I understand that Arsenal have yet to make a decision whether or not to offer club captain Alexandre Lacazette a new contract when his current deal expires in June. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season and his agents are in discussion with several European clubs including his previous French club Lyon. His main motive is to join a club that can offer Champions League football. He said, “I keep in contact with Lyon and visit twice a year and see their medical staff and we are close. It is complicated about me possibly joining them and it depends on whether or not they qualify for Europe. It’s been a long time since I played in the Champions League and I miss it.”
*I am told that inside the dressing room there is much speculation that Norwegian Martin Odegaard will be handed the captain’s armband next season. Mikel Arteta said of him, “His leadership skills are different from how leadership is defined by many people. He has special abilities we’d develop. He needs to feel important, which has been difficult for him the last couple of years.”
Ten Hag reputation takes a knock
Is Ten Hag a truly quality coach who is worthy of guiding the great Manchester United? I didn’t see the game in which his current club Ajax were beaten in the KNVB Cup Final. After that game the influential newspaper De Telegraaf told him he is not a “game changer”. The media outlet then went on to say that Ajax have managed to work their way through matches this season without being particularly impressive and although they remain top of the Dutch Eredivisie the quality of their football has declined. The Ajax boss did not accept the defeat with dignity and hit back immediately by saying that his team were the better side and were playing against “more than” eleven players! De Telegraaf commented that his remarks were “nonsense”. Ten Hag has already been warned by many insiders that he might find the Manchester United dressing room too powerful for him with several players speaking through the media so that every move he makes will be picked apart by his own players.
Gerrard worries he might lose Coutinho
Steven Gerrard is worried that Aston Villa might not be able to secure the permanent services of Philippe Coutinho. The 29-year-old Brazilian is on loan from Barcelona with Villa paying £125k a week of his £400k a week Barca salary. Villa has a £33million signing on fee written into the loan agreement but Coutinho’s agents are asking for a high wage which Villa might not be able to meet. Gerrard has spoken with his Sporting Director and asked him to negotiate with Coutinho’s agent and Barcelona as soon as this season finishes. If they cannot agree on a price Villa will likely make Brighton’s Mali international Yves Bissouma their main target or Leed’s England midfielder Kalvin Phillips who would cost them around £60 million.
Lukaku looks set to move
Despite Thomas Tuchel says that Romelu Lukaku can still succeed at Stamford Bridge he has scored only 5 goals this season. After a successful stint at Internationale Milan, Chelsea bought Lukaku for £97.5million to strengthen their striking options. Regrettably the move hasn’t worked out. Although Thomas Tuchel has encouraged the French striker the truth is that he simply doesn’t trust him any longer. While Lukaku has dropped down the selection order Timo Werner is rapidly becoming the player Chelsea thought he could be. From what I have heard, and against Tuchel’s public support for Lukaku, it looks likely to me that he could be offered for sale in the summer. Tuchel has indicated that he will stay longer at the club than expected and whereas players such as Eden Hazard waited for Mourinho to depart before breaking back into the side and Rudiger waited until Frank Lampard was sacked before reclaiming his first team selection status there is no way for Lukaku to redeem himself with Tuchel in charge after a series of failed performances.
West Ham looking at goalkeeper Nick Pope
West Ham are watching closely Burnley’s goalkeeper Nick Pope. They are considering him as back-up to their No1 goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski. Their current number 2 is Alphonse Areola who is on loan from PSG and the Hammers have a £10million option to sign him permanently however his wages of £120k a week would make him one of the club’s highest paid players. Fulham made a quick return to the Premier League certain with promotion from the Championship and they too are looking at Pope as they will have to strengthen their squad to compete next season. Pope has notched up 51 clean score sheets in 150 games for Burnley who are likely to drop down into the Championship for next season.
*The Hammers have been dealt a severe blow with the loss of Issa Diop, their main centre-back. He was injured in the 1-1 draw with Burnley at the weekend and my medical contacts told me that his ankle injury looks serious and could mean he will play no further part this season.
Guardiola okay at losing Kane as Haaland terms agreed
Manchester City have agreed terms to bring Erling Haaland to the Etihad Stadium. £500k a week I am told is the agreed figure and both the player and his club Borussia Dortmund have agreed. I am expecting City to trigger Haaland’s £63million release clause with agreement from City owner Sheik Mansour. Pep Guardiola has admitted that his tactic of playing this season without a recognized central striker was a gamble on his part. He was partly forced into the position because Tottenham fought back against four offers from City for Harry Kane. Four times they rejected the offers and City eventually backed off. Guardiola said, “We tried to sign Kane but when you are rejected three or four times it is time to give up and walk away. We looked at our squad and we were not totally confident that it would be okay at the start of the season. Harry Kane did not come but everything is going well but at the time I did not know if it would work.” City have certainly done extremely well but this week looks like solving the striker position.
Tuchel considers bringing back on-loan Gallagher
With many uncertainties at Chelsea due to the sanctions imposed on the club due to owner Roman Abramovich’s links to Vladimir Putin and his illegal attack on Ukraine, the Blues can take one bright highlight from this season. Thomas Tuchel might have regretted loaning Conor Gallagher to Crystal Palace as Covid took its toll and injuries mounted up. Gallagher impressed on loan at West Brom last season and this year he has excelled at Palace. Manager Patrick Viera quite literally hounded Chelsea to loan our Gallagher by calling them every day last summer. His persistence paid off and Tuchel rubber stamped the loan as he recognized the value of Viera’s promise to play the midfielder in every match which Tuchel could not guarantee at Stamford Bridge. Working with legendary midfielder Viera was another reason for the move. The big question now is, will Tuchel bring Gallagher back this summer and can he guarantee playing time in a midfield with such quality as N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho?
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