⚽ Football Transfers Speculation, Odds and Predictions

[shinratensei_]

Inter transfer target Kalidou Koulibaly is in advanced talks with Al-Hilal, but Romelu Lukaku is telling Chelsea he will not join anyone other than the Nerazzurri.

https://football-italia.net/lukaku-refuses-to-follow-koulibaly-only-wants-inter/
Lukaku is very loyal to the intermilan right now. As per his statement above, if he is not wanna leave from chelsea to club other than intermilan. It seems like that chelsea has no choice to keep him as a player for the main squad.
As far as i remember if lukaku already included in the project that was already planned by pochettino. Lukaku shall have competed with nkuku if he will be playing as a regular player in chelsea again.

His contract with intermilan is still become an unanswered question now. I prefer to see pochettino to give him a spot in the club.
The team can dig his potential as long as the club gives him a chance to play regularly in EPL.

He has also great seasons with some EPL clubs in the past.

[Docnaster]

Liverpool have already started to be active in the transfer market slowly. They have already signed Mac Allister as you know. They look like they are focused on sending players who aren't useful anymore on one hand. Milner was one of them and he has just been signed by Brighton on a free transfer. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Firmino are the players left who are expected to be free agent by July 1.

I understand Oxlade-Chamberlain's situation. I believe it is the right decision for him. However I still don't understand why Firmino is being released now. Because there are only 2 natural centre-forwards in the squad and they are sending one of them away now. If they have plans to fill his place nicely then okay. Otherwise, it doesn't look good to me.

Liverpool didn't do well in the last season which I know they need a few signings to rebuild the team. Getting rid of Oxlade Chamberlain is hast a bad idea but as for Milner and Firmino, I don't think selling them will be a wise idea.  Firmino as changed Liverpool a few matches while coming from the bench and Miller contributes a lot in all Liverpool matches that he features in. I just hope there could be good options to fill in for those two players cuz till now, Liverpool is still operating with wingers. No natural central attacker.

[X-ray]

Definitely the Saudi league will get tougher, more competitive and interesting to watch because of the quality players coming in; the likes of Benzema, Kante, Ziyech and many more still lining up for a possible move to Saudi. Seeing the much impact Ronaldo’s transfer to Saudi made, I believe the signing of Benzema and other big names will surely be a boost to the league’s quality and prestige.

It will be strongly affecting the clubs and competitions in the saudi pro league. Some SPL were buying some players with a lot of experiences in the football. Even some of them were winning so many UCL trophies. Kante was also winning the world cup.
These players will share its experience with another player in the saudi clubs. As you can see that if it's not all of saudi clubs have lots of in the football like those players.
Im sure that kante and benzema will share its experiences to another club in ittihad. Ittihad wants to sign even more players. SPL has not stopped. These clubs keep adding more and more players from europa league.
Chelsea may probably sell more players to the arabian clubs. Chelsea sees it as the best alternative to sell the players. Let's see how the developments in the saudi clubs will be going on.

[Jody.Drummer]

Of course they have considered this, when they spend a lot of money to bring in a star player, they will quickly return to "capital" by selling merchandise and so on. Previously, I personally also rarely heard of and watched Arab League matches, but with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, I slowly became interested, yes, even though maybe it was only a few matches and there were more club matches involving Ronaldo. And when the other players come to catch up indirectly maybe it will be interesting for those who previously only watched Al Nassr and now it is even wider.

The finances of the Arab League clubs are sufficient so that they can afford to buy players at fantastic prices.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo has had a huge impact on the Saudi Arabian Pro League and many of us are now paying attention to the games they host. Can't imagine if Messi was there to make everything perfect. Benzema, Kante and another rumor, namely Ziyech, will soon follow.

In fact, whoever the players who were brought in from Europe and Saudi Arabia comply, there will be no doubt about the salary and facilities that will be provided later. I firmly believe that Saudi Arabia wants to move up the rankings of their league to make it more desirable. Now that has been proven and many European players have moved there, as recently Rúben Neves was successfully brought to Al Hilal headquarters with contacts until June 2026.

