Chelsea line up Enzo Fernandez, Benoit Badiashile and Youssoufa Moukoko triple swoop - Paper Round
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Updated 29/12/2022 at 10:12 GMT
Chelsea are in talks for Benfica's Enzo Fernandez, but are also keen on Benoit Badiashile and Youssoufa Moukoko to strengthen the squad. Manchester United hope to land Napoli's Kim Min-jae in the summer, Shakhtar Donetsk are looking for a huge offer for Mykhailo Mudryk, and Newcastle United have a list of midfielders on their shortlist, including Youri Tielemans.
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Chelsea line up triple signing
Chelsea have opened talks for Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, with the club willing to meet the release clause of £106 million for the World Cup winner with Argentina. The 21-year-old would help lower the age of the squad, but the Mail reports that manager Graham Potter could also welcome Monaco’s 20-year-old defender Benoit Badiashile, and Borussia Dortmund’s exciting 18-year-old forward Youssoufa Moukoko.
Paper Round’s view: Potter felt his side’s recent win over Bournemouth could herald an end to their poor start to the season, and has yet to be backed by Todd Boehly in a transfer window given his recent arrival. Fernandez, Badiashile and Moukoko are all hugely promising individuals and after getting some more experienced players in the summer such as Raheem Sterling, they could have a well-balanced squad.
United target Kim
Manchester United hope to add a central defender to their squad this summer. Their premier target is Napoli’s 26-year-old South Korean Kim Min-jae. The player has a release clause of £38m, and coach Erik ten Hag wants to recruit Kim in order to account for injuries to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez who he has rarely been able to pair together. Tottenham, Brighton, Fulham and Real Madrid are all interested.
Paper Round’s view: Kim might be a useful option for Ten Hag and the worries should not really be about Varane and Martinez, but instead should be about making sure Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire are moved on in the summer because they are not good enough. If Kim can offer consistent performances and stays fit over the course of the season, then he could be perfect.
Shakhtar want huge Mudryk offer
Shakhtar Donetsk deputy sporting director Carlo Nicolini wants a much larger offer than the initial £55m bid from Arsenal for their forward Mykhailo Mudryk. The Ukrainian club want the 21-year-old winger to fetch a similar figure to the recent transfers of Jack Grealish and Antony, costing around £100m and £86m respectively. Nicolini said: "As we've always said, to deal with Mudryk, you need to make an important offer."
Paper Round’s view: Arsenal need reinforcements after the injury to Gabriel Jesus but Mudryk is relatively unproven. Spending such a huge sum would be a gamble and that might be better spent on a player with top European league experience. The problem for Arsenal is that the best players will likely go elsewhere, and the reward of the gamble coming off would be to win the Premier League.
Newcastle looking at midfielders
Newcastle United could bring forward some summer spending in order to secure a replacement for Jonjo Shelvey, with the 30-year-old out of action with injury. The Telegraph suggests there are two potential targets. One is Brighton’s Moses Caicedo, who could cost around £60m, with the other being Youri Tielemans of Leicester City, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
Paper Round’s view: Shelvey is certainly a player that Newcastle will look to be upgrading as they start to establish themselves in the top four, so bringing in a player now will help them adjust ahead of next season. Tielemans is the obvious choice given he will be out contract soon, but it remains to be seen if other, bigger clubs will come in with a rival offer to secure his services.
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