Manchester United’s midfielder Casemiro dropped a big hint this week that he might be staying at Old Trafford.
His performances have been below par and Saudi clubs have shown interest in taking United’s biggest wage earner.
United would want £30 million for Casemiro who has two years left on his contract. I have learned that his representatives are due to meet with coach Erik Ten Hag next week to discuss his future.
The player himself has told close associates that he could stay at the club and his personal Instagram has posted a picture of him wearing United’s new shirt for next season.
Maresca starts work at Chelsea
Enzo Maresca started life at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground on Monday and immediately had decisions to make.
Many of his players are away at the Euros and Copa America but he linked up with new signings Tosin Adarabioyo and 18-year-old Omari Kellyman later in the week.
Maresca went to the training academy to see what kind of youngsters were coming through for the team. Because of a long list of injuries last season, academy products such as Alfie Gilchrist were called up for first-team duty.
Maresca is determined that he will not be put in that position. Much of his time has been spent working on getting Christopher Nkunku back into the first team.
The French international was impressive during his time at RB Leipzig and can play in any position up front. Maresca thinks playing him out wide would be his best position.
Chelsea have been heavily involved in the transfer action and have paid a £30million fee for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who will reunite with Maresca following their time together at Leicester.The joke circulating at Chelsea is that owner Todd Boehly thought he was buying a large impressive mansion called Dewsbury-Hall.
Liverpool return to training
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot received a boost to his pre-season planning when many of his players returned to training on Thursday.
Waturu Endo was left out of Japan’s squad for the Olympics because he is 31 years old. The national team wanted Endo to play and be included as one of their three over-age players in what is in reality an under-23 squad for the games being held in Paris later this month.
Head coach Go Oiwa said in Tokyo that the “restrictions” the Japanese Football Association had to agree to meant that no over-age players could be selected.
Players who returned to Anfield on Thursday were a mix of senior and squad players including Mo Salah, Endo and Curtis Jones but 11 internationals were missing because of the Euros and Copa America competitions.
Several will miss the Reds’ tour of the United States entirely. Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister were all absent.
Gray seeking to make an instant impact on Tottenham
Brentford are mightily disappointed that having agreed personal terms with the Bees, the Leeds youngster Archie Gray had a change of heart and opted for Spurs.
He claimed former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou was the reason he changed his mind.
He said, “I’m not going to lie. I’m a massive Celtic fan so I love him! My whole family loves him! He’s a massive factor. Playing under a really good manager is very important to me. I’ve got lots to learn because I’m only 18. Gray has signed a six-year contract and comes from a long line of Leeds players where he was in the academy.
He is the son of Andy Gray, the grandson of Frank Gray and the great-nephew of Eddie Gray all of whom played for Leeds and represented Scotland.
Archie spent most of his time at right-back for Leeds but sees himself as a central midfielder. Gray is Spurs’ second signing of the season having extended Timo Werner’s loan from RB Leipzig.
De Bruyne snaps at reporter
A very irritated Kevin De Bruyne earned his 105th cap for Belgium but suffered bitter disappointment as they exited the Euros, beaten by France 1-0.
A rattled De Bruyne then turned on a reporter who said that Belgium’s golden generation included himself, Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku and Thibaut Courtois but had never won international silverware. De Bruyne snapped back, “What is a golden generation? You say that France, England, Spain and Germany are not a golden generation?”
Jose Mourinho linked with taking Nunez to Turkey
Reports have been circulating that Liverpool intended to sell Darwin Nunez to Fenerbahce, where he would link up with Jose Mourinho.
I have been asked to pass on to you that these rumours and reports are without foundation and Liverpool currently have no intention of selling him to the Turkish side or anyone else.
Nunez is playing for his native Uruguay at the Copa America. He is only two years into a six-year contract which he signed when he joined the Reds from Benfica for £64million.
He has scored 33 goals in 96 matches so far.
It was reported that Mourinho was working with super-agent Jorge Mendes and his Gestifute agency on a deal to take Nunez to Turkey.
The claim in the Turkish press is that Nunez is wanted as a replacement for Michi Batshuayi at Fenerbahce and that Mendes would mastermind what would be the biggest deal ever carried out in Turkish football.
De Bruyne returns from Euros to discuss his future
Kevin De Bruyne will return to the Etihad Stadium to discuss his future now Belgium have been eliminated from the Euros.
De Bruyne has one year left on his contract and has admitted to friends that he is willing to think about a move to Saudi Arabia. He spent much of last season out injured but returned after Christmas with some impressive performances.
There is some doubt inside the club that he might not be able to continue his current high standards now that he has reached the age of 33 years. Kevin has admitted that the money on offer from Saudi is a head-turner. However, in a frank interview, he commented, “I’ve read a lot of headlines about a transfer, but I haven’t spoken to anyone.”
Ipswich sign Omari Hutchinson
Ipswich Town coach Kieran McKenna is delighted that Omari Hutchison has joined from Chelsea on a five-year contract. Last season the 20-year-old scored 10 Championship goals on loan from Chelsea.
I am surprised that Chelsea let this talented winger leave because only a few months ago one of the Chelsea coaches told me that the club valued Omari highly because of his dribbling skills.
Town have also completed a deal to bring West Ham’s Ben Johnson to Portman Road. The 24-year-old was part of the squad which won the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2023.
The club are travelling to Austria on July 15th for their pre-season training camp where they won the Innsbruck Cup last year and which involved clubs such as RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen. After a week’s training, the Tractor Boys will play two-hour-long friendlies against Shakhtar Donetsk.
