Football transfer news

It’s FA Cup semi-final weekend, folks, so there’s a reduction in the amount of Premier League content we’ll get to consume.

Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City are all in action at Wembley, meaning there are seven league fixtures scheduled for the weekend.

Gameweek 34 is also a rare instance of Sunday dominating the fixture scheduling as a result of the midweek European action. Aston Villa, West Ham and Liverpool all head into the weekend off the back of their Thursday night travails.

Crunch time has well and truly been reached in the 2023/24 campaign, with every fixture significant at both ends of the table. Here’s how 90min sees Gameweek 34 and those FA Cup semi-finals panning out.

Saturday 20 April – Premier League

There are just a pair of three o’clockers this weekend, with both games having significant implications in the relegation dogfight.

Sheffield United and Burnley are bringing up the rear before they meet at Bramall Lane on Saturday. The Blades are as good as down, but they have certainly been competitive since Chris Wilder returned. Safety also appears unlikely for Burnley after a woeful goalkeeping error saw them drop two points at home to Brighton last weekend.

Brentford eased their relegation fears with a victory over Sheffield United last time out, but they could get dragged back into the fight should they lose at Luton. The Hatters are scrapping and clawing, picking up points where they can. Rob Edwards would’ve pinpointed this fixture as one they could win during the run-in. Luton are just a point adrift of safety.

There’s an FA Cup semi-final to enjoy before Wolves kick-off against title hopefuls Arsenal at Molineux in the late kick-off.

The Gunners endured a wretched eight days ahead of Saturday’s game, exiting Europe in midweek after they were beaten by Villa last Sunday. They can return to the summit with a win this weekend. Only a victory will suffice for Mikel Arteta’s men in the title race.

Saturday 20 April – FA Cup

The first of this weekend’s two FA Cup semi-finals pits Manchester City against Chelsea. Pep Guardiola’s dreams of leading his side to successive trebles were killed on Wednesday when they were eliminated from the Champions League, and they head to Wembley off the back of a gruelling 120-minute match with Real Madrid.

Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues will be much fresher and they could lean on such a physical advantage, while they have earned credible draws in their two Premier League meetings with City already this season.

Sunday 21 April – Premier League

The biggest fixture of the weekend arguably arrives at Goodison Park where Everton take on Nottingham Forest in a relegation six-pointer. The docked points derby (patent pending) will decide who ends the weekend in the bottom three should Luton beat Brentford on Saturday.

Everton have played a game fewer than Forest, with their advantage over Nuno Espirito Santo’s side being a mere point. Toffees supporters will be pleading for another ugly win as they secured against Burnley two weeks ago.

West Ham exited the Europa League on Thursday despite a spirited home effort against the imperious Bayer Leverkusen. They travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday with the Eagles in high spirits following their victory at Anfield last weekend.

Emboldened by their win over Arsenal, Conference League semi-finalists Aston Villa host Bournemouth. With Tottenham enjoying a week off, Unai Emery’s side can open up a six-point gap over the Lilywhites in the race for fourth spot.

The Premier League weekend concludes at Craven Cottage where Liverpool are hoping to preserve their title dream. The Reds are struggling physically and Fulham have proven stubborn opposition for the league’s best this season. Their home record is also a cause of concern for Jurgen Klopp, who must oversee a victory on Sunday afternoon.

Sunday 21 April – FA Cup

Manchester United will take on Championship side Coventry City in the weekend’s second FA Cup semi-final.

The Red Devils are favourites to reach the showpiece event for a second year running, but with Erik ten Hag’s side shipping so many shots and goals of late, the Sky Blues will fancy their chances of another cup upset.

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Manchester United could face competition if they opt to pursue OGC Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo in the summer transfer window, with Atletico Madrid now linked with the defender.

United have seen the heart of their defence ravaged by injuries throughout 2023/24 – at present, Harry Maguire is the only senior centre-back available to manager Erik ten Hag – so recruiting in that department seems like a must ahead of a crucial 2024/25 campaign.

Todibo, once briefly of Barcelona but now thriving at Nice, marshalling Ligue 1’s meanest defence this season, has emerged as a target in recent months. He is also well known to Sir Jim Ratcliffe already through INEOS’ ownership of the French side.

But a new report from France states Atletico Madrid’s firm interest. According to Footmercato, Atletico have made Todibo their first-choice target to strengthen at the back, having seen their once ironclad defence become much more porous since last winning La Liga in 2021.

The 24-year-old is under contract with Nice until 2027, which would require negotiating a transfer fee with Nice in addition to persuading the player to return to Spain.

Manchester United’s interest in Todibo actually predates the arrival of the new INEOS contingent at Old Trafford. But 90min has previously reported there will be no favours or discount offered by Nice, leaving United officials concerned over a premium asking price of up to €60m (£51m).

That isn’t as much as the £70m and higher Everton are expected to quote for 21-year-old Jarrad Branthwaite, who is also admired by United – as well as Real Madrid, but Todibo’s price tag is not currently seen as the best value money on the market.

