After seeing his strikers Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappé forced off with injury in Paris Saint-Germain’s easy win over Toulouse on Sunday, Thomas Tuchel once again faced a barrage of interrogatory projectiles regarding the future of Neymar, who has yet to feature for the French champions in this campaign and is expected to move to Barcelona or Real Madrid before the European transfer window closes next Monday night.
“Yes,” he said. “No,” he said. “I don’t know,” he said. “I can only say what I’ve already said. Maybe you should ask [sporting director] Leonardo or the club.” That’s cleared that up, then.
While Tuchel insists he wants to keep the Brazilian, he told Canal+: “It has always been our goal to close this folder as soon as possible.” The latest word from Spain is that Barça are ready to use Ousmane Dembélé as a makeweight in any deal that might convince PSG to sell. Ivan Rakitic is also surplus to requirements and has been linked with Juventus, who are currently trying to scrape by with just seven central midfielders.
Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could be off to PSG, while his Madrid counterpart Keylor Navas is dissatisfied with life as back-up at the Bernabéu and wants a fresh start elsewhere. Should he get his wish – his name has come up in a cash-plus-players swap for Neymar – Zinedine Zidane may try to lure Willy Caballero from Chelsea as his replacement.
Consigned to the bench for the start of Tottenham’s defeat at the hands of Newcastle and unable to turn things around when he came on, Christian Eriksen may still leave the club this week. His team-mate Victor Wanyama is closing in on a £10m move to Club Brugge, while Manchester United’s unwanted Brazilian midfielder Fred has admirers in Fiorentina.
Curiously, Fred’s United teammate, Andreas Pereira was spotted in the stands for Celtic’s 3-1 win over Hearts on Sunday, prompting all sorts of wild speculation regarding a possible loan deal. Neil Lennon is understood to be interested in making “two or three” more signings before the transfer window closes north of the border. And finally, after being told to find a new club by Unai Emery, Mohamed Elneny could be heading for pastures new in Bordeaux.
