Transfer news: Man Utd LB plans, Antony exit, Arsenal’s Raya plan, Varela scouted & more

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As previously reported, Manchester United are going to explore the transfer market for left-backs in the summer transfer window – they will try to bring in a talented young player in that position. It’s also an area Chelsea are expected to look into, with both clubs having injury problems in that position this season.

However, there are no specific names to mention yet as it’s still early, but I’m sure both clubs are looking at left-backs. It’s difficult to mention names at this stage as there are no concrete talks ongoing but interest is there and both clubs want to cover that position.

For United, it remains the case that bringing in a new sporting director and finalising the structure of their new board will be crucial to determining who to target and how much to spend this summer.

There have been further reports about Antony’s situation at Manchester United, with claims from Brazil that Flamengo are analysing a possible one-year loan move for the winger.

I would take this with a pinch of salt, however, as Antony firmly rejected any option from Brazil in January. Let’s see if that changes in the summer, but right now there’s nothing taking place and I’m not even sure he would change his mind and accept that just five months later.

Finally, there was also an interesting United story involving Mason Mount, with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta alleged to have told confidants that the Gunners were very close to the transfer.

My understanding is that there were contacts with both Arsenal and Liverpool while his situation remained uncertain at Chelsea, but this was not in the summer, it was around April when clubs started to ask about Mount deal conditions. That’s it, but Man United was always the priority for the player.

After his Champions League heroics this week, we already know that Arsenal’s plans for next season involve buying goalkeeper David Raya permanently from Brentford. Arsenal have a buy option clause in that contract, and the reality is the pact between Arsenal and Brentford was already there, but they did this as an initial loan with buy option because of Financial Fair Play.

Still, this summer Arsenal will pay £27m for Raya – they trust him for the present and future. He’s always been on the radar of the club as a talented goalkeeper, and so they did well to take the opportunity to get this deal done last summer. The man who made the difference to sign him – of course apart from Arteta and Edu – is the GK assistant Inaki Pena who knew him very well.

Kyle Walker is having another fantastic season for Manchester City, but he may have raised one or two eyebrows with his comments that he’d “never say never” to a big-money move to the Saudi Pro League.

He was never close to Saudi last summer from what I know, let’s see if they come for him, but we know he was close to Bayern Munich. At the moment, however, his full focus is on Man City and he’s not negotiating with any other club.

Several European top clubs were in attendance at the Emirates Stadium for Tuesday’s game between Arsenal and Porto to keep close eye on Alan Varela. The Argentine midfielder is understood to be on the list of many clubs from the Premier League and elsewhere.

Varela looks a fine young talent and could be an interesting option as he has a release clause worth around €70m. That will be Porto’s asking price for any sale this summer, so let’s see if anyone’s ready to pay it, but for sure many clubs appreciate him in England and in other countries.

I like what I’ve seen of Varela and think the Premier League could be a credible option for him – he has what it takes to be a success there, so let’s see what happens in the next months.