Transfer news: Omorodion or Duran to Chelsea, Zirkzee Man United, Frimpong Arsenal & more
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Omorodion or Duran to Chelsea? Plus updates on Olise and Madueke
Chelsea’s top target remains Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise as they try to agree personal terms with the player before then finding a solution with the club on his clause. The priority for now is the player side, so they are working to make it happen, but another top target for the club this summer is a central striker.
Chelsea have two options after missing out on Benjamin Sesko, who was a top target for them but also for Arsenal and Manchester United before deciding to stay at RB Leipzig. Let’s see if other names come into the equation for Chelsea, but for now the two targets are Jhon Duran of Aston Villa and Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid.
Omorodion spent last season on loan at Deportivo Alaves and he looks like a young talent with plenty of potential. He’s a physical striker, a traditional number 9, and there has been a lot of interest in him as many clubs are looking for this kind of profile this summer. West Ham already had a bid rejected for Omorodion ten days ago, and now Chelsea have also made a formal offer to Atletico Madrid, worth around €30m, plus add-ons to bring the total package to around €40m, but it was a very strong and clear ‘no’ from Atletico Madrid.
It won’t happen for this money and that’s what Atletico Madrid told Chelsea directly, so let’s see what they decide to do now, but Atletico really want to keep the player and they believe he can do fantastically next season under Diego Simeone. But with Chelsea we never know what could happen and they could attack the situation again, with contacts still taking place on the player side.
So, Chelsea have two different options – with Jhon Duran they already have the green light from the player; Duran wants to join Chelsea, and he’s said yes to Chelsea, though he also has other options. With Omorodion, he’s still very happy in Madrid and not desperate to leave – he would like to wear the club’s shirt after they trusted him one year ago when he was not very well known. So that’s why Chelsea are trying to reach an agreement with the player before they try again with Atletico Madrid.
With Duran, the issue is between Chelsea and Aston Villa, with the only way to make it happen being with the inclusion of players in the deal. It could be Ian Maatsen or it could be others, but Chelsea will only go for this with players included in the deal. So Chelsea need to decide if they want to close a deal like this with Villa, because on the player side there is already the green light, or do they try again to find an agreement with Omorodion. Or they could even try to find another striker around Europe.
Enzo Maresca is also involved along with the Chelsea board in these decisions, and they asked the new manager for his thoughts on Duran. Chelsea want Maresca to be involved, and so he will help them make a decision on Duran, or on the possibility of pursuing Omorodion.
My understanding is that there is no preference yet between these two strikers – they are working on both deals and waiting to make a decision; and it remains an open situation as of today, so no preference yet. Talks are taking place on both club and player side for both. Duran has the advantage of being more used to Premier League football, but Omorodion’s potential is also fantastic, so it’s not easy to decide, for sure Premier League experience is a factor in Duran’s favour, but let’s see what happens.
I’m also aware of a Chelsea rumour involving Noni Madueke and Juventus, but I have no updates on this at the moment. Madueke is an important player for Chelsea, so there is really nothing concrete on his future so far. We will see if something changes in the next weeks, but for now Juventus are also focused on the Douglas Luiz swap deal with Aston Villa.
Manchester United make Joshua Zirkzee enquiry and AC Milan need to be fast to make the deal happen
I’m getting many questions about Joshua Zirkzee as there have been new reports linking Manchester United with a strong interest in the Bologna striker, but my information remains the same as last week – AC Milan are the favourites because they have an agreement on almost everything on the player side, such as the contract and the salary.
Milan have also informed Bologna more than ten days ago that they want to pay the release clause for Zirkzee, which is worth €40m. However, they still don’t have an agreement with Zirkzee’s agent. So Milan are in control of the situation on the player side, but they don’t have an agreement on the conditions with the agent yet, so that’s an important factor.
Meanwhile, other clubs are entering the story and trying to understand what’s going on around Zirkzee. There are not so many strikers available on the market for that price, and that is why if Milan want to close this deal, they have to be fast. Manchester United have now made an enquiry – it’s not advanced, still early stages, but Man United are informed on Zirkzee deal details since last week. They’ve asked for information on the release clause details and potential salary package. AC Milan have agreed on personal terms and they want to pay the clause, but they’ve still no agreement with his agent on commission. Let’s see if Man United will really decide to enter and start concrete talks.
So, United wanted to be informed, as Zirkzee is one of their options they’re considering, though not the only one. It’s something they are discussing internally at Man United as they wait to decide who is their top target for the new striker. It’s not an advanced negotiation as of yet, but Zirkzee is under consideration by people at the club.
It will be a busy summer in general at United as they need a new striker, but also a new left-back and centre-back, and I’m hearing that in the last 24-48 hours, they also made some enquiries on the market over a new midfielder. They are exploring options in midfield especially in the case of Casemiro leaving, which remains a strong possibility.
United are assessing options and have started to make moves to strengthen their midfield – we will see who it’s going to be and what United are going to do, but for sure they are going to be really busy in the next weeks, so keep an eye on potential new arrivals at centre-back, left-back, striker, and midfield.
Latest on two potential Arsenal exits plus no decision yet on Jeremie Frimpong’s future
We are likely to see players leaving Arsenal this summer, so it’s normal that we’re seeing some new rumours about some of their players facing uncertain futures.
Firstly, Thomas Partey has been linked again with Saudi clubs, and interest has been there since last summer. However, nothing concrete is happening yet because Saudi clubs are still waiting to learn what kind of budget they are working with this summer.
So, there’s no concrete update on Partey yet, and we’ll have to wait for budgets to be approved before this has the possibility to go any further, with Saudi clubs not closing deals for any players at the moment – so far any interest or discussions are only verbal and nothing more.
Kieran Tierney, meanwhile, is back at Arsenal after his loan spell at Real Sociedad, but he’s expected to leave again. Tierney’s departure seems a real possibility, but whether it’s permanently or on another loan will depend on the proposals that come in for him.
Despite links, I’m not aware of concrete proposals now from Newcastle, but his future is open because Arsenal consider him among players who could leave this summer to make profit.
Finally, we’ve seen Jeremie Frimpong linked with Arsenal in recent times, but also more recently with Liverpool. Still, I have no update on Frimpong now, because he will not decide anything on his future during the Euros – this is the current plan. The release clause is there and valid, but Frimpong wants to focus on the Euros now so the situation is currently quiet.
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