Tuesday Transfer Talk with David Amoyal
Higuain- After breaking the record for most goals scored in a Serie A season, Gonzalo Higuain is an even bigger name on the transfer market. The striker will turn 29 in December so the window to move him for a massive fee is getting shorter, but that doesn’t mean he will leave this summer. When Napoli signed him to a 5 year deal back in 2013, they included a 94 million euro exit clause in the contract- and (at least so far) they are not willing to give any discounts to let him leave.
From Higuain’s part there is willingness to stay at Napoli as long as Sarri’s squad is improved next season. It’s also important to note that Napoli was able to keep Higuain last summer when they weren’t in the Champions League- while in the upcoming season they already qualified to the group stages without having to go through the preliminary round, which proved to be fatal for them two summers ago.
While the exit clause is exorbitant, the whole point of Napoli including it in Higuain’s contract was to make it difficult for him to leave (Napoli is one of the most financially stable clubs in Italy). Since Higuain’s contract expires in 2018, Napoli will soon have to negotiate an extension- it’s possible the new deal features a lower exit clause as long as Higuain doesn’t push to leave this summer. Some clubs like Manchester United, Chelsea and PSG could pay the clause, but Napoli won’t make it easy for their star to leave.
Pogba- For the second summer in a row, Paul Pogba is the biggest prize on the transfer market- could this be the time he leaves Juventus? While the French midfielder is very comfortable in Turin, and the bianconeri have no need to sell him, he could earn considerably more playing in a league other than Serie A. In addition two of the richest clubs in the world, Real Madrid and Manchester United, have made inquiries to see if Pogba is open to joining them.
At the moment it appears that Pogba would only leave Turin for Real Madrid- a club that Juventus has great relations with it. Real Madrid has contacted Pogba's agent to discuss the wages- they want to reach an agreement with the player before contacting Juventus. Real Madrid' initial offer was around €8/9 million net of taxes, a very similar sum to what Chelsea offered last summer before both Pogba and Juventus turned down the potential move.
With a salary more in the 12/13 million range, Real Madrid maybe able to close the deal with Pogba which would give them leverage when negotiating with Juventus. While the Pogba transfer would likely be a straight cash deal (also because Raiola owns a percentage to the French midfielder's rights) Real Madrid could make Juventus more open to a move by offering to leave Morata in Turin and sending Kovacic to the bianconeri.
Koulibaly- The Napoli center back was arguably the most improved player in Serie A last season. The Senegalese defender struggled a bit under Rafa Benitez after arriving from Racing Genk, but Maurizio Sarri was able to turn him into a key player for the partenopei. Koulibaly always had great physical tools, while his positioning and tactical awareness vastly improved just as he's about to enter his prime (he'll turn 25 at end of June)
There is an interesting wrinkle in the Koulibaly situation- in one of the first moves of the summer transfer window, Napoli acquired Empoli center back Lorenzo Tonelli, one of the most underrated defenders in Serie A and a player Sarri coached for a few season. Is Tonelli coming to replace Koulibaly or Albiol (who has been linked to a return to La Liga) or simply to bring more depth now that club is in Champions League?
In addition both Koulibaly and his agent have given interviews demanding a new contract with higher wages to avoid a potential transfer move- this development was not appreciated by Napoli's president Aurelio De Laurentiis who owns the marketing rights to most of his players (hard to sell jerseys of a player who could leave). Considering that Koulibaly has been linked to Premier League clubs like Chelsea and Manchester United, he could fetch a massive fee- Napoli would like to keep Koulibaly but on their own terms.
Nainggolan- While Napoli is reaping the rewards of having the financial security that comes from being in the group stages of the Champions League; Roma has to go through the preliminary round which proved to be fatal to Napoli in 2014 and Lazio last summer. The giallorossi are already facing restrictions because of the Financial Fair Play rules and could lose another key player in addition to Pjanic.
Chelsea has been pursuing Radja Nainggolan for quite some time, their new coach Antonio Conte has been trying to acquire him dating back to his days at Juventus- the Belgian midfielder could provide many of the same attributes Vidal brought to Conte in Turin. Roma's sporting director Walter Sabatini travelled to London last April to meet with Chelsea about Nainggolan, and the deal could still happen even with Pjanic on his way to Juventus.
Chelsea will have to come close to Roma's asking price of €45 million for the deal to take place. While Nainggolan has made some strong statements about staying at Roma when speaking to the Italian press, he has left the door open to a move to Chelsea when speaking to the Belgian media at the Euro. While it would be very tough for Roma to lose both Pjanic and Nainggolan, they should get more from Strootman, have been linked to Newcastle's Wijnaldum and could give Paredes a chance after he had an excellent season at Empoli.
Manolas- Antonio Rudiger's recent knee injury had a domino effect on Roma's transfer plans. After redeeming the rights to the center back from Stuttgart, the giallorossi were planning on selling Rudiger to Chelsea for a significant profit- but the ACL tear he suffered while with Germany caused them to change their plans. Roma is now focused on doing all they can to keep their other starting center back Manolas- who has a significant market in the Premier League (Pjanic, who is heading to Juventus, ended up becoming the sacrificial lamb to get the balance sheet in order for FFP)
Roma currently owns half of Manolas rights, and because of a clause in his contract they have a financial incentive to keep him this summer. Should the defender be sold before September 1st, Roma would have to give Olympiakos half of the transfer fee- considering Manolas' value is estimated to be around €40 million, the giallorossi would have to give the Greek club €20 million rather than the €6.5 million which was originally negotiated when they acquired him in summer of 2014. With Pjanic heading to Juventus and Rudiger’s injury, Roma is taking Manolas off the market, after the player agreed to the framework of a new contract which should be announced soon.
David Amoyal is the manager of the English page on Gianluca Di Marzio's website where he also writes weekly articles. David covers transfer news for ESPN, and has appeared on numerous radio shows on Sirius XM in the US as well as TalkSport in the UK. David is the former editor in chief of Vavel USA and his articles have been featured in many sites around the world. You can follow him on Twitter @DavidAmoyal
