Welcome to the ESPN Reporters Journal, with contributions from our correspondents in the world’s top leagues.
In this edition, Barcelona Take advantage to sign a 16-year-old. Also: the posture of the Manchester United on Ansu Fati.
Barcelona beat Real Madrid to take the ‘Wonder Boy’
The Barcelona is ready to stamp the signature of the young striker for Rayo Vallecano, Fabian Luzzi, after reviewing their finances and beating Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, as confirmed by several sources to ESPN.
Madrid and Atlético had been in the race for Luzzi, but Madrid retired once they saw how much the Barca I was prepared to offer for the international youth of Spain. A source with knowledge of the figures involved did not confirm the full details to ESPNbut he said that the Real Madrid I would never pay that much for an academy player
Luzzi, 16 years old, has been viewed by several of the best clubs in Europe, and although he hasn’t made his full debut for Rayo, he has been training regularly with the first team.
The teenager has not yet signed an agreement with the Barca, who will have to pay Rayo only a small amount in development rights, but according to sources say he has promised to join the Catalan club this summer.
The Barca he is willing to pay a lot to secure young talent. Last year, they accidentally e-mailed Ilaix Moriba’s contract offer to Espanyol, who were “stunned” by the numbers being offered.
Once Luzzi steadfast, will join the U19 team of the Barca Aiming to progress to Team B, which could be promoted to the Second Division when they play in next month’s playoffs. –Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens
Manchester United hopes that Ansu Fati stay on Barcelona
The Red Devils have seen the progression of Ansu Fati in the first team of Barcelona, but there is an acceptance that it will remain with the Spanish giants despite the rumors of a £ 100 million offer, sources told ESPN.
United and other England Premier League clubs that have monitored the striker hope he will accept an extension of the contract at Camp Nou, after joining the first team this season.
Sources told ESPN that United is also wary of how agents often use his name in the transfer rumor mill when discussing new contracts with its clients and clubs, as a way to spark interest in them.
The Barcelona he hopes to finance any transfer business by selling players he has in excess, such as Philippe Coutinho, but it is unlikely that Ansu, who has made 24 appearances in all competitions this season, falls into that category.
Ansu, 17, signed a new contract in December that runs until 2022 and includes a release clause of 170 million euros. However, once he has been officially promoted to the first team, he is still technically registered in team B, the terms will last until 2024 and the clause will increase to 400 million euros.
Catalan club sources say the plan is for him to become a permanent member of the first team next season, but for now he will remain registered with team B and could participate in the third division playoffs, which will take place in July. –Rob Dawson and Sam Marsden
Timo Werner’s release clause not yet established
Release clauses are supposed to simplify transfers, but the Chelsea has still had to negotiate with RB Leipzig on the imminent purchase of Timo Werner.
The two-month delay in Bundesliga matches caused by the coronavirus pandemic has created a curious situation in which the players’ contractual clauses, influenced by the league’s ending positions, now expire before the season is really over.
The fixed price of Werner expires June 15. However, the exact amount that a buying club would have to pay Leipzig It would depend on whether they won the title, qualified for the UEFA Champions League, or if they get nothing.
The fee can be as high as € 60 million or as small as € 50 million. With all parties interested in reaching an agreement, Chelsea and Leipzig They entered into negotiations, which essentially constituted a guessing game about their exact value given the pending matches.
Leipzig He is 11 points behind leader Bayern Munich with four games to play. But they sit third, three points ahead of Borussia Monchengladbach in fourth and Bayer Leverkusen in fifth with this season’s Champions League Quarter Finals ahead.
Sources told ESPN what if Werner Quickly accepted the personal terms in a five-year deal worth up to £ 200,000 per week, it took both clubs considerably longer to finalize the precise fee they would pay Chelsea.
It is believed that they were settled at 53 million euros, 2 million euros less than if Leipzig qualify for the Champions League, but 3 million euros more than if they got nothing.
Now, all that is delaying the deal is the location of the doctor. Werner. The player is unable to fly to London due to Bundesliga regulations regarding COVID-19 and doctors from Chelsea they are reluctant to travel to Germany because they would have to be quarantined for 14 days upon returning to the UK.
The problem has not yet been resolved, but all parties are waiting for the deal to be completed. –James Olley
David Silva outlines his next move, favors the MLS
David Silva you are considering moving to the Major League Soccer when you leave the Manchester City at the end of this season, according to sources informed ESPN.
The 34-year-old midfielder has confirmed that he will leave Etihad this summer, 10 years after being signed from Valencia, and is considering offers from the United States, Japan, Qatar and Spain before making a final decision on his future.
But, although the winner of the World Cup has not previously hidden his desire to play for Las Palmas, the Second Division club that plays in the Canary Islands where Silva is original, sources have told ESPN who is also interested in experiencing a new culture.
Silva He had initially favored a change to the J-League, where he was the subject of interest of Vissel Kobe, the club where the former midfielder of the Barcelona, Andres Iniesta.
But with Inter Miami and New York City FC, the Citizens’ sister club within the City Football Group, it is also interested in bringing Silva to MLS. Sources told ESPN The player is now evaluating a move to the United States before considering moving to Las Palmas. –Mark Ogde
Dimitri Payet rejects salary cut, infuriates fans
While the Olympique de Marseille seeks to reduce costs amid the coronavirus, Dimitri Payet He has been reluctant to accept a reduction in his salary of £ 130,000 a week because he says he has bills to pay.
The President of MarseillesJacques-Henri Eyraud has been trying to get his players to agree to lower wages to ease the financial difficulties of the club, which was in a precarious situation before the coronavirus pandemic and that Ligue 1 was canceled.
