Wes

Well I am surprised - at both Juve's interest and Schalke not preferring an outright sale this summer. Ah well, it'll be interesting to see how much he is utilised this year.

I am surprised. Great move for McKennie but would have thought Schalke would have wanted more up front. That would have to be an obligation to buy, rather than an optional clause you would have to think.

Posting because there was talk of McKennie to us last week (and Southampton before that). Edit: More Details - Loan Fee of 3m this year. 18 million buy clause. Can't see Schalke agreeing to this. They need money this window, not next.

Has been linked with a move to a couple of Turkish clubs (Besiktas and Trabzonspor) in Turkish media. The manager of Trabzonspor is Eddie Newton who was assistant manager for West Brom and Chelsea for a time.

I've solved it. English Clubs can't sign and register players from Brazil until they turn 18 years old. Palmeiras' much-hyped winger Gabriel Veron turns 18 next Thursday.

Another one we were linked to earlier this window seems to be going elsewhere. Napoli's 29 yo Left Back Faouzi Ghoulam seems to be heading to Wolves. Probably cover for Jonny who did his ACL against Olympiacos and will be out for a while.

His name was mentioned around here at the start of the window but looks like Eberechi Eze from QPR to Crystal Palace for £16m with bonuses up to 19.5m. Per John Percy.

Sky Sports reporting Fulham are in talks to sign Ollie Watkins. Not ideal.

Some of it likely is dependant on the transfer-chain. For an example, Brentford may only be willing to let Watkins go once they have a replacement already in.

Great minds! This morning I was rethinking our right sided issue and was checking him out again as an option. My personal choice would be for Stengs from AZ but if, as we're meant to believe, that Smith is prioritising more pace in the side Chukuweze ticks a lot of boxes: 20 Years Old. Great ball carrier. Fast. Left footer playing primarily on the right, seems to be Smith's preference. Villareal have got the highly related Kubo on loan from Real Madrid who generally prefers to play on the Right too I believe, so Chukuweze could be available...maybe Already a part of the Nigerian national team setup too.

Might have been me. That was the reporting at the time. Another reason to not truly believe anything until they're wearing or holding the shirt.

Calvin Stengs isn't in AZ Alkmaar's friendly squad today. Whilst they said it's due to fitness, Werder Bremen said a similar thing about Rashica and we know he's almost certainly leaving. Likely nothing, but could be on the move this summer anyway. They do have Champions League qualifiers coming up so might depend on that whether he decides to stay or go this summer. I've said before he would personally be someone I would like to see play that right sided attacking role for us.

Updated Article from deichstube.de. Hopefully one of our new friends of Bremen will be able to help out with a more accurate translation. My rough attempt via the DeepL translator is: Rashica and/or the club are getting really frustrated with RB Leipzig. Negotiations are at a standstill. Rashica is starting to doubt if RB Leipzig even want him. He is determined to test himself in European Competition next year and Aston Villa wouldn't be able to offer this. RB Leipzig are offering 15m euros + addons. Werder Bremen are holding out for 25m euros, particularly as they've just made a lot of money from their deep run in the Champions League.

Goal.com article (from Neil Jones so a bit more respectable than usual from that site for Liverpool according to them) states we, amongst a number of other clubs, have discussed a potential deal with Liverpool for Marko Grujic. However the same article states that we are more likely to go after Phillip Billing in the same position.

Thank Goodness

This is a completely embellished report by HITC, based on an already tenuous mention from the Birmingham Mail earlier this morning of all places, that McKennie, or his agent, has asked about Southampton and Aston Villa (Likely along the lines of what are their aspirations going forward). Just ignore it. The only things that we know for certain is that McKennie is keen to move to the Premier League and Schalke are keen to sell (To use the money made to strengthen their squad. The exact same situation as with Werder Bremen). I personally am going to wait until a more reputable publication decides to report something new with substance.

Marca reporting that Valencia have to sell Cillessen because he will take up 10% of their total wages next season (plus their owner is strip-mining the squad too). They have him linked going to Ajax and with Pepe Reina going to Valencia in his place. Could be a bit of roulette going on there as Ajax's very good keeper Onana is linked with Chelsea (to replace Kepa).

In a dream world, we would somehow be able to get Dejan Kulusevski. That's pie in the sky thinking though. I can't see Pirlo wanting to give him up as he just gets started. A more likely shout could be Marko Pjaca. Is coming back from a lengthy injury and hardly any game time whilst on loan in Belgium. Likely to be surplus to requirements there. Versatile enough to play across the front three and still young at 25.

This part of Exeter's Article about Chrisene leaving to join our academy if particularly pleasing to read: And from our own Academy Manager, Mark Harrison: This is really encouraging for improving our academy going forward.

My guess at the situation: Werder Bremen are going to sell him this summer. They would like the funds to improve the squad and the player wants to move on too. Werder Bremen would probably prefer to take the highest bid, as that helps them the most, which in this case is Villa. They would probably also prefer to sell him outside of their league (as most clubs prefer, so the chances of them coming back to haunt them is diminished). He, like almost all players, wants to play in Europe. You can't begrudge him that. RB Leipzig have expressed an interest but are not willing/are not able (one of the two) to pay the same Transfer Fee that we will. Now RB Leipzig getting that one game further in the Champions League than expected - to the Semi Finals, rather than just the Quarter Finals - does actually mean a fair bit more money in their coffers. I can see them having said to Rashica's Agent - "Wait until we're out of the CL before you decide anything. We'll see if we can match any other bid then." This would be in line with what the Kosovan journalist was discussing about the issue being resolved this week.

DeepL Translation: Go with everything for one more season, brother! @dg_douglasluiz is already in Birmingham to perform at Aston Villa this Wednesday.

A small update from the Kosovan journalist who raised Rashica to Villa as a possibility last week. Not much we didn't already know, Werder Bremen aren't risking injury with him because of his imminent transfer somewhere and that a decision is likely to be made this week.

Back on topic, this is from the Kosovan reporter/journalist who sparked the most recent frenzy last week on Rashica:

Good midfielder at Reading who we were linked to during the Premier League Restart. Nothing since. In fact I think he's had more recent links to Sheffield United. He's just listing people we have been linked to at some point in the past 6 months in the press. Don't think there's anything to see here.