The Arab League will get many things when they bring in many players who are labeled as top players, starting from broadcasting rights and so on. That is a small part of the profits they will get and many more such as sponsors and things that will benefit them.
Lionel Messi would indeed be a complement if only he really went to Arabia to join one of the clubs there, but his decision has now been confirmed that he will go to Miami and join the squad there.
But now new names have appeared who are rumored to be going to Arab and there are already confirmed players who have made an agreement and have received signatures, like Benzema for example.

[Raflesia]

Does the MLS actually have any sort of legit future now, or is this just another one off with the Messi deal?  I know Messi is considered top 3 anyway you shake it, many believe him to be the goat. But  I also know he's not in his prime, of course, but is he still a top 5 or so guy? I know when Beckham came over to the MLS he wasn't a megastar in Europe any longer  (not sure if he ever even was?) so that wasn't really a big deal to most of us Americans (was for the media, but not most people).  Basically same deal with Kaka /Zlatan coming to the MLS right? Weren't they all well out of their prime?  

Just curious is this is the best player by far to ever come to the MLS, and if he's still got a few prime years left?

However, for other leagues apart from the big domestic leagues in Europe such as the MLS or even the Arab league, now they are starting to stretch to get even further attention. Now it's like starting again after several years before that there were already several players who had entered there such as for example Beckham, Roney, Henry or even David Villa.
Now with Messi of course it will make their moves start to be different and of course there will be a lot of eyes that will be looking not for the interest in MLS but for Messi but it won't really matter because they need traffic to make their league recognized.

Liverpool have already started to be active in the transfer market slowly. They have already signed Mac Allister as you know. They look like they are focused on sending players who aren't useful anymore on one hand. Milner was one of them and he has just been signed by Brighton on a free transfer. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Firmino are the players left who are expected to be free agent by July 1.

I understand Oxlade-Chamberlain's situation. I believe it is the right decision for him. However I still don't understand why Firmino is being released now. Because there are only 2 natural centre-forwards in the squad and they are sending one of them away now. If they have plans to fill his place nicely then okay. Otherwise it doesn't look good to me.

They can actually be said to be quite late in regeneration especially for the midfield but for now they are moving of course that is very good because to be honest, Milner, Fabinho, Hendersen they are all too old to be in the Liverpool squad and there need to be some young players who can replace them they.
There are a number of players that can be used, such as Elliot or Fabio Carvalho, but sometimes Klopp doesn't really look at young players, but that's a bit wrong in my opinion, because the conditions will be even more difficult, especially for young players who still need actual broadcast time.
Now having Mac Allister in their squad will certainly add more punch and that is something that is good for Liverpool.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Im sure that kante and benzema will share its experiences to another club in ittihad. Ittihad wants to sign even more players. SPL has not stopped. These clubs keep adding more and more players from europa league.
Chelsea may probably sell more players to the arabian clubs. Chelsea sees it as the best alternative to sell the players. Let's see how the developments in the saudi clubs will be going on.

Initially Todd Boehly wanted to sell 5 players to the Saudi Arabia league but Lukaku has pulled out of the deal insisting he wants more salary or he'll continue playing at inter Milan. Those other four players going are Kante, Mendy, Aubameyang and Koulibaly also it seems Hakim Ziyech is going to be sold to the Saudis as well and all this means revenue coming into the club which is what Todd Boehly is known for (business man). I just hope he uses that money wisely this time around and not waste it as he did in the January transfer window that we spent almost half a million pounds yet we didn't get any results from the players we bought.

This time we already have a high class manager so I believe things will be different provided the manager is the one making the calls of who to buy. He should be given full control so he doesn't have any excuse for failure. Todd Boehly has good relationship with the Saudis and he'll use that link to offload as many deadwood as possible. We have lots of them at Chelsea so the Saudis should come and take them all. Christian Pulisic is one other player I'm waiting for a transfer update because he too needs to leave the club to allow new legs come and uplift the club.

[naira]

Liverpool have already started to be active in the transfer market slowly. They have already signed Mac Allister as you know. They look like they are focused on sending players who aren't useful anymore on one hand. Milner was one of them and he has just been signed by Brighton on a free transfer. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Firmino are the players left who are expected to be free agent by July 1.