However, the players, represented by Steve Mandanda, Florian Thauvin and Payet, have so far rejected all proposals made by Eyraud and his team.
Payet has been the most vocal in this regard. And the 33-year-old former West Ham star justified his decision by saying he couldn’t accept a pay cut because “I have a family and I have big bills to pay.”
He also said that he has to defend his own interests and the interests of his family. However, his explanation was greeted angrily among fans at Marseilles and the rest of France. –Julien Laurens
Guardiola has a new assistant at City
The appointment of Juanma Lillo as assistant to Pep Guardiola in the Manchester City It has raised some doubts among the club’s rivals.
Lillo replaced Mikel Arteta at Etihad after his contract with the Chinese team Qingdao Huanghai was terminated “by mutual consent”. One of the reasons given by Qingdao Huanghai was Lillo’s mother’s poor health, only to have the 54-year-old man sign a one-year contract in City soon after.
Sources have told ESPN that Lillo’s future in City is linked to Guardiola, who has one year left on his contract and has not yet confirmed his future plans. –Rob dawson
Data Platform, a hit in the Premier League
Transfer Room, a speed dating style platform whose goal is to streamline and digitize the transfer market, has seen a “huge spike in activity” by teams looking to move forward, as they continue to deal with travel restrictions caused by the pandemic of coronavirus.
The platform has seen a more than 200 percent increase in activity in the past 12 months and has amassed a total of 550 active clubs, with new teams joining every week.
Last Thursday, directors and scouts from major European clubs, including Arsenal and the Manchester City, were among the 245 teams that participated in a series of 10-minute virtual meetings for a couple of hours at an event organized by Transfer Room. The event, which included 13 Premier League clubs, was created to allow teams to discuss transfers without the use of agents or intermediaries.
Launched in 2017, the platform aims to digitize the transfer market. Most deals on the platform are between clubs in England’s two main divisions.
“We have seen a huge increase in activity on the platform since mid-April,” he told ESPN Transfer Room founder and CEO Jonas Ankersen. “Travel restrictions force new forms of work and new forms of connection.
“Not only [los clubes] They saved costs and time by being able to meet online, but were limited by a space of 10 minutes per meeting, so they got down to business and some even reached agreements “. –Connor O’Halloran
Champions League group stage affected by virus accumulation
The group stages of the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa Leaguee will not begin until mid-October due to the accumulation of accessories created by the closure of the coronavirus, sources informed ESPN.
Since this season’s competition is not scheduled to complete until the last weekend of August, it will likely be organized as a mini tournament in Lisbon for the Champions League and Frankfurt for the Europa League, most of the national leagues in Europe will not start next season until mid-September, which is traditionally when the group stages begin.
Sources have told ESPNHowever, the work plan for the next season is for the first day to be held in the middle of the week, generally assigned to the third day and the subsequent dates to continue accordingly.
UEFA aims for all groups to be completed by mid-December, so there is work to be done to find a way to squeeze out six match days within two months. –Mark Ogden
The relief of the Spanish clubs for millionaire sponsorships of bookmakers
Eight La Liga clubs are relieved after their fears that they would return to action without sponsor logos on their kits proved to be unfounded.
Seville, Valencia, Leganés, Osasuna, Levante, Alavés, Granada and Mallorca have multi-million dollar agreements with bookmakers such as Marathonbet, Bwin and Betway as their main sponsors, which present them in sleeves or shorts.
Advertising of gambling was restricted by the Spanish government in an attempt to protect the unprotected population during the country’s state of emergency, with advertisements allowed on television only between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Although there was little or no sport to play when the pandemic was at its peak, the government-imposed restriction extended to all forms of gambling outside of the sport.
That was to continue until June 21, raising concerns among teams that they would have to play in simple teams, without sponsors, during the first three rounds of La Liga matches. T-shirt gaming companies would also have been banned under government restrictions, and this could have prompted sponsors to ask clubs to return their money for not displaying their logos or names on the shirts.
An update to the legislation released on Wednesday removed the restrictions just in time for the opening game with one of those affected, Sevilla, when they faced Real Betis in the Seville derby on Thursday night. –Alex Kirkland
FIFA’s grand plan for a 24-team Club World Cup in China in the summer of 2021 was shelved when the coronavirus pandemic hit and Euro 2020 and the Copa América were delayed by a year, but the governing body of world football is still looking to hold this year’s edition in December if the situation of COVID-19 allows it, according to sources informed ESPN.
That puts some pressure on the confederations to finish their Champions League tournaments ahead of the December competition in Qatar, which could be played without fans if necessary.
Doing so will be easier for some confederations than others. The editions of UEFA (17 games left to play), CONCACAF (11 games left), Oceania (seven) and Africa (five) have a less complicated path to completion.
However, it is one more concern for Asia and South America. In the AFC Champions League, the group stage should be completed before embarking on the 32-game knockout stage, at least if the existing format is followed. One option being discussed in Asia is to play all the remaining games in Qatar, although no decision has been finalized.
And then there is CONMEBOL. Finishing the Copa Libertadores, even in the group stage when the games were suspended, and crowning a South American champion is one of the most important obstacles for the Club World Cup that will take place in December, especially given the situation of COVID -19 in Brazil, Chile and Peru
If the FIFA Club World Cup can’t continue as scheduled in December, a backup option to come forward is having a 2021 edition in winter, with the 2020 and 2021 champions from each confederation represented in one edition. However, the priority is for the confederations to crown champions and meet in Qatar this year. –Tom marshall
– .
