soccer transfers – Michmutters

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Barcelona finally register most summer signings after triggering fourth financial lever

Barcelona finally register most summer signings after triggering fourth financial lever

7:45 PM GMT

  • sam marsden

  • Moses Llorens

Barcelona have finally managed to register most of their summer signings ahead of the start of the new LaLiga season this weekend, with only Jules Kounde still to be registered.

Xavi Hernandez’s side kick off their season against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on Saturday, but the build up to that fixture has been dominated by the club’s race against time to get all their new arrivals registered.

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Barca have spent over €150 million this summer on Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Kounde, while Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie both arrived on free transfers.

Prior to Friday, however, none of them had been registered with LaLiga due to the league’s strict financial regulations.

The new contracts agreed by Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto had not been signed off by the Spanish league either. However, that duo were also able to be registered on Friday — along with Lewandowski, Raphinha, Christensen and Kessie — following the sale of another 24.5% of Barca Studios.

Barca’s summer spending has been funded by the sale of club assets, with each deal dubbed a “financial lever” by president Joan Laporta.

They sold 25% of their domestic television income for the next 25 years to Sixth Street in two separate packages worth €511m in total. They then sold 24.5% of Barca Studios to Socios.com for an additional €100m.

However, despite raising over €600m, Barca were told by LaLiga last week they would need to sell more assets — or further reduce their wage bill — to be able to register all their new signings.

Barcelona will now have to free up salary space in order to register Kounde. Because they are no longer exceeding their squad limit, though, the club will now just have to free up the equivalent salary space to what Kounde will cost.

On Friday Barca, whose gross debt still totals over €1 billion, closed a deal with Orpheus Media to sell off another 24.5% of Barca Studios for €100m.

Meanwhile, they are also re-negotiating Gerard Pique’s contract with the defender to create further salary space.

Speaking earlier on Friday, Xavi said he was optimistic that most of his new recruits would be available to him against Rayo Vallecano.

“We are working on it, we’re positive,” he said at a news conference. “We have announced the fourth lever and we will see tomorrow, maybe not all 100%, but we are optimistic. We have time until tomorrow.

“It hasn’t had much influence because working on systems, tactics, different variations… One player can play or another because we are doubled up in positions. We work on positioning, systems, variants… so not much changes. But right now, I repeat, we are very optimistic about the registrations.”

All Spanish clubs must adhere to a spending cap for the season, which includes money spent on wages and transfer fees, which are amortized over the length of the contract.

The cap is loosely a club’s revenue minus outgoings and debt repayments and is applied prospectively. Barca’s cap was -€144m at the end of last season, the only negative limit in Spain, but it will rise significantly following the four financial levers triggered this summer.

Barca are not the only club having problems registering their players with LaLiga. Real Betis still have a handful of players not yet inscribed for the new season, while other clubs, including Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Girona, have had to wait until this week to register their summer activity.

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Barcelona signings Christensen, Kessie could leave club on free transfers if not registered in time

Barcelona signings Christensen, Kessie could leave club on free transfers if not registered in time

1:43 PM GMT

  • sam marsden

  • Moses Llorens

New signings Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie could both leave Barcelona for free if they are not registered before Saturday’s LaLiga opener against Rayo Vallecano, various sources have confirmed to ESPN.

Christensen and Kessie both joined Barca on free transfers earlier this summer from Chelsea and AC Milan respectively. With three days to go until the new campaign starts, however, neither has been registered with the Spanish league.

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Sources have told ESPN that if they are not registered before Barca’s opening fixture against Rayo, both players could choose to execute a clause that allows them to leave for free.

Fellow summer arrivals Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde are also yet to be inscribed with LaLiga, while the contract renewals signed by Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembele have not been registered either.

ESPN understands Christensen and Kessie’s situations are slightly different, though, given they joined Barca for free. Therefore, if they so choose, they would be entitled to leave for free before the transfer window closes.

Sources say at this stage there is no indication it will come to that and president Joan Laporta continues to transmit optimism that all seven players will be registered in time, but Barca are cutting it fine before the start of the season.

In the worst case scenario, sources told ESPN Barcelona would seek to speak with the players’ agents to avoid such an extreme outcome because they have until the end of the month to register signings.

Barca have spent over €150 million this summer and have raised over €600m by selling 25% of their domestic television rights for 25 years and a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios.

