Luiz, Sesko, Guirassy, Sancho and more

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There were some interesting updates yesterday on the situation of Douglas Luiz. He could really leave Aston Villa in this summer’s transfer window, and he’s a concrete option for Juventus.

Firstly, in the next hours, Thiago Motta will sign his contract as new Juventus manager, until 2027, and then Teun Koopmeiners is an absolute priority for Juventus in midfield, and the player is super keen on the move. Juve can make both deals happen with outgoings and players involved – it’s not easy, but they are working on both deals.

So, Juventus will work on Koopmeiners, but they see an opportunity with Luiz. There are, however, two crucial points. The first one is the salary – Luiz has an important salary at Aston Villa, and so his salary with Juve would have to be in line with what they give to their other big players, or the deal is not going to be possible. And the other crucial point, as of today, is that the only way for Juventus to make this transfer happen is with a swap deal. Juve can’t go to Villa and pay €60m – they want to negotiate with Villa and this will follow in the next days, but the only way is with a swap deal.

In terms of players who could be involved, Juve are prepared to discuss Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling-Junior. Both players are out of contract next summer at Juventus, and not currently close to extending their contracts. Both players are being discussed, but the cash will also be crucial for Aston Villa.

If it doesn’t work out with Juventus, other clubs could enter the race for Luiz, as there is also interest from the Premier League. Luiz is open, the salary will be important, so let’s see what happens.

Benjamin Sesko is staying at RB Leipzig – the decision has been made by the player and his agent after taking their time. He had possibilities from Chelsea, Man United, Arsenal – these three clubs offered Sesko the possibility to join Premier League football.

But, Sesko had a new contract proposal from Leipzig since three weeks ago and he decided to accept. It’s an important contract, he’s expected to be the star of the squad, a key player for Leipzig next season, and an important player for the manager Marco Rose.

Sesko decided to stay because he decided this was the best option for his development, something similar to what Erling Haaland did in summer 2021 when he was at Borussia Dortmund.

So, Sesko stays and his new contract will be signed in the next 24 hours, and then a future in the Premier League is still very possible, but not for this summer. Sesko is staying at RB Leipzig.

I wanted to clarify something on Joao Palhinha because yesterday we had some reports in England about interest from Manchester United and Barcelona. However, at the moment, Man United are still waiting to resolve the manager situation before attacking any position for the market.

Of course, United are still keeping an eye on the market, but they will not advance in any negotiations until they know who is going to be their coach. So at the moment Palhinha is not negotiating with Manchester United, we’ll have to wait and see what happens there with Erik ten Hag, or if they decide to go for a replacement.

Palhinha was also linked with Barca, but with their Financial Fair Play situation at the moment, they can’t go there and spend €40-50m on the Fulham midfielder. So, interest is there, but in terms of a concrete story, Bayern Munich have an agreement with Palhinha on a contract – the wages, the project – and Palhinha wants to go to Bayern.

Now, Bayern need to agree a fee with Fulham and they will push hard this week to try to reach an agreement as soon as possible. Fulham are obviously playing their game, but at the moment a hijack is not expected, with Bayern working hard on the Palhinha deal, and with new manager Vincent Kompany giving his green light to the board, so it’s on the Bayern board to make it happen. The negotiation with Fulham will continue, so let’s follow that, step by step.

As reported yesterday, Youssouf Fofana is 100% leaving Monaco this summer. At the moment it’s a calm situation, nothing close or advanced with any club for Fofana from what I heard. He just wants to try something new and Monaco don’t want to lose him for free in 2025, so both parties are keen on an exit for this summer.

Let’s see who will enter the race as it’s still early, but in my opinion, he’s really perfect for English football, I can see him doing well in the Premier League…last summer, he was on Manchester United’s list.

Michael Olise is a player Manchester United like, he’s been on their list for months and so that could be one to watch, but we also know that Chelsea have been closely monitoring him as one of their targets for this summer after they were really close to signing him last year.

So, Chelsea are still there, but United as well. With United it’s really important to make some room financially with the sale of someone like Jadon Sancho, and also Mason Greenwood. They have to sell both players, and I think the amount they get from these two deals will be really important to see how much they can invest on a winger like Olise.

A lot of fans have been asking me more about the Sancho situation, but for the moment all I know is what I’ve shared, so I don’t have information yet on other clubs who could join the race along with Borussia Dortmund.

What I’ve been told is that Man United expect other clubs to join the race, not only Dortmund. As for Sancho, he loves BVB and staying there has always been his priority but the financial package could be an issue, so that’s why the situation is 100% open.

Pep Guardiola spoke yesterday to confirm that Manchester City and Barcelona will soon have a conversation about Joao Cancelo. Barca will go strong for Cancelo after his loan from Man City last season, and the plan is the same for Joao Felix in the next days and weeks. It could take some time because Financial Fair Play clarity is needed, but Barcelona want to keep the two players.