In his third exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Italian super-agent Roberto De Fanti lifts the lid on some of football’s biggest talking points, including Manchester United’s stance on Marcus Rashford, Arsenal’s pursuit of a new striker and why Spurs want one of Italy’s best players…
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Marcus Rashford is wanted by top European clubs…
All the top sides in Spain and Italy have been keen to enquire about Marcus Rashford’s availability and the possibility of him leaving United this summer.
Prior to any discussions, a valuation of around £40m, maybe £50m, seemed fair, but it turns out the attacker would cost a lot more – between £70m and £80m.
United are confident a club is unlikely to pay that, especially off the back of a poor season, so they’re almost certain he will stay. They are happy for Rashford to stay too, also because they know that if they did sell him, they would need to replace him and that is not a priority, definitely not this summer anyway.
It seems there have been some discussions very recently between the player’s camp and Tottenham Hotspur. The London club feel negotiating a deal for Rashford is virtually impossible though – so that transfer no longer seems an option.
As for which players are on their way out of United, Andreas Pereira and Eric Bailly for sure.
When it comes to Bailly in particular though, he is on a salary of £7m-per year gross, so it is going to be a massive challenge to find a club willing to meet his wage demands. It will be interesting to see where exactly the centre-back ends up next season.
Serie A side reject Arsenal’s opening offer for striker…
One name – Gianluca Scamacaa.
It is rumoured throughout the industry that Arsenal made a £25m (€30m) offer to Sassuolo for Scamacca in the last couple of days. The club’s general manager also said that it is very likely the striker will leave to play in the Premier League.
Sassuolo has rejected Arsenal’s opening offer though. The fee needed, I believe, will be about £50m. Sassuolo has already pushed back offers from clubs in the Premier League – Arsenal, of course, and Newcastle United.
The Magpies wanted him back in January – it was a really, really good offer, but the player, understandably, did not want to risk joining a club who were facing the possibility of being relegated.
Alessandro Bastoni would be a guaranteed star for Antonio Conte
This deal might happen. I wouldn’t be surprised, at all, if it did.
He wouldn’t come cheap, we’re talking the same kind of sums that Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire, but it is definitely a transfer that could materialise.
Inter Milan really needs to sell some players by June 30 in order to balance their finances and Bastoni is exactly the type of player Antonio Conte wants – he is a young centre-back, also a senior international and is left-footed.
When it comes to signing Bastoni, clubs, especially Tottenham Hotspur, know that although he is only 23-years-old, they would be signing a guaranteed superstar – he really is that good.