A league source has told ESPN that it is still not enough incoming cash for Barca to be able to register all of their signings and contract renewals, although some could be registered now. This would depend on the cost and combination of the deals.

Therefore, Barca are looking to sell a further 24.5% stake in Barca Studios and continue to negotiate wage adjustments with other players, including Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique.

It was Pique’s wage cut last summer which allowed Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia to be registered on the eve of last season, while similar actions from Busquets and Alba permitted Sergio Aguero to be signed up with the league before the transfer window closed.

Barca’s LaLiga-imposed spending cap was -€144m at the end of last season, the only negative limit in the league, and will have to be increased substantially to register all their summer activity.

The Catalan club hope that the sale of club assets, coupled with a sponsorship deal signed with Spotify earlier this year, will eventually increase their cap to allow them to register everyone.

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Frenkie de Jong’s agents arrive in Barcelona ahead of crunch talks

Frenkie de Jong's agents arrive in Barcelona ahead of crunch talks

3:12 PM GMT

  • sam marsden

  • Moses Llorens

Frenkie de Jong’s agents have arrived in Barcelona amid continued uncertainty over the midfielder’s future at the club, with Manchester United and Chelsea still pursuing his signing.

Ali Dursun and Hasan Cetinkaya, who also represent Barcelona striker Martin Braithwaite, flew into the city on Wednesday and are expected to hold talks with the Catalan club in the coming days over both of their clients.

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De Jong’s future has been the subject of much attention throughout the summer. ESPN revealed in July that Barca had agreed to a fee of around €85 million with United, including add-ons, while Chelsea are also interested.

However, the player has so far preferred to remain at Camp Nou.

Barca, meanwhile, have told De Jong that if he wants to stay, he must reduce his salary, although sources have told ESPN he is reluctant to do so at this stage.

Sources confirmed to ESPN earlier this week that Barca sent a letter to De Jong’s camp in July warning that the contract renewal he signed in 2020 under the previous board had alleged irregularities.

Sources close to the player said the contract is legal and claim the letter that Barca sent was intended to put pressure on De Jong to either accept a move away or agree to a wage reduction.

Barca’s board believe there were possible irregularities in other renewals signed at the same time by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet.

However, the timing of Barca’s tactics has drawn questions as they try to raise funds and reduce their wage bill to be able to register their summer signings.

Despite that, De Jong remains happy in Barcelona with his girlfriend and scored in Sunday’s 6-0 friendly win over Mexican side Pumas UNAM at Camp Nou.

Still, the uneasy situation was highlighted when De Jong arrived at training on Wednesday and was subjected to shouted abuse by some Barcelona fans, who called on him to accept a reduced salary.

Dursun and Cetinkaya also represent Braithwaite, who has been told by Barca to find a new club. The Denmark striker was left out of the squad for the tour of the United States last month and has not featured in preseason.

Braithwaite, 31, was even jeered by Barca supporters before Sunday’s game against Pumas. Sources have told ESPN he is open to leaving the club, who has joined as an emergency signing from Leganes for €20m in 2020, but only if the offer is right for him.

Meanwhile, Barca continue to negotiate further wage adjustments with Pique and Sergio Busquets. Sources have said talks have gone well so far.

Both players, along with Jordi Alba, agreed to pay cuts last summer to enable Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Sergio Aguero to be registered, and they may have to do the same this year.

With Barca set to kick off the new LaLiga season on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano, none of their five signings have been registered with the Spanish league, nor have the new contracts signed by Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto.

The club have so far sold assets worth over €600m and are now in a position to register some of their signings. However, a league source told ESPN more money must be raised — or wages cut — before Saturday to register everyone.

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Timo Werner returns to RB Leipzig from Chelsea in deal worth up to €30m

Timo Werner returns to RB Leipzig from Chelsea in deal worth up to €30m

Timo Werner is on his way from Chelsea back to RB Leipzig after the two clubs confirmed a transfer agreement for the Germany international on Tuesday.

The deal — a permanent move for the 26-year-old — is reportedly worth in the region of €30 million, although various performance-related add-ons could be included.

– Mixed performances for Chelsea new boys against Everton
– Tuchel: Alonso wants to leave Chelsea
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“I’m very happy to be able to play for RB Leipzig again,” Werner, who has signed a four-year contract, said. “I had a great time here between 2016 and 2020, when we performed brilliantly as newcomers in the league. It was a dignified departure for me to leave the club as record goalscorer, but that’s in the past now and I’m looking ahead, because both I and the club have developed in the past two years.

