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 Real Madrid's pursuit of David Alaba, Liverpool's efforts to extend Virgil van Dijk and Brighton's surprising swoop for Moises Caicedo. This week we take a look at Mesut Ozil finally leaving Arsenal, PSG's continued pursuit of Dele Alli, Liverpool's surprise interest in an Udinese star and much more. Here we go!
Want more Fabrizio Romano? Listen below and subscribe to ¡Qué Golazo! A Daily CBS Soccer Podcast where we take you beyond the pitch for complete coverage of transfers, previews, recaps and more.
| |  |
At last the Mesut Ozil saga ends. The midfielder leaves Arsenal to join Turkish side Fenerbahce, signing his contract on Monday and securing the No. 67 shirt. This is an important move for the Turkish club as well as for Arsenal, who needed to sell players in order to buy a new one quality midfielder. Sokratis Papastathopoulos also remains on the transfer list. Real Betis are trying to convince him, but there are many clubs in talks with the Greek defender. As of Monday, there has not been an Arsenal bid for Norwich star Emi Buendia, who is appreciated by the Gunners' board. | |
| |  |
Dele Alli may be next to leave the Premier League. He was not even included in Jose Mourinho's squad in the 3-1 win over Sheffield United on Sunday. PSG are insisting on buying Alli on loan until the end of the season and the player is pushing to join Mauricio Pochettino in France, as revealed on CBS Sports last week. Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has not yet given the OK to sell him, which makes this move is complicated. PSG plans to push for a resolution as we approach the end of January. Erik Lamela, on the other hand, has no intention of leaving Tottenham. He is very happy with his life in London and will remain at Spurs despite the rumors. | |
| |  |
Speaking of Argentines, Rodrigo De Paul has been linked to Liverpool as a possible purchase between January and next summer. Udinese did not receive any offer or call from the Reds for De Paul -- the only club to have made active contact was Leeds, who wanted him last summer. The price is around €35 million, but so far Jurgen Klopp has not taken action for de Paul. | |
| |  |
Fikayo Tomori will leave the Premier League and head to Serie A. The agreement between AC Milan and Chelsea is imminent. The 1997-born defender will arrive on loan with a buy option for €30 million. Chelsea's hope is that Tomori can return to London at the end of the season because Lampard strongly believes in him. AC Milan are not stopping there as the Serie A leaders are by far the most active Italian team in January. After former Monaco midfielder Soualiho Meite was bought on loan from Turin and Tomori arrived from Chelsea, Mario Mandzukic, who landed in Milano over the weekend, is the next in line to join the club. Once his medical exam is completed, Mandzukic, a free agent, will become Zlatan Ibrahimovic's backup option as striker. He will sign a contract valid until the end of the season, with an option to extend until June 2022. | |
| |  |
Barcelona will hardly be able to anticipate the purchase of Eric Garcia from Manchester City in January. As it stands, there is no agreement between the two clubs. The only agreement reached recently in December was between Garcia and Barca -- pending the new president's approval -- as he is set to become a free agent in the summer and plans to rejoin the Catalan club for the the 2021-22 season on a five-year contract. | |
| |  |
Real Madrid are ready to conclude the signing of David Alaba. The Austrian defender will soon sign his contract and will become a Real player for the 2021-22 season. Alaba, currently on Bayern Munich, will join Los Blancos as a free agent. We reported in early January that Real were in pole position to land Alaba. This choice is not directly linked to the situation of Sergio Ramos' contract, with which Real continue to negotiate for the renewal, but have come up short of an agreement thus far. The club is also continuing to iron out the details of Luka Modric's contract extension until June 2022. The agreement is imminent -- expect the two sides to sign in the dotted line in the coming months. | |
| |  |
RB Leipzig have a very clear position for Marcel Sabitzer and Dayot Upamecano. Neither player will be sold in January, but their situation are expected to be evaluated next summer as the club is looking to sign their eventual and potential replacements. Tottenham have been following Sabitzer for some time, but there are plenty of other clubs interested. | |
| |  |
Bryan Reynolds is arriving in Europe soon. Juventus are waiting for the fullback to renew his passport in order to close the agreement with FC Dallas. Roma and Club Brugge were in the thick of the race until the end, but Juve led the way and plan to buy Reynolds together with Benevento, the Serie A club where the American would play for the next six months while waiting to move to the Bianconeri from the 2021-22 season. | |
| | |
