Man City have been working on a new deal for their star striker Erling Haaland and the Norwegian’s contract is likely to contain a release clause amid links to Real Madrid.

The 24-year-old’s current contract at the Etihad Stadium expires in 2027 and the Premier League club are eager to offer the forward a new one given the impact he has made since arriving from Borussia Dortmund during the summer of 2022.

Haaland is undoubtedly one of the best strikers in the world and has accumulated an impressive total of 97 goals and 14 assists across the 102 appearances he has made for Man City so far.

Naturally, this has caught the attention of Real Madrid and the La Liga champions are often linked to the Norway international.

There have even been rumours of Haaland’s current Man City contract containing a Real Madrid-specific release clause, but according to Fabrizio Romano, that is not the case.

The transfer journalist expects the striker’s new deal to contain a release clause of some sort, but it will not be specific to the La Liga giants.

Man City closing in on a new contract for Erling Haaland

Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on Haaland’s contract situation at Man City and has admitted that there is no agreement between the parties yet but talks have been very positive.

“There have been talks already for months between Erling Haaland and Manchester City over a new deal. So this is the priority for City,” the transfer journalist said while speaking on the latest episode of CaughtOffside’s The Debrief podcast. “It’s also an open negotiation with Haaland, who is very happy at the club. So they’ve been discussing now for months, almost six, seven months, discussing a new deal for Erling Haaland.

“So there is an active conversation and I think there is a good possibility, a good opportunity for them to reach an agreement. Then about the release clause, I’m not sure it’s going to be a specific clause for a club, we always had this kind of rumours, but Erling Haaland always had clauses in his contract since he was at Borussia Dortmund.”

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Romano continued by stating: “At Manchester City, there are release clauses in the contract of Erling Haaland, but it’s not for a specific club. There will be, I think, a clause for his potential exit, but not only for Real Madrid.

“It will be an open clause and we will see the terms of this potential new deal. At the moment, the agreement is not reached yet, but there is a very good, positive conversation between the parties.”

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Since becoming a co-owner of Man United last year, a lot of talk around Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s time at Old Trafford has been about the future of their manager Erik ten Hag and the Ineos CEO knows exactly who he wants as manager of the English giants.

The 2023/24 campaign was an underwhelming one for United as they finished eighth in the Premier League and bottom of their Champions League group. Ten Hag was under a lot of pressure throughout the season but the Dutch coach saved his job at the last moment.

Man United’s FA Cup success over Man City played a role in Ten Hag remaining at Old Trafford for the current season, but the 54-year-old is already under pressure due to the Manchester club’s poor start to the current campaign.

It was widely reported during the summer that Man United’s board looked into hiring a new manager but ultimately decided to stick with their current boss.

According to The Mirror, Sir Jim Ratcliffe knows exactly who he wants in charge at Old Trafford as he is believed to be dreaming of luring Zinedine Zidane to Man United.

However, the former Real Madrid coach has his eyes on the French national team role as Didier Deschamps’ time with the 2018 World Cup winners looks to be going a bit stale following recent results.

Zinedine Zidane rules out move to Man United

Zidane has not been seen in a managerial role since 2021 when he left Real Madrid but the Frenchman has already ruled himself out of taking charge of Manchester United, which will come as a blow to Ratcliffe.

The legendary figure has told L’Equipe that a big reason for not taking on the role in Manchester is down to the 52-year-old not being fluent in English.

“Would I want to go to Manchester [United]? I understand English, but I’m not completely fluent in it. I know that there are coaches who go to clubs without speaking the language, but I work in a different way,” Zidane said via the Daily Mail.

“Many elements come into play in order to win, it is a global context. I know what I need to win.”

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Football fans are eager to see Zidane back on the sidelines as his time at Real Madrid was legendary having delivered the La Liga giants three Champions League trophies in a row.

The Frenchman clearly has an eye on coaching his country and that opportunity may not be far away for the former Real Madrid boss.

The post Sir Jim Ratcliffe knows exactly who he wants to manage Man United appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Ronald Koeman has given his seal of approval for Memphis Depay’s move to Brazilian side Corinthians.

The former Manchester United and Barcelona striker is on the verge of sealing a shock move to Timão after his contract at Atletico Madrid expired over the summer.