“I had two great years at Chelsea that I’m really grateful for and were crowned with the Champions League trophy. The experience to play abroad in a new league really helped me and my career. Now I’m looking forward to the new season with RB Leipzig and above all to meet the Leipzig fans again, who mean a great deal to me. We want to achieve a lot and of course, I want to become the first Leipzig player to reach the 100-goal mark.”

Werner will be looking to get his career back on track ahead of the World Cup in Qatar after a disappointing two-year spell at Stamford Bridge.

He joined Chelsea in 2020 for €50m, opting not to take part in Leipzig’s rescheduled Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid — delayed due to COVID-19 — to give himself more time to adapt to English football.

Werner started well, scoring eight goals in his first 12 games up to mid-November, but managed just four more for the rest of the campaign as a loss of form and confidence set in.

Werner was completely left out of the Chelsea squad for the match against Everton as talks with Leipzig continued.

He has scored 23 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea and although manager Thomas Tuchel is thought to be reluctant to part with the forward given the wider pressure to strengthen the squad, there is recognition the midseason World Cup has heightened the player’s fears over a lack of regular action.

Werner’s arrival follows Leipzig’s announcement on Tuesday that they had completed the signing of FC Salzburg striker Benjamin Sesko, who will officially join the club in July 2023.

“Timo Werner’s signing is a special transfer for us,” Leipzig technical director Christopher Vivell said. “We had a lot of great years together in Leipzig that saw Timo become the club’s record goalscorer and a Germany international. His return from him means a lot to the supporters because Timo was a real fan favorite and figure of identification for a lot of people .

“The transfer made a lot of sense to us, both because of Timo’s quality and the financial aspects of the deal. Now we want to build on the success that we started together and achieve our goals with Timo’s help. Not only does that mean qualification to the Champions League, but we also want to get as far as possible in the cup competitions.”

ESPN’s James Olley contributed to this story.

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Timo Werner set to rejoin RB Leipzig from Chelsea in deal worth up to €30m

Timo Werner set to rejoin RB Leipzig from Chelsea in deal worth up to €30m

Timo Werner is on the brink of leaving Chelsea to rejoin RB Leipzig, sources have told ESPN.

The 26-year-old is expected to arrive in Germany for a medical ahead of a permanent move thought to be worth in the region of €30 million, although various performance-related add-ons are yet to be finalized.

– Mixed performances for Chelsea new boys against Everton
– Tuchel: Alonso wants to leave Chelsea
– Don’t have ESPN? Get instant access

Werner is keen to kick-start his career ahead of the World Cup in Qatar after a disappointing two-year spell at Stamford Bridge.

The Germany international joined Chelsea in 2020 for €50m, opting not to take part in Leipzig’s rescheduled Champions League quarterfinal against Atletico Madrid — delayed due to COVID-19 — to give himself more time to adapt to English football.

Werner started well, scoring eight goals in his first 12 games up to mid-November, but managed just four more for the rest of the campaign as a loss of form and confidence set in.

Chelsea signed Romelu Lukaku for a club-record €115m last summer in a fresh challenge to Werner, but head coach Thomas Tuchel began to favor Kai Havertz as his central striker.

Although Lukaku has now returned to Inter on loan, Chelsea beat Everton 1-0 in their first game of the Premier League season with Havertz leading the line.

Tuchel’s side are in the market for another forward, and Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is among those under consideration.

Werner was completely left out of the Chelsea squad for the match against Everton as talks with Leipzig continued.

He has scored 23 goals in 89 appearances for Chelsea and although Tuchel is thought to be reluctant to part with the forward given the wider pressure to strengthen the squad, there is recognition the midseason World Cup has heightened the player’s fears over a lack of regular action .

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Man United boss Erik ten Hag learning that his mediocre stars are nowhere near Premier League’s best

Man United boss Erik ten Hag learning that his mediocre stars are nowhere near Premier League's best

It’s that time of the year again — you’ve done your Premier League fantasy draft and are now checking which picks have worked out and which have let you down. If you selected any Manchester United players, it might already be a good time to move them on.

The painful reality for United supporters and fantasy managers alike right now is that no members of Erik ten Hag’s squad would come anywhere near to making a Premier League Best XI. And that won’t change if United are successful in completing one of the most surprising transfers of the summer — any summer — by signing journeyman forward Marko Arnautovic from Bologna.

Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford against Brighton & Hove Albion was a disastrous start for Ten Hag in his first competitive game as United manager. The former Ajax coach will have known that he was taking on a big challenge when, earlier this summer, he became the fifth permanent managerial appointment since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, but the manner of the Brighton defeat will have been a jolting reality check .

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Ten Hag saw first-hand that teams such as Brighton, without even half of the financial might and historical power of United, can outsmart and outplay a club with such apparent riches simply by being astute and strategic on and off the pitch. But with United, it always gets back to the players because they simply aren’t good enough, and that decline in quality stems back to before Ferguson stepped down.

That said, when Ferguson retired after guiding United to a 20th league title, more than half of his team would have made it into a best Premier League XI. Manchester City and Chelsea would have had a couple of players each, too, but the likes of David de Gea, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Michael Carrick, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie would all have earned a place among the outstanding Premier League team of the 2012-13 season.

Throughout the first 20 years of the Premier League, it would have been a similar story. United may not always have dominated the best XI, but they would at least have had two or three players in it. If you were to repeat this exercise now, how many teams would you have to pick before a United player would be selected? The best Premier League XI of 2022-23 would be dominated by City and Liverpool players. You could make a case for Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Kane being the one outsider, but the England captain might have to accept a place in the second XI due to the claims of Erling Haaland and Mohamed Salah.

The second XI would again be made up by those City and Liverpool players who didn’t make the first XI, with maybe Kane and Son Heung-Min added to it.

The third XI? Probably full of Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal players, with West Ham United’s Declan Rice anchoring the midfield as a rare selection from outside the so-called Big Six.

Which takes us to the fourth-best Premier League XI, and probably where Bruno Fernandes or Christian Eriksen — and maybe even Cristiano Ronaldo — would find a place alongside those City and Liverpool players who didn’t make the first three teams. De Gea’s decline in goal since 2013 would see him nowhere near any of the top 10 best XIs, while the rest of Ten Hag’s squad are either so low on confidence — Harry Maguire, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho — or lacking in top- level quality — Scott McTominay, Fred, Diogo Dalot — that they wouldn’t be in contention either.

This is obviously a fantasy exercise based purely on opinion and everyone will have a different view, but what is clear is that Manchester United no longer have the best players. They are stacked with mediocrity and struggle even to get rid of those who are no longer good enough, such as Phil Jones, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Eric Bailly. It’s probably a statement of the obvious considering the club’s performances and lack of trophies in recent years, but it is also an important point about how the team has been run in the post-Ferguson era.

United would always challenge to sign the best players. They wouldn’t always get them, with Alan Shearer, Ronaldinho and Eden Hazard being three of the most high-profile players to reject a move to Old Trafford, but they had the ambition to pursue them and, more often than not, they beat a big rival to sign a Ferdinand, a Rooney or a Van Persie.

Romelu Lukaku was probably the last high-profile player that United signed ahead of a Big Six rival, with the Everton forward rejecting Chelsea to move to Old Trafford in 2017. Since then, a failure to close the deal has been seen United miss out on the likes of Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Darwin Nunez and, potentially this summer, Frenkie de Jong.

Joining United is now seen as a risky move by the best players. Why go to Old Trafford when the club is in such a state of flux, with fans protesting against the owners and the trophy cabinet beginning to gather dust?

That is the challenge facing Ten Hag. He not only has to build a winning team, but make the club an attractive proposition for new players to join. But it is a long way back, and it’s difficult to predict when United will have a player in the Premier League Best XI again.

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Man United in talks to sign Benjamin Sesko and Marko Arnautovic

Man United in talks to sign Benjamin Sesko and Marko Arnautovic

6:36 PM GMT

  • Rob DawsonCorresponding

Manchester United are in talks to sign Benjamin Sesko and Marko Arnautovic, sources have told ESPN.

United have made contact with Bologna about former Stoke and West Ham striker Arnautovic after Erik ten Hag pressed the club to sign an experienced forward who would be content with a back up role off the bench.

– Dawson: Familiar flaws on display as Ten Hag’s United lose opener

Arnautovic is 33-years-old and sources have told ESPN that Ten Hag is a fan of his character after working together during his time as a coach at FC Twente.

