Morata, Candreva, Murillo: Tuesday Transfer Talk with David Amoyal
So it's not surprising to see Premier League clubs also shopping for players in Italy this summer, let's look at some deals that could be completed in the coming weeks starting with Chelsea
Back in April, Roma's sporting director Walter Sabatini travelled to London to meet with Chelsea to discuss Radja Nainggolan- a player that Conte has pursued dating back to his time at Juventus. During the meeting the clubs also discussed Kostas Manolas, a defender that has also been linked to Manchester United.
But the injury to Roma's other starting center back Rudiger (who was also linked to Chelsea) as well as Juventus activating Pjanic's exit clause has made moving Nainggolan and Manolas more complicated for Roma. As an alternative to Manolas, Chelsea could intensify their pursuit of Napoli center back Koulibaly, who is demanding a raise from the Italian club, or go for Angelo Ogbonna a center back that Conte knows well from his time at Juventus and whom he trusted enough to bring to the Euro. In addition to familiarity with Conte’s system, Ogbonna has already proven himself in the Premier League at West Ham.
Chelsea is also interested in Lazio winger Antonio Candreva, who has been one of Italy's best players at the Euro. Candreva appears more suited for the Premier League than Juan Cuadrado whom Chelsea still owns, but the Blues face competition from Inter in this race. Candreva's preference is to join the nerazzurri but Conte may be able to sell him on the project he has for Chelsea.
Conte would also like to bring Alvaro Morata to Chelsea, he had also previously pushed to have him come to Juventus right before he abruptly resigned. On top of the fact that there are many suitors for Morata (including Arsenal, PSG and Manchester United) there is the issue of the €30 million clause Real Madrid has to reaquire him which complicates things.
Since Morata is clearly worth more than the €30 million "recompra" option, Real Madrid is willing to activate the clause to sell him to another team (which they must do by June 30th). Juventus is also willing to pay the Galacticos more to keep him, so there are many potential outcomes. The most recent one being the possibility of Real Madrid activating the clause to keep Morata as Ronaldo's understudy.
For many reasons- including a clause in the original agreement as well as fact the two clubs have great relations, it's not feasible for Juventus to be the ones to sell Morata to another club before Real Madrid can exercise their buy back clause by June 30th (the Spanish club also has another option next summer). Chelsea will have to pay close attention to Arsenal, who has intensified their pursuit of Morata after it appears that Vardy will stay at Leicester.
But Chelsea isn't the only club shopping in Italy. Liverpool has been pursuing Piotr Zielinski for quite some time, the Polish midfielder is coming off an excellent season on loan at Empoli. Udinese still owns the rights to Zielinski, and while they have an excellent relationship with Napoli who is also pursuing him- the 22 year midfielder prefers to join Klopp's squad. Liverpool is also pursuing a former Serie A player in Mateo Kovacic, who is also a transfer target for Juventus and Milan.
Zielinski isn't the only player both Napoli and Liverpool are after, the two clubs are also competing for Porto midfielder Hector Herrera whose value increased thanks to his performances in the Copa America. While Napoli has been linked to numerous midfielders, this is to add depth to Sarri’s squad rather than replacing Marek Hamsik who has strong ties to the club and the city.
The Copa America was also the tournament in which Jeison Murillo made a name for himself. The Colombian center back won the award for best young player in the 2015 edition of the tournament, he was also very impressive in the first half of his debut season at Inter after arriving from Granada (like many at Inter he struggled in the second half of the season)
Arsenal has now joined Zenit and Bayern Munich (who could sign him to replace Benatia should the former Roma center back leave this summer) in the race for Murillo. It's more likely that Inter will move him rather than Miranda, since the former Atletico Madrid fender joined them on a 2 year loan deal with forced option to buy last summer- Murillo would bring a bigger profit to the nerazzurri who have to be sensitive to Financial Fair Play rules. With the right defensive partner, Murillo could be an excellent addition also for the long term since he just turned 24.
Let's end with a striker who continues to be linked to the Premier League- Simone Zaza. The former Sassuolo striker made the most of his opportunities at Juventus last season, mainly coming off the bench. He could play a bigger role in Turin should Morata leave Juventus, but Zaza continues to have suitors in England including West Ham who tried to sign him in January. In addition to the Hammers, Zaza has also been linked to Everton, Southampton and Swansea where Guidolin would like to have him replace Paloschi who recently joined Atalanta.
See you next Tuesday for another round of Transfer Talk...
