Barcelona: Dembélé would like to stay, but...
“
The Dembele enigma.
This is the front page of the Catalan daily
Sport
this Wednesday.
The 24-year-old French winger is still out of contract with FC Barcelona.
The club lambasted his salary demands to explain his non-extension, and failed to sell him this winter.
Sport tells us that Dembélé continues to assert, especially to his teammates, that he wants to continue at Barça.
He would be "
grateful
" to his coach, Xavi, who maintained his confidence in him during this complicated period.
Read alsoEuropa League: Dembélé shouted down… then acclaimed by the Camp Nou public
Xavi would not be against extending Dembélé, but this hypothesis is considered "
virtually impossible
" by Sport.
The Blaugrana leaders would have reached a point of no return with Dembélé and his agent.
Juventus, PSG and Manchester United have been mentioned to welcome the former Rennais this summer, paying a juicy signing bonus.
In short, Dembélé seems to be watering down his wine, but it may be too late to pick up the pieces.
SEE ALSO –
Dembélé's pretty goal at Linares in the King's Cup on January 5 (1-2)
Denayer and OL, it smells of divorce
The days pass and Jason Denayer walks away from an extension at Olympique Lyonnais, where he is at the end of his contract.
Last week, the daily
Het Nieuwsblad
assured that extending remained "
an option
" for the Belgian defender and international (26), even if several clubs, including Barça and Juventus, had already approached him.
The local newspaper
Le Progrès
is more pessimistic: Denayer and OL are "
close to a separation
", we learn.
The Rhône club would consider his salary expectations too high and would resign himself to seeing him go free this summer, as was the case with Memphis Depay last year.
AC Milan thinks of 3 Ligue 1 players
100 M€: this is the sum that AC Milan will devote to the next summer transfer window, according to the
Gazzetta dello Sport
.
The Italian newspaper takes stock of the main leads of the Rossoneri, current leaders of Serie A. One of the priorities would be the Dutch defender of Lille, Sven Botman (22), whom Milan hopes to offer for 30 M €.
Little credible after the English press mentioned a price set at 55 M € by LOSC, with competition from the new rich Newcastle.
Anyway, it is not the only Lille that Milan likes.
Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches (24) is "
observed
".
Here too, AC Milan does not want to spend more than 30 M€ for a player at the end of the contract in 2023.
Read alsoThe notes of Lille at Chelsea: Sanches too alone, Xeka too short
Another Ligue 1 player "
observed
"?
Hugo Ekitike, who bursts the screen in Reims with 9 goals in 21 L1 matches at only 19 years old.
As with Botman, competition will be tough for the French centre-forward, as Chelsea and Dortmund have been named as suitors in recent days.
Finally, AC Milan checked the name of a versatile winger: Dutch international Steven Bergwijn (24), with limited playing time at Tottenham.
His trainer Antonio Conte "
does not consider him untransferable
", writes the
Gazzetta
.
For these two attacking players, AC Milan would not want to spend more than €40m in total.
Not sure that such an estimate will remain valid when the auction game has started.
SEE ALSO –
The best of Steven Bergwijn with Tottenham
Tottenham hands over to Kane
Last summer, Manchester City did everything to snatch Harry Kane from Tottenham.
In vain.
The captain of England remained faithful to his old club, which submitted a big extension offer to him in stride.
Kane refused to take it into account for two reasons: his current lease does not expire until June 2024, and he wants to see more clearly in the sporting project of Spurs, where he has never won a single trophy at 28 years.
And according to
The Athletic
, it is he who has the cards in hand for his future.
Read alsoPremier League: Kane and Tottenham achieve the feat in Manchester City
Tottenham reportedly have no intention of approaching their striker again to bring up the subject.
London officials believe that Kane is no further ahead in his thinking and do not want to put him under unnecessary pressure.
For them, “
the ball is in his court
”.
Tottenham are currently 8th in the Premier League, but could move up to 4th by winning their three games behind Manchester United.
Kane has scored 17 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions this season.
The exorbitant price that West Ham would aim for Rice
He's one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, and it's not from this season.
England international Declan Rice continues to shine at West Ham, his training club, to which he remains linked until June 2024. Last January,
The Sun
claimed that West Ham had set his price at €117m.
According to
The Times
, the Hammers are now asking for €143m.
Enough to calm the ardor of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea, often cited as the main courtiers of Rice (23 years old).