There can be little more affirming for a player than being deemed not good enough by Pep Guardiola. Over the last few years, James Trafford, Morgan Rogers, Roméo Lavia, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Douglas Luiz and Cole Palmer have all been allowed to leave Manchester City before proving their former manager wrong, and James McAtee could become the latest addition to that list. His price has been set at £35m; both West Ham and Eintracht Frankfurt are interested.
Across Manchester, the opposite is so: rather than leave to get good, players arrive to get bad. Bryan Mbeumo is the latest to jeopardise his prospects and reputation and, with his medical complete, his transfer from Brentford will soon be finalised. But to leave requisite appalling mess before getting sacked during the November international break, Ruben Amorim needs more, and a centre-forward is next on his list. He still fancies ruining Viktor Gyökeres, for whom Arsenal have been unable to do a deal with Sporting, but Pio Esposito will be remaining at Inter despite interest from United and Atalanta.
Talking of Arsenal, Real Madrid are reportedly keeping an eye on William Saliba. It may be that the tantalising glory of becoming the first club to win the Coming-second-four-seasons-in-a-row trophy is enough to keep him at the Emirates, but it may also be that he can once again hoodwink himself they’re poised to win the league.
Madrid are also considering a low-ball bid for Ibrahima Konaté, who is out of contract at the end of the season. But they are also happy to wait until the summer, when his costly lapses in concentration can be theirs for free.
In other centre-back news, Cristian Romero is contemplating leaving Tottenham – which, if his defending is anything to go by, is a decision he’ll make as rashly and unfathomably furiously as possible. Should he depart, the club would like to replace him with Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi and are prepared to pay an asking price that could exceed €70m. It’s true that Paris Saint-Germain are also interested, but the chance to represent the Europa League champions of Europe will surely prove too tempting.
Elsewhere in the Premier League, Leeds are hoping a bidding war will ensue for Mateo Joseph – or, as the headline has him, “Emile Heskey’s relative”. It remains unclear whether this connection is a help or a hindrance in drumming up interest, but the anticipated stampede is well under way: Celta Vigo both lead and complete the throng of clubs said to be interested in the Spain Under-21s forward. Any proceeds of sale will be used to bring Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz to Elland Road.
Finally for today, Jacob Ramsey would like to leave Aston Villa and there is interest in him from Nottingham Forest, Everton and Spurs. He may yet decide to stay put.