Koeman has caused controversy in recent weeks by omitting Steven Bergwijn from the Netherlands national team after he signed for Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad; calling the former Spurs forward’s case a ‘closed book’.

“It’s clear that this has nothing to do with sportive ambition. His book with the Dutch National Team is closed,” Koeman said of Bergwijn’s move.

“He probably knows that I would have said this.”

Bergwijn — who played 83 times for Spurs between 2020 and 2022, scoring eight goals — responded by saying he had no interest in playing under Koeman anyway and that the manager was in danger of ‘losing his credibility’.

– Read more: Former Tottenham forward hits back at national team manager – “He will lose all his credibility”

Koeman gives Memphis Depay free pass for Brazil move

Depay — who scored seven goals in 53 appearances for Man Utd between 2015 and 2017, arriving at Old Trafford for £31m from PSV Eindhoven (per BBC Sport) — has been given much more favourable treatment by Koeman.

The former Everton and Southampton boss says the 98-time international could return to the Oranje picture as he regards the Brazilian Serie A as a better league than the Saudi Pro League.

“I disapproved Bergwijn to Saudi, with Memphis can be different,” Koeman was quoted as saying by CaughtOffside columnist and transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano.

“The level of the league in Brazil is different. So yes, Depay can still be part of the national team but it depends on his fitness and if he still reaches his level.”

The post Koeman risks Netherlands civil war as £31m Man Utd flop gets free pass after Bergwijn spat appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Cristiano Ronaldo has achieved yet another unbelievable stat on a really rather long list of similar records throughout his tremendous career.

While the Portugal international made the headlines last week for hitting 900 career goals in total, he managed another in the win over Scotland last night, meaning he’s now scored 80 goals for his national team since turning 30.

Yes, you read that right, Ronaldo has 80 international goals *just* since the age of 30, which means he has more in that space of time than many of the best modern forwards managed in their entire careers with their national teams.

See below for the stat from ESPN, showing that Ronaldo has more goals since the age of 30 than Harry Kane’s entire tally for England, Neymar’s for Brazil, Miroslav Klose’s for Germany, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s for Sweden…

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more international goals (80) since turning 30 than some players have in their entire career ?

Unbeatable ? pic.twitter.com/qAMLimWAzb

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 9, 2024

In total, the 39-year-old has 132 goals for Portugal, but it really is noteworthy just how good the former Real Madrid and Manchester United man has been in the last decade, which for most ordinary players would be considered after their peak.

Ronaldo just seems to get better and better with age, so who knows how many more goals he’ll add to his tally before he finally decides to hang up his boots and call time on this memorable career?

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Ronaldo may no longer be playing in Europe, but he’s shone for Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr and his form for his country shows very clearly that he still has what it takes to influence matches against elite opposition.

The post Cristiano Ronaldo achieves another unbelievable record that puts him clear of the best modern forwards appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United are reportedly among the clubs keeping an eye on the progress of exciting young Athletic Bilbao midfielder Peio Canales.

The 19-year-old playmaker looks an exciting talent and one to watch for the future, with Man Utd said to be monitoring him as an option for upcoming transfer windows, according to Sam C of The United Stand.

See below for more details as the Red Devils’ interest in Canales is revealed…

Scouting and monitoring already started ahead of upcoming windows, Peio is an Attacking Midfielder

— Sam C (@SamC_reports) September 9, 2024

United have done well to promote and develop young players throughout their history, with many of their best players coming up from their academy.

Meanwhile, in more recent times, they’ve also had success with someone like Alejandro Garnacho, who arrived from Spain at a young age and who is now a key player for Erik ten Hag’s first-team.

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Most fans might not know a huge amount about Canales at this point, but it seems MUFC have decided he’s worth keeping track of in the months to come, so it will be interesting to see if this ends up turning into anything more concrete.

United had a busy summer bringing in a number of exciting young players, most notably Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee, while others like Manuel Ugarte and Matthijs de Ligt are also young enough to be long-term options, even if they also provide experience from their previous stints at other top European clubs.

The club have made some mistakes in the transfer market in recent years, signing some big names without much re-sale value like Alexis Sanchez, Raphael Varane and Casemiro, so fans will surely be pleased to see this switch to an emphasis on bringing in players whose peak years are yet to come.

