Ugarte agrees terms with Man Utd, Rabiot wants EPL move and more

This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io

—

Man United have an agreement with Manuel Ugarte on personal terms, he wants the move. Now it depends on Man United and PSG to agree on the fee, while Casemiro or McTominay could leave the club with a good proposal.

What does it mean guys? It means that Manchester United after the centre-back, Leny Yoro, after the striker, Joshua Zirkzee, are also ready to work on the midfield.

The exit of Casemiro remains an important part of the story, but honestly guys, I can’t confirm anything regarding rumours that United are having trouble selling him, which could cause problems on Ugarte and so on, no.

Interest from Saudi in Casemiro remains but sometimes it just takes time to agree on contract, transfer fee and more.

United already have the green light for Manuel Ugarte as a potential new midfielder, the contract has been discussed and – this is an important detail – with the same agent who takes care of Leny Yoro, Jorge Mendes.

Jorge Mendes is still a very big name, obviously, in the market, and Manchester United also have a very good relationship with Paris Saint-Germain – another important point.

If PSG receive the right proposal this is a story that could be a concrete one in the next days, in the next few weeks.

Man United also won the race for Leny Yoro, one of the most talented defenders in the world, but it’s not over yet as United are working on the possibility to bring in another centre-back.

It will take probably some days to understand what’s going to happen with the outgoings and with the entire domino of the market for Manchester United, but keep an eye on that position because United could do something else.

They are in contact with Bayern for Matthijs de Ligt but they never agreed on the fee, they were in conversation. Jarrad Branthwaite is another player they appreciate but at the moment he’s considered too expensive.

The current situation with Vitor Roque is that he’s expected to travel on FC Barcelona’s pre-season tour of the USA, then we will see what happens.

There are no talks ongoing now but we have to see what happens with Vitor based on Financial Fair Play too, it’s an open situation. This pre-season could be important for him, for sure.

Sticking with Barça, despite the rumours, I have zero information on contacts between Premier League clubs and Raphinha at the moment guys.

Also the player has gone public this week to confirm his plan to stay at Barça, so really quiet around Raphinha at the moment.

I’ve also had many questions on the situation of Nico Williams guys.

Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, had a meeting with the agent of the player in Zaragoza, and they’re trying to be fast on agreeing personal terms with Nico Williams, because they believe that reaching an agreement with Nico on the project, on the salary, on the contract is important.

Barça know that Premier League clubs are coming. Barça know that big Premier League clubs are already trying to understand what’s going to happen and, maybe, they hope in England that things could collapse for Barcelona because of Financial Fair Play, so that they can enter the race.

We know about the interest of Chelsea and Arsenal who are keeping a close eye to the situation. He’s still very expensive for both clubs because the clause has to be paid in one solution; big commission, big salary.

This is why, for example, one month ago, Chelsea decided to go slower on the story of Nico Williams, but in case Barcelona don’t close the deal, Chelsea and Arsenal are attentive to the situation.

Since June, Rabiot was expected to leave Juventus and it’s now been confirmed.

Juventus offered €7m net per season for Rabiot but he didn’t want to accept, he wanted to try something different. So Rabiot communicated to Juventus that he was not going to stay, and Juve already decided to move on.

He has several possibilities around Europe and his mother Veronique spoke to 5/6 clubs in recent weeks, in several countries, and they’re keeping all the options open.

I don’t want to mention all the clubs because it’s a really long list and some of them are not even concrete at the moment… it’s just talks.

For sure, the dream of Adrien Rabiot is Premier League football, so that remains a possibility – to wait for a Premier League opportunity. Otherwise he has many offers, many opportunities on the table.

Adrien Rabiot is a free agent and so is obviously a big possibility, a big opportunity and this is why many clubs are enquiring about the situation.

But what I can guarantee to you today is that Adrien Rabiot is tempted by the Premier League. His dream is the Premier League. He believes that his skills are perfect for Premier League football.

He’s a wonderful midfielder but also physical and that could be a crucial factor, so let’s see if he gets the proposal he wants.

West Ham have been busy in the current transfer window and are still working as usual on several deals, including for a new striker and one more centre back.

It’s not “close” yet but for sure Reiss Nelson is expected to leave Arsenal this summer and he’s one of the names on West Ham’s list. They like him, but nothing is imminent yet as still at initial stages.

Lots of rumours surrounding Liverpool captain, Virgil van Dijk, but as we already mentioned here the day after his recent statement guys, so far the situation is quiet.

Liverpool have not received any proposal, Virgil is on holiday, so again it’s quiet around van Dijk and Liverpool are waiting for him to come back from his holidays.