Rudy's Rumour Mill: Chelsea seek Osimhen 'deferment', Juventus settle on Pogba replacement
POCHETTINO'S FUTURE IS IN HIS OWN HANDS
The future of Pochettino at Chelsea (at least until the end of the season) is not particularly at risk. The defeat in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool means Chelsea will not qualify for any European football next season unless they win the FA Cup.
The owners still have faith in Poch, partly because there are some mitigating factors in his favour such as the high number of injuries that have prevented him from working with the entire squad consistently or the lack of a quality striker.
Because of those mitigating factors, Chelsea have not made concrete contact with any other manager, hoping instead that progress will be seen in the latter part of the season.
But, at the same time, the Blues are carefully monitoring other managers in Europe and appreciate the work of Simone Inzaghi at Inter.
In summary, Pochettino's future is in his own hands: in the event of qualification for Europe, his job would be safe.
OSIMHEN - CHELSEA LEAD THE RACE
Victor Osimhen will certainly be in high demand this summer transfer window. The Nigerian striker will leave Napoli at the end of the season with the hope of joining the Premier League. In fact, the player would prefer a transfer to England over other leagues.
Chelsea are interested in him and are willing to pay the 130m-euro release clause included in his contract renewal with Napoli last year. Negotiations with the player have been going on for months now: a multi-year proposal is ready for him with a slightly improved salary compared to his current one. The English club is also considering starting talks soon with Napoli to discuss in detail a possible deferral payment in the contract clause.
PSG are also monitoring the situation of the Nigerian striker as a possible Kylian Mbappe replacement. However, despite several rumours that indicate Paris as the most likely destination for Osimhen, there's been no recent contact between Victor's entourage and the leaders of Ligue 1.
PSG always remain interested but with Mbappe's departure, they are targeting other profiles as his possible replacement, like AC Milan's Rafael Leao.
BARELLA - CONTRACT RENEWAL IS PROGRESSING
Nicolo Barella is undoubtedly one of the most important players in Inter's midfield and has played a key role in Inter's recent success. That is why the Italian club are accelerating negotiations to extend his contract which expires in 2026. They have set up the main structure of the new agreement but there are still some details to be defined, in particular regarding the salary.
Currently, Barella earns nine million euros gross per year and around five million euros net per season. The new contract, which will bind him to the club until 2029, should provide a wage increase somewhere to close to his teammates Hakan Calhanoglu's and Lautaro Martinez's salaries, around 6/6.5 million euros per season.
The talks are currently focusing on the economic details and then they will proceed with the bureaucratic part of the negotiation. There is no rush to complete the process as there are still two and a half years left on Barella's current contract, but the desire from Nicolo is clear: he wants to stay in Milan and, to date, he is not considering any offers from other clubs.
MANCHESTER UNITED'S PLANS - RENEWALS, FAREWELLS AND POSSIBLE RETURNS
Manchester United are making some assessments within their squad, both in terms of renewals and transfers ahead of the summer window. Some big updates are expected soon, including the future of Kobbie Mainoo. The exciting academy talent is still considering his new contract, but there is optimism about an agreement that could be reached in the next few weeks as the Red Devils have intensified contact with the player's entourage.
In addition to prioritising Mainoo's renewal, Manchester United are already evaluating possible signings in the full-back position, particularly at right-back. Aaron Wan-Bissaka's contract renewal is proceeding at a slow pace and the possibility that the English defender leaves Manchester in the summer is growing.
United are thus starting to consider possible alternatives: Erik ten Hag's dream is to sign Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen but the Dutch player is more likely to follow his current coach Xabi Alonso wherever the summer takes the in demand manager. For that reason, Denzel Dumfries remains the most likely option to strengthen the right-back role, with Inter willing to let him go at a fairly suitable price.
The final subject related to United is Mason Greenwood: his good performances are opening up interest in his future, even if INEOS have not made a definitive decision yet. The player, on the contary, would like to return to Manchester at the end of the season to remind fans of his talent.
JUVENTUS DESPERATELY SEEKING NEW MIDFIELDER
Juventus are already working to strengthen the midfield in the summer as they look to replace the suspended Paul Pogba and possibly Adrien Rabiot too. Rabiot has not yet decided his future with his contract expiring in a few months and negotiations for his renewal are going at a slow pace.
Adrien has already received more than one proposal, but has not yet definitively chosen what to do next season. Let's keep an eye also on PSG who are interested in Rabiot and recently had some contact with his mother-agent.
Returning to Juventus and their search of a new midfielder - they consider Teun Koopmeiners a concrete target in June - the Dutch player is now at the top of their list. Atalanta are asking for around 50 million euros to consider selling Koopmeiners, a figure that at the moment seems to be considered too high by Juventus.
Juventus could decide to include a player in the deal, in order to lower the price tag.
Atalanta appreciate Juve's Fabio Miretti and he could become the player "sacrificed" in the negotiation for Koopmeiners. Let's wait and see: it's an evolving situation.