Liverpool didn't do well in the last season which I know they need a few signings to rebuild the team. Getting rid of Oxlade Chamberlain is hast a bad idea but as for Milner and Firmino, I don't think selling them will be a wise idea.  Firmino as changed Liverpool a few matches while coming from the bench and Miller contributes a lot in all Liverpool matches that he features in. I just hope there could be good options to fill in for those two players cuz till now, Liverpool is still operating with wingers. No natural central attacker.

The point is Liverpool players need to be upgraded with new players who are quite young and have a pretty good level of fitness. Considering that last season's attack line looked dull even though it had made several improvements towards the end of the season. This indicates that during the mid-season phase, Liverpool was quite messy even in terms of defense which at that time was Alexander Arnold
absent long enough so that the defense tends to look more easily penetrated by opponents. Moh Salah's attack line, which is supported by Gakpo, Firmino, and Nunez, in fact this season has not shown maximum results so Klopp struggled when Moh Salah lost Firmino. The arrival of Mac Allister certainly plays a very important role and you only need to be able to adapt to Moh Salah and Nunez, whose record for Nunez is quite difficult to manage.

[rendravolt]

Inter transfer target Kalidou Koulibaly is in advanced talks with Al-Hilal, but Romelu Lukaku is telling Chelsea he will not join anyone other than the Nerazzurri.

https://football-italia.net/lukaku-refuses-to-follow-koulibaly-only-wants-inter/
Lukaku is very loyal to the intermilan right now. As per his statement above, if he is not wanna leave from chelsea to club other than intermilan. It seems like that chelsea has no choice to keep him as a player for the main squad.
As far as i remember if lukaku already included in the project that was already planned by pochettino. Lukaku shall have competed with nkuku if he will be playing as a regular player in chelsea again.

His contract with intermilan is still become an unanswered question now. I prefer to see pochettino to give him a spot in the club.
The team can dig his potential as long as the club gives him a chance to play regularly in EPL.

He has also great seasons with some EPL clubs in the past.

It was very surprising the decision taken by Lukaku even though he could earn tens of millions of euros per season if he joined Al-Hilal. But it seems that his passion to play in European competition is still there and I think it is a form of player professionalism if it is felt that his performance has not run out. Now Lukaku will return to Chelsea and the competition between Nkunku will start being fought over to become a starter. But before that I think Lukaku needs to refresh his focus so he doesn't underperform as often as he did at Inter.

[mv1986]

The Arab League will get many things when they bring in many players who are labeled as top players, starting from broadcasting rights and so on. That is a small part of the profits they will get and many more such as sponsors and things that will benefit them.
Lionel Messi would indeed be a complement if only he really went to Arabia to join one of the clubs there, but his decision has now been confirmed that he will go to Miami and join the squad there.
But now new names have appeared who are rumored to be going to Arab and there are already confirmed players who have made an agreement and have received signatures, like Benzema for example.

They will still have to work their way up quite a bit. When their goal is to get broadcasting rights and what not it won't be enough to get 10 or 20 players under contract. They also get competition from the MLS as Messi's decision is quite significant. The Saudis still have more money and I guess higher ambitions, but they also need to be careful to not turn their league into a place that is full of pensioners and nothing else. I haven't calculated any numbers, but the average age of all those renowned players they are transferring these days must be quite high, but that is not what fans want to see in the long run.

[makishart]

I see this as an advantage for both parties, because on the one hand, the players will get a lot of money from the salary they receive, and maybe with such a high salary it will not run out until they decide to hang up their boots. While on the other hand, the club will also benefit from his arrival, one of which is that the club's prestige will increase and get a lot of spectacles, especially from fans of star players who have successfully joined to strengthen the club. Ronaldo's arrival opened the door for other stars to join Arab clubs

European club like chelsea tries to sell its player directly to the saudi clubs now. If the players have got so many achievements in their career and it's not a bad choice for moving to the arabian club.
The move from benzema to the ittihad was also giving very big impact to the developments of saudi pro league. There will be more and more european players interested in joining saudi clubs.
I heard that if saudi is willing to create its own champion league but im not sure whether this news was real or fake.