Tottenham Hotspur were previously put off Todibo by the €60m valuation and subsequently landed Radu Dragusin in January for around half that price. Despite still being linked with Todibo, 90min understands there are no plans to resurrect interest or make an approach. Spurs are also eyeing Branthwaite, who received his first senior England call-up in March.

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Prior to Julian Nagelsmann signing a new contract to remain Germany head coach until after the 2026 World Cup, his agent had hinted that talks were taking place with former club Bayern Munich in addititon to a handful of other teams.

The former Bayern boss, who was surprisingly sacked by the Bavarians just 13 months ago, initially had a contract with the DFB until the end of Euro 2024 on home soil this summer. But an expected return to club football, having made his name as a manager before his 30th birthday, hasn’t happened.

Representing Nagelsmann, Volker Struth stated on German podcast Spielmacher that a decision on the 36-year-old’s future was likely to be made iimminently, which turned out to be case when the DFB then confirmed the contract extension on Friday morning.

“It will be decided soon, in the next five, six or seven days. It would be complete nonsense to say that we are not talking to interested parties,” Struth explained earlier in the week.

“Without saying who the interested parties are, I can only say that it is not just Bayern Munich. That is normal. It is my job and it would be a bit of a joke in the media to say we are not in talks. Of course we are talking now,” he clarified.

Bayern are on the hunt for a new boss after already confirming that Thomas Tuchel, who replaced Nagelsmann, will be leaving the club this summer. They were eyeing a treble when he was dismissed but ended up scraping only the Bundesliga title and have gone backwards domestically in 2023/24.

Nagelsmann was a name being discussed internally at Liverpool, with the club yet to decide on a successor to Jurgen Klopp. The shortlisting process has been data-led, leaving doubts over Nagelsmann due to the need to prove himself in terms of character rather than coaching alone. Concerns over his maturity and a swagger bordering on arrogance previously led to issues at Bayern and a reluctance to change frustrated some players.

Chelsea didn’t feel Nagelsmann had the right personality for them prior to appointing Mauricio Pochettino last summer, while Tottenham Hotspur didn’t take initial interest in the German beyond the due diligence stage before formally pursuing Ange Postecoglou instead.

Ruben Amorim has scored particularly highly as part of Liverpool’s search, while Roberto De Zerbi remains of interest. Nagelsmann was not first in line to get the job. Prior to recommitting to Germany, he was also linked with Barcelona but was considered an outsider.

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Julian Nagelsmann has signed a contract extension to remain Germany’s national team coach until the 2026 World Cup, ending speculation that he could join Bayern Munich or Liverpool.

Nagelsmann’s current deal with Germany was due to expire after Euro 2024 and a number of clubs had expressed interest in hiring him.

Liverpool, who will part ways with Jurgen Klopp this summer, explored the possibility of hiring Naglesmann, while former employers Bayern Munich were keen on a reunion this summer.

The 36-year-old’s agent even recently admitted he was talking to a number of interested parties, but he has now signed a new two-year contract to extend his tenure as Germany boss.

Nagelsmann publicly admitted that he wanted to resolve his future before Euro 2024 and the former RB Leipzig boss has been granted his wish.

Nagelsmann has been away from club football since March 2023, when he was sacked by Bayern and replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who will step down at the Allianz Arena this summer.

Bayern were pushing to reunite with Nagelsmann, despite previous behind the scenes tensions with players, and he emerged as a top target after Xabi Alonso confirmed his desire to stay with newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen.

Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi is another high-profile name linked to Bayern, alongside Hansi Flick – who has also previously managed the Bavarians.

As for Liverpool, they have turned their attentions to Sporting CP boss Ruben Amorim, but he is one of a number of candidates being considered as the club prepare for life without Klopp, who has been in charge for eight-and-a-half years.

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has revealed that Erling Haaland asked to be substituted heading into extra time of Wednesday’s defeat to Real Madrid.

Having struggled across both the first and second legs of the ties, Haaland headed to the bench for extra time at the Etihad Stadium, with Guardiola bringing Julian Alvarez on in his place.

Both Kevin De Bruyne and Manuel Akanji were withdrawn closer to the final whistle, and Guardiola has now admitted that all three players asked to leave the field as they felt they could not continue.

“Erling and Kevin asked me to go out, like Manu, they could not continue,” the City boss explained.

“The game we were playing they were amazing and I am not a big fan of making a lot of substitutions but Kevin, Erling and Manu asked me to go out.”

Despite the frustrating result, Guardiola refused to criticise City’s performance. They ended the game with 67% possession and 33 shots compared to Real Madrid’s eight, only to ultimately fall on penalties.

“It is what is – sometimes you win on penalties and sometimes not,” Guardiola reflected. “We should have done it before – for how we played.

“I absolutely don’t have any regrets – we did everything offensively and defensively. Football is about scoring goals and they did it a little bit better than us from the penalty spot. They are in the semi-finals and we are not. I have to say from my heart, thank you to my players. The performance, the commitment was exceptional.”

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