Arsenal eye wonderkid, Chelsea in €150m double swoop, Man Utd's INEOS worry: FootballTransfers recap

Tom Weber

Updated: 8 Mar 2024 22:22 GMT
6 min read

Mikel Arteta, Arsenal, 2023/24 — © IMAGO

Friday delivered plenty of huge news stories as FootballTransfers revealed that Arsenal have set their sights on a Brazilian starlet.

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Plus, Chelsea are plotting a major raid on Newcastle and the situation at INEOS-owned Nice will be a major concern to Man Utd fans. There's plenty to cover, so let's jump right in.

Exclusive: Arsenal eye Douglas Mendes

FootballTransfers has been told that Arsenal are interested in 19-year-old Red Bull Salzburg defender Douglas Mendes.

Exclusive: West Ham open Solanke talks

We were also able to reveal that West Ham have initiated contact with Bournemouth over Dominic Solanke.

The striker isn't the only major signing eyed by David Moyes, with an Arsenal star yet again firmly on his radar.

Chelsea's Newcastle raid

Though highly-rated Lewis Hall will join Newcastle permanently in the summer, Chelsea could have the last laugh as they target two Magpies stars.

Chelsea and Newcastle are also among a host of Premier League heavyweights keeping an eye on Bundesliga starlet Luca Netz.

The 20-year-old could be a long-term solution to the Blues left-back issues, but Man Utd are in the same boat and are also watching him.

The team that misses out on Netz would be well advised to move on to the potentially even better Milos Kerkez.

Man Utd's INEOS concern

INEOS-owned Nice are in the midst of a real crisis in Ligue 1 and they play awful football to boot, which casts doubt on the idea that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and company will really be a breath of fresh air at Man Utd.

Ratcliffe can dispel those fears by putting his money to good use and there are two players at Everton who could make a real difference at Old Trafford.

Edwards back to Liverpool

Fabrizio Romano revealed early on Friday that Liverpool were making progress on re-signing sporting director Michael Edwards.

David Ornstein later reported that the Reds were closing in on this major coup.

Transfer news

Finally, let's finish up with some more transfer news from around the world. Vitor Roque's Barcelona ordeal went from bad to worse against Mallorca.

Newcastle have entered the race for Arsenal and Liverpool target Pedro Neto.

The Magpies are also interested in Aaron Ramsdale.

Mikel Arteta has given the goalkeeper a vote of confidence ahead of a rare start but hinted that his Gunners career might be over.

Tottenham can sign Chelsea flop Timo Werner for a bargain fee, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Gary Neville has blasted Chelsea's decision to sign Romeo Lavia in the summer.

Hansi Flick is learning Spanish as he is desperate for the Barcelona job.

Lastly, Nice's sporting director has spoken about the future of Man Utd and Liverpool target Khephren Thuram.

Read more about: La Liga Bundesliga Ligue 1 Premier League Arsenal B'mouth Barcelona Brentford Chelsea Everton Gladbach Liverpool Man Utd Nice Tottenham Wolverhampton Aaron Ramsdale Ben Chilwell Dominic Solanke Khéphren Thuram Lewis Hall Luca Netz Luke Shaw Milos Kerkez Pedro Neto Robert Lewandowski Roméo Lavia Sven Botman Timo Werner Vitor Roque