Sources have told ESPN that the move for Arnautovic is considered separate to the move for Benjamin Sesko and that talks remain ongoing with FC Salzburg for the 19-year-old forward.

Chelsea are also interested in Sesko, although sources have told ESPN that Salzburg would rather keep him until next summer. United are hopeful of adding at least one attacker to the squad before the transfer deadline on Sept. 1.

Anthony Martial is injured and Cristiano Ronaldo is still building up his fitness after a summer away from the squad while he dealt with a family issue.

Ronaldo was only named among the substitutes for the 2-1 defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday with Ten Hag forced to use midfielder Christian Eriksen as a false No. 9.

Ten Hag was asked after the match about the need for new players but the Dutchman refused to give anything away.

“I don’t go into names and I think in this preseason 250 players are involved or linked with Man United, so that’s it,” he said. “We have two strikers [Ronaldo and Martial] maybe a third one, [Marcus] Rashford.

“We considered him as a striker, but he had a really good season on the left side and he had two really good chances but the typical nine wasn’t available today.”

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We will no longer sign AFCON players unless they agree to waive

We will no longer sign AFCON players unless they agree to waive

Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis said on Tuesday he would not sign any more African players unless they agreed to not take part in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly — now at Premier League side Chelsea — and Cameroon midfielder Andre Zambo Anguissa missed several Napoli games while on international duty at this year’s AFCON, which took place between January and February.

“Or they sign a waiver giving up their right to participate to the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments or between AFCON and the championships in South America… I never have them [Napoli players] available,” he said in a Wall Street Italia talk show.

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Koulibaly responded to De Laurentiis’ comments in his first news conference as a Chelsea player and expressed his disappointment.

“You have to have respect for the national team, because you cannot speak about African national team like this,” Koulibaly said.

“As captain of Senegal I think it’s not a good way to speak about an African national team. But I respect what it is. If he thinks the team can play without African players, it’s up to him. Not everybody has the same idea as him in the club.”

De Laurentiis also criticized the fact that clubs were agreeing to more and more games, suggesting a European tournament with the top clubs from the strongest five countries instead of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.

“The world of football cannot self-manage because we do the puppet show for others… if we could play 100 games, it would be a happy ending for everyone and we [clubs] like cretins agree to that.”

The Italian film producer also said he did not support the breakaway European Super League which folded less than 48 hours after it was announced last year as it was an elite club.

“You cannot create a super club of privileged members who invite others [to the league]. You need to democratically keep the door open for everyone,” he said.

De Laurentiis added he was tired of offers from investment funds for the club, adding that he was offered €900 million around four to five years ago by American investors.

“You [bidders] did not understand a thing [about me]. I am a pure entrepreneur who enjoys doing business … let me play,” he said.

“I want to be the 12th player on the pitch. Actually the 12th player is the fan, I can be the 13th or even the 14th, as 14 is my favorite number.”

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Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski says farewell to former Bayern Munich teammates during brief visit

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski says farewell to former Bayern Munich teammates during brief visit

New Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski said farewell to his former Bayern Munich teammates and club staff during a brief visit to the Bundesliga champions’ headquarters on Tuesday, despite his rocky departure from the club.

The Poland forward, who scored 344 goals for Bayern in 375 games during his eight years in Germany, joined Barca in a deal worth €45 million last month after forcing a move away.

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Lewandowski and Bayern bosses have publicly criticized each other over the transfer, with the striker saying there had been a lot of “politics” from Bayern who he said were “trying to find an argument” to sell him.

Bayern in turn said the situation had been caused by the player who asked to leave despite having a contract to 2023.

“Everything is fine,” Lewandowski told Sky television from his car before driving away from the club offices. “I met everyone and thanked them. I will never forget what I received here and what I experienced.

“That is the most important thing for me. Last week was a bit complicated but sometimes this is part of football.”

Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic spoke with Lewandowski during his brief visit and they cleared the air.

“Robert came into my office to say goodbye and we talked for 15 minutes,” he said in a club statement.

“I addressed everything and we cleared everything. Robert did great things for Bayern and that’s what should remain. He knows as well what he has to thank Bayern for.”

Lewandowski won almost every domestic and international club honor with Bayern, including eight Bundesliga titles, three German Cups, the Champions League and the Club World Cup.

He is the Bundesliga’s second highest all-time scorer behind the late Gerd Muller.

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