The post Manchester United monitoring La Liga wonderkid ahead of potential transfer appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United reportedly had some fleeting discussions over the summer about the possibility of a move for alternative midfield targets such as Martin Zubimendi before prioritising Manuel Ugarte.

Zubimendi was notably a top target for Liverpool before he somewhat surprisingly turned them down, according to Relevo‘s report at the time, and now the Manchester Evening News claim that Man Utd considered the Spain international as an option as well.

The report also mentions former Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot as someone the Red Devils looked at, but Ugarte was seemingly always the top priority, and that’s who ended up joining them in the end.

We’re yet to see the Uruguay international in action for United since his move from Paris Saint-Germain, but he looks like a potentially important addition, with Casemiro in dire form in the team’s last game, a 3-0 defeat at home to rivals Liverpool.

Zubimendi transfer: Will we ever see him in the Premier League?

Zubimendi is a quality player, as he’s shown with his performances in La Liga, the Champions League, and with the Spanish national team at Euro 2024, so why haven’t we seen him make a big move yet?

The 25-year-old is clearly good enough to play at the very highest level, but it seems he’s also perfectly happy and settled at his current club.

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In a way, it’s refreshing in the modern game to see a player showing commitment to their team, even if they have bigger opportunities elsewhere to perhaps win more trophies and make more money.

At the same time, though, Zubimendi might well look back later on his career and live to regret it if he doesn’t challenge himself at a big club like Liverpool or United, where he could surely have a positive impact in the biggest matches and earn himself some medals in the coming years.

The post Manchester United discussed possible transfer swoop for top Liverpool target appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Barcelona have had initial contacts over the potential transfer of Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah, according to Matteo Moretto in the latest edition of his Daily Briefing column.

The Germany international is in the final year of his contract with Leverkusen, and his situation attracted a lot of speculation in the summer, with both Bayern Munich and Chelsea linked with him at various points.

The latest on Tah now seems to be that Barca will explore in the weeks ahead if they can potentially make a deal for him work with Financial Fair Play, which has proven a bit of a complicated issue for the Catalan giants in recent times, impacting what they can do in the transfer market.

Barca didn’t have the busiest summer this year, just bringing in Dani Olmo as their main major new addition, but it seems they’re now serious about looking into a possible deal for Tah, who would surely be a superb addition if they could pull it off.

Tah transfer: Where next for Leverkusen’s star centre-back?

Leverkusen have a number of star names who will now surely be tempting for Europe’s more established elite clubs, with the Bundesliga champions majorly over-achieving thanks to the excellent work done by their exciting young manager Xabi Alonso.

The price Leverkusen will inevitably pay for their surprise success is big names like Tah being targeted by the Bayerns and Barcas of this world, and it now seems a very difficult ask for the German champions to keep him.

Tah has been a key figure in this remarkable Leverkusen story, but at the same time he’ll surely be keen to represent one of the more historic names of European football before his career is done.

The 28-year-old is now surely right at the peak of his powers, so if he doesn’t get his big move now he might not have another chance.

Tah future not decided yet, says Moretto

Discussing Tah’s future, Moretto said: “This week Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah gave an interview to Suddeutsche Zeitung, in which he confirmed that he would not be renewing his contract with die Werkself, after months of links with Bayern Munich. Fabrizio Romano has also reported that an agreement on personal terms with the Bavarian side was reached months ago.

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“That said, I don’t think Tah’s future is already decided by any means. As he himself admitted, he will be free to decide where to go.

“Barcelona are in the race, as are other clubs. Barcelona already initiated contacts for Tah at the end of this transfer market, and in the coming weeks, will try to see if it is possible for them sign him on a free transfer within their salary limit restrictions.”

The post Barcelona have had contacts over big-name transfer, key developments expected in coming weeks appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has entered the final year of his contract with the club.

The defender has been linked with a move away from the club with Real Madrid mentioned as his next possible destination.

Following the departure of Jurgen Klopp from Anfield and the player’s current contract situation, he has been linked with the Champions League winners.

Alexander-Arnold has started the new season in fine form after his failure to cement a place in the starting line up for England at Euro 2024.