[Pokapoka124]

It's a shame but it seems that Thomas Partey is likely to leave. Romano reports that there is a good chance of Ghanaian midfielder leaving Arsenal this transfer window ^[1]. I really liked the guy and way he drives himself and find a long distance scoring position and also has scored some stunners for Arsenal this season too. We now just have Jorginho as a defensive midfielder.

Now Arsenal can't afford to lose in Declan Rice race.

References:
[1] https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1670383826520948736

Despite Arsenal’s interest in getting Declan Rice on their side this summer I still expect that they have someone also good enough to be coming in from the bench as a substitute for Declan Rice and I believe Thomas Partey can come be that player. One major problem Arsenal faced in title chase was not having sufficient backup for their best players, so when fatigue and injuries came, the performance of the team dropped. I hope they can fix this problem this summer.

[onecall123]

Of course they have considered this, when they spend a lot of money to bring in a star player, they will quickly return to "capital" by selling merchandise and so on. Previously, I personally also rarely heard of and watched Arab League matches, but with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, I slowly became interested, yes, even though maybe it was only a few matches and there were more club matches involving Ronaldo. And when the other players come to catch up indirectly maybe it will be interesting for those who previously only watched Al Nassr and now it is even wider.

The finances of the Arab League clubs are sufficient so that they can afford to buy players at fantastic prices.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo has had a huge impact on the Saudi Arabian Pro League and many of us are now paying attention to the games they host. Can't imagine if Messi was there to make everything perfect. Benzema, Kante and another rumor, namely Ziyech, will soon follow.

In fact, whoever the players who were brought in from Europe and Saudi Arabia comply, there will be no doubt about the salary and facilities that will be provided later. I firmly believe that Saudi Arabia wants to move up the rankings of their league to make it more desirable. Now that has been proven and many European players have moved there, as recently Rúben Neves was successfully brought to Al Hilal headquarters with contacts until June 2026.

The Arab League will get many things when they bring in many players who are labeled as top players, starting from broadcasting rights and so on. That is a small part of the profits they will get and many more such as sponsors and things that will benefit them.
Lionel Messi would indeed be a complement if only he really went to Arabia to join one of the clubs there, but his decision has now been confirmed that he will go to Miami and join the squad there.
But now new names have appeared who are rumored to be going to Arab and there are already confirmed players who have made an agreement and have received signatures, like Benzema for example.

The Arab League has been interested in bringing together more than just Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. I'd like to see them play together in the Arab league, but Messi has already made up his mind to join Miami. Saudi Arabia is making plans to attract up to 50 players from Europe's top five leagues, which seems like a clever business strategy. The game is business and finances hold great significance to attract the biggest players. However, if they want to maximize their chances of success, they need to reconsider their limitations on foreign players. Perhaps they could increase the quota to allow for up to 5 or 6 foreign players in each game.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

Does the MLS actually have any sort of legit future now, or is this just another one off with the Messi deal?  I know Messi is considered top 3 anyway you shake it, many believe him to be the goat. But  I also know he's not in his prime, of course, but is he still a top 5 or so guy? I know when Beckham came over to the MLS he wasn't a megastar in Europe any longer  (not sure if he ever even was?) so that wasn't really a big deal to most of us Americans (was for the media, but not most people).  Basically same deal with Kaka /Zlatan coming to the MLS right? Weren't they all well out of their prime?  

Just curious is this is the best player by far to ever come to the MLS, and if he's still got a few prime years left?

For Lionel Messi I think he is still a star to be reckoned with and although his decision to move to MLS is a bit controversial considering he still has the ability to play in Europe for at least the next two seasons. It seems things are not going well for Lionel Messi in the current transfer market and maybe no European club can reach a deal because of Lionel Messi's salary for example. For example Barcelona are reportedly still quite interested in bringing Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou.

The Saudi Arabian league was also linked at first and they were willing to give Lionel Messi a big salary but strangely he didn't go there preferring an offer from MLS. I think Lionel Messi is one of the best players to ever play in MLS and he has the ability to play for the next two seasons so let's see how he plays season going forward for MLS.

