Gianluca Di Marzio Transfer Q&A: Paul Pogba, Kalidou Koulibaly, Philippe Coutinho & more
Written by News on 29/04/2020
In an exclusive transfer Q&A, Sky Sport Italia reporter Gianluca Di Marzio provides the inside track on the futures of top players, including Paul Pogba, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Kalidou Koulibaly, Philippe Coutinho and many more…
Is Paul Pogba staying at Manchester United or leaving? @markgoldbridge
I think he could leave because he only has one year on his contract. When you only have one year, it is very difficult to renew the contract now.
United consider him the most important player, not only on the field, but for marketing, merchandising and for everything.
But this situation with his contract it makes it very difficult for him to stay.
Real Madrid are going forward for him. Zinedine Zidane wanted him last summer. Juventus would like to have him back, but they will only do swap deals.
So it depends on whether Manchester United needs or wants some Juventus players that they can put in the deal, like Miralem Pjanic and Douglas Costa.
I know Juventus and Manchester United have had contact even in the last days because Juventus would like to do this type of deal.
Are Inter Milan in talks to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Arsenal? @PabloooMARI4
What is going on with Philippe Coutinho? And will he sign for Everton? @joewillio180
I know that Philippe Coutinho is one of the players that Barcelona would like to sell because the club are facing some economic difficulties. They have to sell players.
It depends on the offers they will receive on Philippe. Chelsea wanted him two or three months ago, I do not know whether they want him again.
I know that Carlo Ancelotti wants to improve Everton and to have a strong Everton in the future.
Coutinho could be one of his targets, but I am not sure he would like to leave Barcelona for Everton now, having played for Liverpool.
He would also probably like to stay in a team playing in the Champions League.
Will Alexis Sanchez and Chris Smalling still be Manchester United players next season? @ManUtdSZN
The only certain thing is that Inter Milan does not want Alexis Sanchez to stay again, so they will not buy him permanently.
At the end of the loan, Sanchez will go back to Manchester United and I don’t know whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to have him in the team or will allow him to speak to other clubs.
Roma wanted to sign Sanchez last summer, so they may go back in for him.
On Chris Smalling, his situation is on standby. Roma wanted to buy him and they had an option, but they did not find a total agreement with United.
So, in this moment, Roma do not know how much budget they will have to work with. It is a problem with many clubs in Italy.
As it stands, Smalling will go back to United and then we will see whether Roma will make an important offer to buy him or not.
What is going on with Henrikh Mkhitaryan? @oakley_James_10
What are the chances of Thomas Partey joining Arsenal? @WeMoveAFC
Arsenal want him a lot. Every Atletico Madrid player is in the market. So, it depends a lot on the offer. Atletico are open to selling every player if the offer is good.
It also depends on budget – how much Arsenal can afford? And how much Atletico want?
Atletico will want money, so it is difficult to see them doing a deal involving other players as part of it.
They are very smart when it comes to doing deals and it will not be a surprise if Thomas Partey was to stay.
He is young, he is not like Diego Costa, and they can sell him next year if they want or even in two years’ time.
So they are in control.
Who are Tottenham interested in signing this summer? @Anderson_1964
Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly could be one of their most important targets. There is a very good feeling between his agents and the Tottenham chairman.
I think Koulibaly will leave Napoli this summer. Only last summer, Napoli signed Kostas Manolas who is a similar player to Koulibaly and then they got another defender in, Amir Rrahmani from Verona.
Napoli have been thinking to the future without Koulibaly. A couple of years ago, they would not have been open to the idea of Koulibaly leaving.
But the last year was not his best for Napoli, so I think this could be the right moment for him to leave.
As well as Tottenham, Carlo Ancelotti wants him at Everton. His agents have very strong contacts within the Premier League clubs.
So, I think the percentage that Koulibaly could arrive in the Premier League is very high.
Do you see Timo Werner at Liverpool next season or will they go for another squad player in attack to take the pressure off the recognised front three? @UKCasp
I know that Timo Werner will leave RB Leipzig, for sure. His agents are moving to find a solution for him. They are talking to Juventus and Inter Milan, so they want him to change clubs.
