Fabrizio Romano has provided some massive updates on the biggest transfer stories from around Europe, including the latest on Jeremie Frimpong, Tijjani Reijnders and Hansi Flick.
Alonso to lead Real Madrid at Club World Cup
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano confirmed that Xabi Alonso will already be in charge of Real Madrid at the Club World Cup.
“I’m in the position to confirm that Xabi Alonso will be there, Alonso will be the manager of Real Madrid, it’s a ‘here we go,’ everything is agreed, the coaching staff, the salary, the length of the contract – three years – the summer plan, so everything is okay, the contracts are ready.
“They also want Trent Alexander-Arnold to be part of their squad for the Club World Cup. The season has been poor in terms of trophies, so Real Madrid really want to go all-in for the Club World Cup, want to win the Club World Cup, and want to start this new project of Alonso in the best way possible.”
Ancelotti was never keen on Saudi
Romano then revealed that Carlo Ancelotti turned down Saudi Arabia to become the new Brazil boss.
“Carlo Ancelotti has signed as the new Brazil head coach. Ancelotti had a verbal agreement done with Brazil, then you remember, two weeks ago, the timing of that story was not the best in terms of dealing with Real Madrid. Real Madrid wanted to dictate the exit process of Ancelotti
“Real Madrid were successful in that because Florentino Perez and Real Madrid never had any problem with Ancelotti himself. The issue was between the Brazilian federation and Real Madrid on the exit process for Ancelotti. Real Madrid wanted maximum respect until El Clasico, so until the end of the LaLiga title race.
“Now, with El Clasico lost by Real Madrid, the green light arrived to proceed, and so Ancelotti, is the new head coach of the Brazilian national team. The staff is being prepared. Ancelotti started calling the federation to prepare the list of players for the beginning of June.
“Ancelotti will say goodbye in a special way, as he deserves, to Real Madrid fans. It’s going to be a legendary farewell for Ancelotti with Real Madrid fans prepared to say goodbye to the coach who won the most titles in the history of Real Madrid with 15. So an incredible, incredible legend and champion.
“The deal [with Brazil] was on the verge of collapsing, but never called off because Ancelotti really wanted to take this opportunity. Ancelotti was never negotiating with any Saudi club. Ancelotti was never taking into consideration any Saudi proposal.
“With maximum respect for Saudi, but Ancelotti wanted to be at the World Cup, wanted to take this opportunity with Brazil, was already close to Brazil two years ago, and now he will have the possibility to be at the World Cup with the Selecao.”
Flick agrees Barcelona extension
Next up, Romano revealed that Hansi Flick has agreed to extend his Barcelona contract.
“Hanci Flick was doing a wonderful job at Barcelona for Clasicos, four wins, Copa del Rey, Supercopa, LaLiga is coming. Excellent job by Flick this season, his first season at Barcelona. And the new contract is done. Everything is done. Everything is agreed.
“It will be signed right after the LaLiga title race is officially over, so it’s just a matter of days, just a matter of a short time. Then, Flick will put pen to paper. His agent Pini Zahavi already prepared the contract, agreed every detail of the contract.
“One more season from 2026 to 2027 because Flick never wanted to have too long contracts. Flick is not obsessed with five-year deals, salary, and all of this. [He wants to] be happy, enjoy what he’s doing. This is the priority for Flick, and now the agreement is completed. That’s a wonderful job for Barcelona because they started planning for the summer transfer window, for the future plans with Flick.
“We know Barca are one of the clubs looking for right-backs, not because they want to replace Jules Kounde, but because they need one more player in that position, even if Eric Garcia is doing very well. But Barca started exploring the right-back market.”
Liverpool in talks with Frimpong
Regarding right-backs, Romano corroborated that Liverpool are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong.
“Liverpool are in contact for Jeremie Frimpong. There are contacts ongoing. He’s a strong name on the list to replace Alexander-Arnold, who is going to play for Real Madrid next season. Frimpong is appreciated. Liverpool believe that the price is a fair price, something around €35-40 million, if we include also the solidarity payment.
“Liverpool believe that the price is good. The player is very good. So they are now discussing to understand the how the clause works, the clause can be paid in instalments, so Liverpool are collecting information on the release clause of Frimpong. There is interest from Liverpool and interest also from Frimpong.
“He’s Dutch, the coach is Dutch, there are several Dutch players at Liverpool, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch, so the attraction is there between Liverpool and Frimpong. Now, conditions are set to be discussed again in another round of talks in the next days, but for sure, Frimpong is one of the options on the list at Liverpool to replace Alexander-Arnold.”
Man City want Reijnders
Lastly, Romano confirmed reports that Man City are interested in AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
“Tijjani Reijnders is on the shortlist of Hugo Viana, the new director at Man City. Reijnders is really appreciated by Man City. He’s a player they really like. My understanding is that Man City this summer want to sign a number 10 and a number 8, so an offensive midfielder and a creative player.
“That’s why Florian Wirtz is the dream target, but Bayern are still the favourites on this deal. That’s why [Morgan] Gibbs-White is a player they consider a lot internally at Man City in terms of number 10. Reijnders as number 8 is seen as a fantastic solution, but for AC Milan, he’s a really important player.
“The price of Reijnders would be a really huge price, and it’s yet to be seen whether Milan want to sell the player or not. So the Reijnders story is one to watch, for sure, because there is City interest.”
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