[Fesatmas]

Despite Arsenal’s interest in getting Declan Rice on their side this summer I still expect that they have someone also good enough to be coming in from the bench as a substitute for Declan Rice and I believe Thomas Partey can come be that player. One major problem Arsenal faced in title chase was not having sufficient backup for their best players, so when fatigue and injuries came, the performance of the team dropped. I hope they can fix this problem this summer.

Yes, indeed Arsenal's management must be able to see this situation, no matter how good the players are, they will not be able to do anything if they are injured. No one knows and at any time the players could experience this. With the performance and quality possessed by Thomas Partey, I think it is good enough to sit on the bench, acting as a substitute when Declan Rice is injured one day and in my opinion he will be able to fill the void to balance the game. Arteta must make a complete overhaul of his club to be able to compete more strongly in the Premier League next season and of course everyone including the Gunners fans don't want their pride club to have to swallow another failure next season to be able to win the Premier League title which they failed to get in this season.

[Razmirraz]

Snip.

Messi just want to try become a Ronaldo where he joined an unknown league and it's become big, now let's see if Major League Soccer will become big or not. But those league become big during Ronaldo is still playing for them, if Ronaldo retire or leave, we will see the true number of people who's interested in Saudi Arabian Pro League.

It's a good business by Saudi Arabian to sign star players because they will not able to compete against new generations and they can still make a lot money.

I think you are wrong in assuming Messi departure to the Major League, actually he can still pursue a career in the European arena because there are still several clubs that want to get Messi including Barcelona. Arab club have also made fantastic offers for Messi, but these offers have not made Messi eyes green with abundant salaries. While Ronaldo's departure to the Arab League was because no club in Europe was willing to accommodate him, Ronaldo had no other choice but to accept Al Nassr offer to continue his career.
The club that Messi is defending now is not a strong club in the Major League, even if Messi's presence is able to make the Major League bigger, it will not last long, after Messi's departure the conditions will return to their initial arrangements.

[Dump3er]

Does the MLS actually have any sort of legit future now, or is this just another one off with the Messi deal?  I know Messi is considered top 3 anyway you shake it, many believe him to be the goat. But  I also know he's not in his prime, of course, but is he still a top 5 or so guy? I know when Beckham came over to the MLS he wasn't a megastar in Europe any longer  (not sure if he ever even was?) so that wasn't really a big deal to most of us Americans (was for the media, but not most people).  Basically same deal with Kaka /Zlatan coming to the MLS right? Weren't they all well out of their prime?  

Just curious is this is the best player by far to ever come to the MLS, and if he's still got a few prime years left?

For Lionel Messi I think he is still a star to be reckoned with and although his decision to move to MLS is a bit controversial considering he still has the ability to play in Europe for at least the next two seasons. It seems things are not going well for Lionel Messi in the current transfer market and maybe no European club can reach a deal because of Lionel Messi's salary for example. For example Barcelona are reportedly still quite interested in bringing Lionel Messi back to Camp Nou.

The Saudi Arabian league was also linked at first and they were willing to give Lionel Messi a big salary but strangely he didn't go there preferring an offer from MLS. I think Lionel Messi is one of the best players to ever play in MLS and he has the ability to play for the next two seasons so let's see how he plays season going forward for MLS.

Just looking at the news and the numbers that have been reported by the media, I would also think that going to Saudi Arabia and earning almost a billion in two years should have been quite convincing even for Messi But there may be so many confidential agreements that will never surface in the media that any speculation will remain speculation. There could be agreements in place for the time after his MLS activity or there may be major deals with further investors because we should not forget that the World Cup in the US is around the corner. I know the interview when he said that he could have done this or that when it was about the money for him, but I still think it is about the money for him and he is earning well regardless of whether he goes to Saudi Arabia now or to the MLS. Miami has been working on a deal for a very long time and they knew that they can't get Messi with 50 million only and I doubt that it would only be 50 million while he is offered ten times as much elsewhere. It can't be his moral stance on Saudi Arabia because he then wouldn't be doing business with Saudi Arabia in other areas as well but he already is.

[gabbie2010]

It's a shame but it seems that Thomas Partey is likely to leave. Romano reports that there is a good chance of Ghanaian midfielder leaving Arsenal this transfer window ^[1]. I really liked the guy and way he drives himself and find a long distance scoring position and also has scored some stunners for Arsenal this season too. We now just have Jorginho as a defensive midfielder.

