Fofana exit, Gyokeres Arsenal, Musiala

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Wesley Fofana revealed in an interview yesterday that he had talks with Marseille in the summer. It was a very ambitious transfer window for Marseille, as they brought in a number of important new signings alongside new manager Roberto de Zerbi, and Fofana was one of the other names they were targeting.

Marseille investigated this possibility and spoke to the player. Fofana now confirmed publicly that it was a very good conversation with OM director Medhi Benatia, who tried to seduce Fofana, but in the end he decided to stay at Chelsea because he thinks he still has a lot to offer Chelsea.

Of course, it hasn’t been the easiest time for him at Chelsea so far. He came for a big fee and then suffered injuries, but now he’s back, he’s fit and he really wants to succeed at Chelsea.

Fofana was attracted to Marseille because he loves the city and the club, but he wants to do well at Chelsea. Moreover, the club believes in him and believes that he has yet to bring the best. That is why they never considered letting him leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

Another reported possible departure from Chelsea is Carney Chukwuemeka. Despite the links, I am not aware of any concrete discussions with Galatasaray regarding Chukwuemeka so far. Chelsea have always considered Carney only available on a permanent deal, not a loan deal… so the only way would be to change Chelsea’s mind, but that has not happened so far.

Andriy Lunin did very well last season when he replaced the injured Thibaut Courtois in goal at Real Madrid, but then he had a somewhat complicated summer. Although he had a new contract proposal from Real Madrid on the table, he also wanted to consider his options to see if he could get the chance to move and perhaps become number one somewhere else.

Lunin performed very well for Real Madrid, but when Courtois came back from injury he was clearly the number one again, and so we had a lot of rumours about Lunin’s future in the summer. There were links to Chelsea at one point, but although they spoke to his agent Jorge Mendes because they were already talking about Joao Felix, and Lunin was a topic, it was never a concrete negotiation or an official offer.

Then, at the end of the summer, Lunin decided to talk to Real Madrid again and consider a new contract proposal. It was not a good situation for Real Madrid, as the player would become a free agent in 2025, but now they have managed to reach an agreement on a new deal.

Lunin will sign a new contract with Real Madrid until 2028, with a higher salary. So he will continue to compete with Courtois. In the future we will see what happens and what he decides to do, but for now he stays.

Despite some reports, there was never any possibility that Bayern Munich would sell Jamal Musiala to Manchester City, Real Madrid or anyone else this summer. They are now making it a top priority to sign Musiala to a new contract, because for them he is more than a player – they want him to be the face of the project, the face of the club, for a long time.

It won’t happen soon, but there is a conversation, there is an offer from Bayern to Musiala. They are willing to offer the player significant money in terms of a fixed salary and in terms of add-ons and special bonuses to make it happen and keep him at the club.

Musiala’s contract expires in the summer of 2026, so Bayern must resolve this situation before the summer of 2025. Otherwise, it could be dangerous for Bayern to have a player of his caliber with only one year left on his contract.

Of course all the top clubs, like Man City and Real Madrid, love Musiala. If he can’t agree on a new deal with Bayern, there will be many more clubs. But at the moment Bayern are doing what they can. They are in negotiations with Musiala, so let’s see what happens.

Viktor Gyokeres continues to show excellent form for both Sporting and the Swedish national team, but was he close to joining a club this summer? From what I hear, there was never really anything close or concrete in terms of proper negotiations.

There was clearly some interest, but clubs weren’t prepared to spend something as crazy as €100m this summer, his buyout fee. There was a lot of interest, especially from England, for example Arsenal were considering strikers at the beginning of the summer. Benjamin Sesko was someone they were waiting for, Victor Osimhen was a possibility, and then Gyokeres too, but in the end they decided not to spend that kind of money on that position.

Maybe that will change next summer, but this summer Arsenal didn’t want to make that kind of investment for a number 9. Gyokeres remains valued, also by many clubs in Europe, but this summer nobody wanted to pay his buyout fee, so he was never close to leaving Sporting. His club would never accept something like €50-60 million, despite what some reports said, so let’s respect Sporting at the beginning of the season now and see what happens and if things can change in the future.

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Another striker who has been linked to Arsenal from time to time is Jonathan David, who has also spoken about his future recently. Jonathan David has said he is open to a new contract at Lille, but I don’t think that is likely based on what I know.

The situation for his future is more open than limited to a new deal with Lille. He will explore several options before deciding anything, so I think there are still a few long months ahead of him to consider all the possibilities, and there is nothing specific to report on other clubs yet.

Raphina – Barcelona boss Deco has spoken about offers for Raphinha this summer, and it is true that there was interest from Saudi Arabia, from Al Hilal, but Raphinha could never leave. He wanted to stay, Barca wanted to keep him. He never considered leaving, so I think this was probably the best solution for all parties involved.

Anthony Martial – Anthony Martial is still a free agent, but his future is not yet final. He is in talks with Flamengo, but there is no agreement yet. Flamengo likes Martial, but it is also about the finances, while there is nothing else with other clubs.

Kieran Trippier – I can see Kieran Trippier staying at Newcastle now and maybe re-evaluating his future in 2025. There is no agreement with Turkish clubs so far – it is true that there is a lot of interest, but there are concrete chances for Trippier to stay at St James’ Park.