Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in the Daily Briefing.
Moise Kean on standby at Juventus despite done deal with Atletico Madrid
Juventus and Atletico Madrid have already reached a deal to loan the Italian forward to Los Rojiblancos until the end of the season, with no option to buy, and it will cost €500k. However Kean is currently in limbo as the matter stalls.
The Moise Kean situation is quite simple, ultimately. Atletico Madrid started off with the mindset that if someobody leaves, in this case it’s Angel Correa who has interest from Saudi Arabia and is open to a move, then they will sign a replacement. Kean is that replacement. Everything is done with him, 100% agreed, and he essentially has been waiting for the green light to get on a plane to Madrid. But now they are starting to get the feeling that Correa is more likely stay than go, that’s something they’re getting from Correa and Diego Simeone voiced it on Thursday night. The reason being that the offer from Saudi Arabia is not meeting Atletico’s demands.
Hence the coming hours could be crucial for Kean, because Atletico Madrid have decide now whether they go ahead with the deal anyway, and bring an extra forward in, or to stick with what they have got. Kean is still committed to and wants to go to Atletico Madrid. There are other teams interested in him, including Fiorentina, but Kean still has his mind on Atletico.
Newcastle United and Manchester United in hot pursuit of Javi Guerra
The 20-year-old Valencia midfielder is enjoying a fine breakout season with Valencia, and gaining a taste for important goals. Newcastle United and Manchester United have been linked to him, but they aren’t the only ones.
Newcastle United have asked about him, and are very interested. Manchester United are also very interested. In Italy, there’s a lot of interest, with Milan and Juventus very much enticed by Guerra. To that list of suitors, you can also add Paris Saint-Germain, and have a Spanish manager in Luis Enrique there. The problem for those sides is that Valencia did not want to allow him to leave in the winter transfer window, so all of these conversations look as if they will rumble on in the background until June, when they might speed up again.
Perhaps the most important thing in this are his preferences. Valencia will ask about €35m for him or so, and given that’s an affordable price for most big clubs, there will be a fight for him. Guerra himself, who is still just 20, would like to remain in Spain first and foremost. If that is not to be the case, then the Premier League are his next preference. But we’ll see, keep an eye on Spain though, as that is his preferred option.
Takefusa Kubo and Liverpool links
It was revealed last week that Japan and Real Sociedad star Take Kubo turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia this January, and reports from other outlets say that Liverpool also got in touch.
Regarding Kubo, all I can say is that he rejected Saudi Arabia, that he turned down Premier League clubs, and that he will not leave in January. Right now he is focused on the Asian Cup with Japan, and finishing the season with Real Sociedad. He’s not thinking about anything else. In the summer, it could look a lot different. There’s no way of knowing, but it’s looking possible that a club might come in with a big offer for him, and with a €60m release clause, summer will be a conversation to be had closer to the time.
Atletico Madrid have offer rejected by Celtic for Matt O’Riley
Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley has been attracting interest from Inter and Leicester City over a move, but this week Atletico erupted into the race out of nowhere. Brendan Rodgers says he is going nowhere after Celtic turned down an offer.
If there are no are no surprises, Atletico Madrid will not sign another central midfielder. Right now, the matter hinges upon the fact that if someone were to arrive, then another will leave. And currently, there are no advanced negotiations over the departure of a midfielder at Atletico. It’s true that Atletico contacted Celtic, but they said no, they rejected the offer (reported elsewhere to be a loan with an obligation to buy for €23m in the summer).
It’s one thing to present an offer, to open talks, but quite another to make progress with them. For Atletico it’s important to remember that Arthur Vermeeren is coming in, and he was their priority. Bearing that in mind, if someone leaves, then someone will arrive, but as that doesn’t look to be the case, right now the Matt O’Riley move looks to be dead in the water. It could well be a story to come back to for the summer, but it’s too early to tell how things might change in that regard.
Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.