Now Arsenal can't afford to lose in Declan Rice race.

References:
[1] https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1670383826520948736

Despite Arsenal’s interest in getting Declan Rice on their side this summer I still expect that they have someone also good enough to be coming in from the bench as a substitute for Declan Rice and I believe Thomas Partey can come be that player. One major problem Arsenal faced in title chase was not having sufficient backup for their best players, so when fatigue and injuries came, the performance of the team dropped. I hope they can fix this problem this summer.

Arsenal is also bidding for Romeo Lavia the Southampton youngster who will likely replace injury prone Thomas Partey at the midfield, honestly Partey made some costly error this season that cost the team losing some crucial matches of it by losing possession to his opponents easily therefore the earlier he leaves the better, Xhaka is reportedly leaving to a Bundesliga club therefore Arteta needed to sign the trio of Declan Rice, Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo from Brighton with Ødegaard and Lokonga in that midfield that setup will be formidable enough by selecting his first team among those players.

[ILuckyGuyI]

Dortmund have already thought of a replacement for Jude Bellingham according to Transfermarkt. This player is Edson Alvarez who is a defensive midfielder playing for Ajax. He is the second most valuable player in Ajax squad right now. He is mostly playing in this position but he can be used as a centre-back when there is a need also.

However I don't see this being the direct replacement for Bellingham. Because Bellingham is more like an attacking midfielder as you know. There is a significant difference between their roles as a result. I guess that Dortmund aren't planning to make him get used to playing in the same role as Bellingham but let's see.

There is a significant difference in terms of direct or indirect goal contribution between these players this season.

The source: https://www.transfermarkt.com/edson-alvarez-dortmund-want-ajax-star-as-jude-bellingham-replacement/view/news/423200

[shogun47]

Dortmund have already thought of a replacement for Jude Bellingham according to Transfermarkt. This player is Edson Alvarez who is a defensive midfielder playing for Ajax. He is the second most valuable player in Ajax squad right now. He is mostly playing in this position but he can be used as a centre-back when there is a need also.

However I don't see this being the direct replacement for Bellingham. Because Bellingham is more like an attacking midfielder as you know. There is a significant difference between their roles as a result. I guess that Dortmund aren't planning to make him get used to playing in the same role as Bellingham but let's see.

There is a significant difference in terms of direct or indirect goal contribution between these players this season.

The source: https://www.transfermarkt.com/edson-alvarez-dortmund-want-ajax-star-as-jude-bellingham-replacement/view/news/423200

As soon as any club publishes which player they like and it is a high quality player, many other clubs are jumping in and also trying to get him. Ajax also knows that Dortmund is earning a lot of money from player sales and that will drive up the price for Alvarez as well. Dortmund has been known for their good scouting and they can't even effectively hide their interest in young talents.

[Igebotz]

Im sure that kante and benzema will share its experiences to another club in ittihad. Ittihad wants to sign even more players. SPL has not stopped. These clubs keep adding more and more players from europa league.
Chelsea may probably sell more players to the arabian clubs. Chelsea sees it as the best alternative to sell the players. Let's see how the developments in the saudi clubs will be going on.

Initially Todd Boehly wanted to sell 5 players to the Saudi Arabia league but Lukaku has pulled out of the deal insisting he wants more salary or he'll continue playing at inter Milan. Those other four players going are Kante, Mendy, Aubameyang and Koulibaly also it seems Hakim Ziyech is going to be sold to the Saudis as well and all this means revenue coming into the club which is what Todd Boehly is known for (business man). I just hope he uses that money wisely this time around and not waste it as he did in the January transfer window that we spent almost half a million pounds yet we didn't get any results from the players we bought.

None of the Saudi club were ready to offer a mouth watering salary for someone who didn't perform well in two consecutive seasons, He was open to the move but the salary offered was below his expectations so he pulled out, and Chelsea is not willing to let him go on another loan and Inter Milan is not willing to buy him on a permanent deal. He is causing the club more problems because he is on a higher salary doing nothing and has no transfer value at the present.