Erik ten Hag, a final decision almost made; Juventus doesn't want to lose Federico Chiesa; Roberto de Zerbi is always at the top of the Chelsea's list. Here are some of the main stories over the last few days of the transfer market from TribalFootball's transfer expert Rudy Galetti.
TEN HAG, A FUTURE AT SERIOUS RISK
Despite reaching the FA Cup final, Erik Ten Hag's future remains at serious risk. A large part of the management - with Sir Jim Ratcliffe above all - wants to make a cut with the past: not for nothing, INEOS is asking for a decisive change of direction both from a sporting point of view - with a different style of play - and behaviourally, with greater serenity in the squad.
That's why, in all likelihood, Ten Hag will be sacked at the end of the season. Many names are under evaluation as possible replacements for the former Ajax coach. A new round of contacts is expected with Thiago Motta, who, however, is also considering staying another year at Bologna in case of qualification for the Champions League, with president Joey Saputo promising to keep the squad competitive to face the top European competition.
Furthermore, Thomas Tuchel is emerging as a concrete option for Man Utd: the former Chelsea coach would like to return to England and the Red Devils could be the ideal club to continue his career after his experience at Bayern, which is now coming to an end. Certainly, the choice of the next coach will also influence the market dynamics, with United ready for a mini revolution, but without excessive upheavals.
CHIESA, JUVENTUS EAGER TO FEND OFF ADMIRERS
Third in the Serie A and with an Italian Cup final to play against Atalanta, even if qualification for the next Champions League has not yet been mathematically achieved, Juventus are already planning for the new season.
Despite the farewell of Massimiliano Allegri in June, there will not be a revolution in the squad. Not for nothing, technical director Cristiano Giuntoli decided to approach Dusan Vlahovic and above all Federico Chiesa to discuss their contract renewals. Especially the Italian winger, often criticized under Allegri, is considered a key element for the future.
With a contract expiring in 2025, Federico is also highly appreciated by AS Roma and new coach Daniele de Rossi, who would like to convince him to wear the Giallorossi's shirt in case of participation in the next Champions League. Even some clubs in Saudi Arabia - in particular Al Ittihad to date - consider him among the main targets for the summer and are working to prepare a super offer for him.
However, both options are complicated at the moment: Juventus are not open to selling Chiesa and, as told, talks for his renewal have already started: the Bianconeri will meet Federico again at the end of the season to progress the negotiation.
GONZALO MONTIEL, AN EXPERIENCE TO FORGET IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE
With just 11 Premier League appearances and just over 550 minutes played so far, the experience of Gonzalo Montiel at Nottingham Forest is coming to an end in the worst possible way.
The English club, in fact, are not satisfied with the performances of the Argentine right-back and for this reason they've decided not to activate the buy option set at around 11 million euros in the loan deal stipulated with Sevilla. At the end of the season, the world champion - whose contract expires in 2026 - will therefore return to Spain, but his stay there should be temporary.
Sevilla, in fact, don't consider Gonzalo in their plans and are already working for his definitive farewell during the summer. Some clubs are showing interest in signing Montiel: among them, River Plate - the club that launched him - and Flamengo, who are looking for a new right-back in the next transfer window.
No official contact with Sevilla at the moment, but both clubs plan to officially approach them in the next few weeks to verify the negotiation room for the Argentine player who could be sold for an amount significantly lower than 10 million euros.
DE ZERBI - AN IMPORTANT UPDATE ON HIS FUTURE
Roberto De Zerbi wants to leave Brighton at the end of the season: the Italian coach is keen to have an experience elsewhere and is open to listening to all the proposals ready for him from big European clubs.
De Zerbi has been included on the shortlists of AC Milan, Napoli, Manchester United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and also Barcelona and Liverpool, which have already made a different decision for next season. Currently, as explained in the last “The Insider" column, the Blues seems to be the option most concrete for him. In fact, the 2 Italian clubs, for different reasons, have difficulty convincing De Zerbi: for AC Milan, he is economically complicated due to his compensation clause, while Napoli were rejected directly by the coach.
Moving on to the Premier League, Manchester United are oriented towards other choices for the bench, while Chelsea still consider him among the first options in the event of Mauricio Pochettino's departure. The reason? The Blues are looking for a coach who knows how to enhance young players and knows how to improve the quality level of the squad, something that De Zerbi has proven to do very well.
Furthermore, having already coached a talent who has never completely convinced in the Premier League like Mykhaylo Mudryk - who arrived for €100 million in the winter 2023 - and to be able to relaunch him, represents another element that is convincing Chelsea to consider De Zerbi as an ideal profile for the future.
ATALANTA SEEK INFO ON IHLAS BEBOU
The only Italian team still competing in 3 competitions - the Italian Cup final against Juventus, Europa League semi-final against Marseille and an open Champions League race in the Serie A - Atalanta are already thinking about transfer issues.
Despite many good forwards in excellent condition, such as Gianluca Scamacca, El Bilal Tourè and Charles De Ketelaere, the Italian club is looking around to evaluate possible opportunities as alternatives in attack. One of the players currently appreciated by the Italian club is Ihlas Bebou: the Togo striker has a contract with Hoffenheim until 2026 but is open to evaluating any opportunities this summer and landing in Serie A is certainly among his desires.
Atalanta have requested preliminary information on his situation and it's not excluded that there will be new contacts with the player's entourage in the coming weeks. Also because, in attack, Scamacca is attracting the attention of bigger teams and De Ketelaere has a clause of 22 million euros in his AC Milan contract which Atalanta have not yet definitively decided whether to pay or not. This is why, in order not to be caught unprepared, the Italian club is exploring possible alternatives.
