamin Sesko becoming their top target up front. However, I have no substantial update on Sesko yet. What I can say is that he rejected two proposals from Saudi, while he also has a proposal to sign new deal with salary increase at RB Leipzig.

I keep mentioning Chelsea, Arsenal and Man United as clubs interested from the Premier League, but it all depends on the player decision now. I have no major update at the time of writing, but will keep you posted when I do.

Tuchel ready to replace Ten Hag at Manchester United

We’re still waiting for Manchester United to complete the review of the season – at the moment there are mixed feelings, and as previously reported, the fact that United have talked with a number of different agents of other managers makes it feel like there is a concrete possibility to part ways with Erik ten Hag.

But, at the same time, no formal communication has been made, and no internal decision that has been 100% confirmed has been made, so we’re waiting for the season review to be completed and then Ten Hag will be informed about his future.

In case United part ways with Ten Hag, there are several candidates that could replace him. The Red Devils have already spoken with several agents, but I can also say that Thomas Tuchel would be really keen on returning to the Premier League. Tuchel is super keen on coming back to England and he knows that this is a new project at Old Trafford now, even if there’s no Champions League for the club next season. Tuchel won the competition at Chelsea, of course, and reached the final with Paris Saint-Germain, but he’d still be really keen on taking the United job even without the Champions League.

So, Tuchel is ready, let’s see what United will decide on the manager situation, but potentially the next days will be crucial to have an answer on that, and then they can prepare for the summer transfer window.

Flick to Barcelona confirmed, but could he have gone to Chelsea instead?

We’ve also had manager news at both Bayern Munich and Barcelona, with the clubs officially announcing Vincent Kompany and Hansi Flick, respectively, as their choices to take over from the 2024/25 season.

Flick attracted speculation for some time before finally ending up at Barca, so I wanted to clarify some details here. It’s true that he was a concrete option for Bayern, they decided to go for different kind of coach in the end, going for a younger manager with Kompany, but Flick was on the list.

However, there was never any contact with Chelsea – despite rumours, Flick and Tuchel were never in negotiations. Flick really wanted the Barcelona job, it was his dream and so talks with English clubs were never concrete as he was really hoping and waiting for a call from Barca president Joan Laporta.

Staying with Bayern, it’s gone a little quiet on Alphonso Davies and that’s because we’re basically waiting for the player to decide what he wants to do. Real Madrid remain interested but, as I’ve always said, they don’t plan to spend €50-60m on him; but first of all, Alphonso has to inform soon Bayern about decision whether to stay at the club with a new deal or not.

Mbappe to Real Madrid announcement will be before the Euros

Kylian Mbappe, speaking to CNN, has confirmed that in the next few days he’s going to complete his move to his next club. We all know the destination is Real Madrid after speaking about it for a long time, everything is being prepared but they don’t want to enter into it now because their full focus is on the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund this weekend.

Everyone – the players, the manager, and the president – is fully focused on the big game at Wembley, but we are moving into the formal stages for Mbappe to join Real Madrid. Even though Mbappe is under contract at Paris Saint-Germain until the end of June, there is a green light from PSG for him to be announced as a Real Madrid player at the end of the current season, so before the Euros.

At Real Madrid it will also be time for another announcements. We know Luka Modric wants to continue at the club and he’s decided not to consider other proposals, so we’re just waiting for one final meeting for him to sort out the financial terms of his contract, and then sign a new deal at Real Madrid.

Lucas Vazquez is also expected to stay at Real Madrid and they are very happy with him, so it’s a work in progress, but Nacho is expected to communicate his decision to leave after the Champions League final, and he has interest from Inter Miami.

West Ham face competition for Brazilian wonderkid

Wesley Gassova is a top young talent attracting plenty of interest at the moment, with reports about clubs like West Ham and Liverpool tracking the 19-year-old forward from Corinthians.

My understanding is that West Ham have been scouting him for sure, but there are like five or six clubs interested. It’s still early, so in the next weeks it will become clear.

For now West Ham’s priority is to sign Fabricio Bruno deal documents soon as there are still some final points to clarify with Flamengo before it can become official.

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