Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.
Possible Ilkay Gundogan exit came as a surprise to many at Barcelona too
Barcelona, one way or another, have to free up some space in their salary limit. At the beginning, very few could see Ilkay Gundogan being one of the casualties of that situation. As the weeks have gone on though, some things have changed, and now Manchester City are in talks with his agents. There were and are enquiries from Turkey about Gundogan, but the relationship he has with Pep Guardiola could be key in terms of where he ends up going.
I think Gundogan is closer to leaving than he is to staying. Barcelona, little by little, are coming to terms with what the future holds without Gundogan, even though he has only been there a for a year. As we know, things can change very quickly in the transfer market.
I can’t say I have it confirmed, it’s quite possible that Gundogan leaves on a free, just as he arrived.
Can we expect any more surprise exits from Barcelona?
As it stands, Barcelona are working on those four names as departures; Clement Lenglet, Mikayil Faye, Vitor Roque and Gundogan. Lenglet is waiting for Atletico Madrid, Roque has options to go on loan in Spain, while Sporting CP are in for him on a permanent deal. They are offering nearly €30m for him including bonuses, and the coming hours look as if they could be decisive in regard to his future.
With Mikayil Faye, Inter were linked to him, but in the end have decided to look for other options. The offer from Rennes has also emerged, they remain in the race, and we’ll have to see if they can seal a definitive agreement with Barcelona.
Then there are some players that at the moment are staying, but could end up leaving. For instance, as it stands, Pablo Torre is staying, Hector Fort is staying, but those are situations that could change in the last 10-11 days of the transfer market. We’ll see if those are decisions are final or not. Right now, I have no indication that Ferran Torres could leave.
Will Real Madrid make a late offer for Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies?
The Alphonso Davies matter continues to be one that is on the table for Real Madrid, but it seems more like something for next season, in the same way that David Alaba ran down his contract and then joined Real Madrid for free. For the players that are running out of contract, and want to have the choice, they often want to go to Real Madrid. I think it’s a matter to be dealt with down line.
Bayern Munich now know that Davies can and will hold out another year until the end of his contract – they have already accepted they will lose out on him.
Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.
