CBS Sports soccer insider Fabrizio Romano is here to bring you the latest news and notes from the world of soccer transfers, coaching moves and more. Last week we looked at David Alaba's exit from Bayern Munich along with Real Madrid's pursuit, Paris Saint-Germain's plans to renew the contracts of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and Manchester United's plan to bring in Amad Diallo right away. This week we take a look at the intrigue building for Moises Caicedo, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Monchengladbach landing a new player and much more. Here we go!
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The Moises Caicedo intrigue continues this week. The Ecuadorian midfielder will not join Manchester United in the January transfer market. The club was in control of the deal for over three weeks, having an agreement ready with both Independiente del Valle and the player. The decision ultimately came down to the club not wanting to use the budget for another young player after landing 19-year-old Uruguayan midfielder Facundo Pellistri out of Penarol and 18-year-old Ivorian forward Amad Diallo from Atalanta. Brighton & Hove Albion have made surprise official offer, but the agreement has not yet been found, leaving this race pretty open. As for talks of playing in the United States, Caicedo was not convinced by the proposal received from Atlanta United because he dreams of playing European football. | |
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Arsenal are very active on sales because only by selling players can new signings be made. After finalizing loans for 19-year-old William Saliba to Nice and Sead Kolasinac to Schalke, the club is getting closer to reaching an agreement with Turkish side Fenerbahce for Mesut Ozil. Arsenal gave him the OK to leave the club, and there is an ongoing negotiation on the final details related to his salary. Once that's sorted out, Fenerbahce will then announce the purchase of Ozil. Another Arsenal player on the verge of being sold is Sokratis Papastathopoulos: Genoa, trying to stave off relegation, want him in Serie A, but there is also an offer from 12th-place Betis in La Liga. | |
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Despite the rumors, Tottenham don't have any plans to buy Sven Botman from Lille. The 20-year-old Dutch defender is also followed by Liverpool, but neither club has made an offer to Lille. Botman is also happy to be able to stay in France to play as a starter, but by next summer he's primed to be a market target for many clubs. | |
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Liverpool, on the other hand, are focused on the return of Virgil van Dijk. The board has plans to offer the Dutch defender the renewal of the contract, and the negotiations will begin in the coming months. The world-class Dutch defender has been sidelined since October after tearing his ACL in wild a collision with Everton keeper Jordan Pickford in the Merseyside Derby. | |
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David Alaba will instead be a free agent next summer: Real Madrid are ahead in the race to buy the Bayern Munich defender, because Alaba's dream is to play for Real and the negotiations are going on with his agent. Liverpool are also trying, they are among the five clubs that have contacted the agent but Real remain in pole position. | |
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Despite showing interest in Napoli's Polish attacker Arkadiusz Milik and Real Sociedad's Brazilian striker Willian Jose in recent weeks, Atletico Madrid have reached an agreement with Olympique Lyonnais to sign Moussa Dembele, 24, who will be Diego Simeone new striker replacement after the departure of veteran Diego Costa. Dembele will come on loan with the option to buy. Costa, on the other hand, has not yet chosen his next club. | |
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Borussia Monchengladbach have reached an agreement to buy 19-year-old Kouadio "Manu" Kone from Toulouse, a talented French midfielder that AC Milan sought after for weeks. He will go to Monchengladbach for €9 million, but he will be loaned back to Toulouse until the end of the season, which means he won't be able to suit up for the German club when it clashes against Manchester City in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League (on CBS All Access). | |
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In Major League Soccer, negotiations between FC Dallas and Juventus for the sale of Bryan Reynolds have been ongoing. The full-back, who turns 20 in June, would formally go to Serie A side Benevento for the rest of the season before he is bought by Juventus over the summer in time for the 2021-22 season. That's because Juventus have already reached the limit and cannot sign any non-EU players in the January transfer window. Arthur, who came from Barcelona, and American Weston McKennie, who came from Schalke, already occupied the two slots granted by Serie A. | |
| | Beckham eyes Neville for Miami coaching vacancy |
Inter Miami are looking for a new coach after sacking Uruguayan Diego Alonso last week following an rocky expansion season. Co-owner David Beckham has been in contact with his former Manchester United teammate Phil Neville, who has emerged as the favorite to fill Miami's manager vacancy. Neville, 43, is the current England women's national team head coach and was expected to coach Great Britain in the Tokyo Olympics, but now the plans have changed as negotiations are progressing in the past few days. | |