However, with his form and performances this season, he has shown why Gareth Southgate made a mistake not starting him for the Three Lions this summer.

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has discussed the future of the right-back and why he would be the ideal signing for the Spanish giants.

While talking to Simon Jordan and Troy Deeney on the Up Front Podcast, Souness delivered his verdict.

“Trent Alexander-Arnold is tailor-made for Real Madrid in the way he plays, he has an incredible style,” Souness said.

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“Not to mention, he is good friends with Jude Bellingham. He could end up at Real Madrid. He would only leave Liverpool for Real Madrid,” Souness added.

If Real Madrid can manage to sign the Liverpool star for free, it would be one of their best bit of business.

It remains to be seen what the future holds for the English defender, who has been a key member of the club’s successful team under former manager Klopp.

Liverpool right-back would fit like a glove at Real Madrid

Los Blancos are looking for a new right-back with Dani Carvajal not the same player as he was before and Alexander-Arnold would be his ideal replacement due to his attacking playing style.

Liverpool cannot afford to lose the right-back any time soon and particularly not for free.

He is one of their most prized assets and even if he decides to leave, it should get Liverpool a hefty amount of money.

The lure of Real Madrid is difficult to avoid and if by January the defender has still not signed a new contract at Anfield, the La Liga giants could engage in talks with the player to unite him with his friend Jude Bellingham at Santiago Bernabeu.

The post Liverpool legend reveals why Reds star would be the perfect signing for Real Madrid appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Arsenal defender William Saliba is being tracked by Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, sources close to the situation have informed CaughtOffside.

Although there is little prospect of the Gunners selling Saliba for anything other than crazy money, at least €120million or probably more, there is understood to be strong interest from these three elite clubs as they rate the talented young Frenchman very highly.

Saliba has firmly established himself as one of the finest defensive players in world football in recent years, and it would be a huge blow for Arsenal to lose him as they aim to get back to the top in the Premier League and become serious challengers for the Champions League as well.

Thankfully for Arsenal fans, Saliba has a contract until 2027 at the Emirates Stadium, so there’s little pressure to let him go, though one imagines the 23-year-old might find it hard to say no to some of these big names involved.

Saliba transfer: Arsenal need to keep star centre-back

Arsenal used to sell their star names, much to their detriment, as they lost the likes of Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Alexis Sanchez during their peak years.

They won’t want to make the same mistake again as it cost them success in the past, and someone like Saliba surely has it in him to be a real leader for this team for many years to come.

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Arsenal have made so much progress under Mikel Arteta, and Saliba is surely going to be someone viewed as untouchable for the foreseeable future, alongside others like Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.

Real Madrid would surely love to have a Galactico of this kind, however, while we all know PSG like to sign the best French players if they can, so this story won’t be completely going away any time soon.

The post Exclusive: Trio of elite clubs chasing ambitious Arsenal transfer raid, deal likely to cost €120m-plus appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester United reportedly made an approach for Sevilla winger Juanlu Sanchez after his impressive form for Spain at this summer’s Olympics.

The 21-year-old, who can play on the right flank in an attacking role or as a full-back or wing-back, picked up a gold medal with his country as they beat France in the final, and he’s also had some eye-catching performances with his club in La Liga.

According to ABC Sevilla, this has led to interest from Man Utd, who made some effort to try to sign him shortly after his Olympics success, though clearly the Red Devils weren’t able to get the deal done on this occasion.

Sanchez will surely remain a talent on United’s radar, however, and other top clubs will likely be aware of him too as he looks like the latest big talent to come from Sevilla’s academy.

Down the years, the Andalusian outfit have produced big names like Jose Antonio Reyes, Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas and Alberto Moreno, so it could be that Sanchez will be their next success story.

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United ended up bringing in Noussair Mazraoui as another option at right-back this season, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka leaving for West Ham.

Sanchez, however, might have had more opportunities further forward in Erik ten Hag’s side, given that Jadon Sancho left Old Trafford for an initial loan move to Chelsea.

It will be interesting to see how this saga develops in the near future as one imagines MUFC might still have Sanchez earmarked as a target to revisit again at some point.

The post Manchester United made recent transfer approach for versatile 21-year-old appeared first on CaughtOffside.