They are probably talking to Liverpool because Liverpool have wanted him for a long time.
I don’t know whether he is the right player for Liverpool in this moment because in their forward department they probably don’t need anything.
Firmino, Salah and Mane!
So it’s difficult to spend a lot of money for a player that is likely to stay on the bench. We will see, but at this time there is no real deal with Liverpool and Leipzig for Werner.
What is happening with Dries Mertens and Chelsea? @_harrisonV
Chelsea have wanted Dries Mertens since January.
In January, they offered €10m despite his contract ending in June. But Napoli said no because they wanted him to break the club’s record of goals.
Now his contract is ending and, in this moment, he is not renewing with Napoli. The deal with Napoli is in a difficult way and I know Chelsea want him again.
They are talking to his representatives, Frank Lampard has spoken to the player and they are pushing forward to convince Mertens to accept their offer.
Is Paulo Dybala going to sign a new contract at Juventus or are clubs still interested in signing him? @Hamdiiiii10
I think he will renew the contract. After last summer’s situation which was a bit strange – Juventus talked with Manchester United and Tottenham to sell him – he has played really well this season.
I think he will stay and sign the contract. This is not the summer for big transfers.
I don’t think Manchester United could spend the money this summer to get him and I don’t think Juventus want him to leave this summer.
Another point is that Dybala wants to stay at Juventus. It’s important when a player doesn’t want to go and is happy to stay.
Are Inter Milan listening to offers for Lautaro Martinez and what would Barcelona need to offer to get him to move to the Nou Camp? @footballzone_20
He has an exit clause, but Barcelona doesn’t want to pay that amount in cash. So they are talking to find an agreement, but that still hasn’t been found.
The deal would involve a part being cash and another part being players, like Nelson Semedo, Junior Firpo and Arturo Vidal. Not Antoine Griezmann because he has a very, very high salary.
The talks are currently on hold and Barcelona will decide in the next days whether they come back with a deal and find a solution.
Inter and Barcelona are talking, not every day, but over the last few weeks.
Are Chelsea looking to sign a left-back this summer? And if so, who are targeting? @CFCDelv
They have two very good left-backs – one who is very, very good and that is Emerson Palmieri and the other being Marco Alonso.
It depends a lot on Emerson. In January, Inter asked for Alonso and Emerson. They asked for around £45m to sell one of the two players…they consider these players important to Chelsea.
It depends on some possible swap deals, which could be done with Inter and Juventus. For example Emerson for Juventus’ Alex Sandro.
Chelsea can find another left-sided player, but through a swap deal. Otherwise, Chelsea will keep Emerson and Alonso.
How likely are the signings of Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho to Manchester United? @Kyrotaylor
Is Declan Rice staying at West Ham? @lee_bennett99
Kaveh Solhekol…
Declan Rice is the last player West Ham would want to sell. He is a key player for David Moyes.
West Ham don’t need to sell anyone because the owners are continuing to fund the club and make up shortfalls when required.
Even if West Ham wanted to sell him, there is no one who could afford to buy him in the current climate.
A return to Chelsea has been mentioned but they are not going to spend a fortune on a player they released when he was 14.
Frank Lampard has also said midfield is not a priority area for him when it comes to the transfer market because he has lots of options in that area. Ethan Ampadu has also impressed on loan at RB Leipzig and is due back at the end of the season.
Is Thomas Meunier going to Tottenham? @devla.22
Kaveh Solhekol…
Spurs need another right back and Thomas Meunier would be a great addition to their squad.
He is out of contract at PSG at the end of June and he will be one of the most sough-after players during the summer.
The only problem for Spurs is lots of other clubs want the Belgium international. Having said that, Meunier is attracted by the prospect of playing in London for Jose Mourinho and if he’s offered the right terms, we could well see him playing for Spurs next season.
Signing Meunier would make sense for Spurs. There’s no transfer fee, he’s 28 and he plays for regularly for Belgium – the No. 1 ranked national team in the world.
(c) Sky Sports 2020: Gianluca Di Marzio Transfer Q&A: Paul Pogba, Kalidou Koulibaly, Philippe Coutinho & more
