Fabrizio Romano Transfer News: Felix to Chelsea ON, Arsenal PUSH for Merino, Man Utd's Ugarte DREAM

Tom Weber

• Updated: 14 Aug 2024 19:37 BST
• 8 min read

Fabrizio Romano has provided the latest on all the big transfer stories, including updates on Joao Felix to Chelsea, Arsenal's attempts to sign Mikel Merino and Man Utd's Manuel Ugarte dream.

Speaking on YouTube, the Italian transfer expert confirmed once more that Ivan Toney has Saudi suitors after news broke that he has received an eye-watering contract offer from Al-Ahli.

"Toney has a possibility to go to the Saudi Pro League and he received a proposal to go to Saudi Pro League. He's one of the strikers they have in the list at Al-Ahli. Let's see if they can make it happen or not. But for sure, Toney has a possibility in Saudi. Let's see what Toney decides to do, it's the player who has to decide what he wants to do."

READ MORE: Latest Man Utd transfer news

Latest on the Chelsea mess

Romano then provided an update on the transfer mess involving Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, confirming that Samu Omorodion's transfer is definitely before reiterating that talks over Joao Felix and Conor Gallagher remain ongoing.

"At the moment, at least today, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid are not communicating anymore about Omorodion. He is back in Madrid, Omorodion is training with Atletico Madrid. So for Omorodion, the agents of the player are looking for different solutions, different clubs. Not Chelsea at this point, it's not something concrete.

"Then for Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, what's going on is that Gallagher returned to London. So Gallagher is now in London. I think that's also normal because a player like Gallagher can stay in Madrid some days. But then at some point, you need to clarify what happens. Otherwise, he's still a Chelsea player.

"But the discussion and the negotiation between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid for Gallagher is still ongoing. So Chelsea and Atletico, even today, are trying to find a solution for Gallagher to go to Atletico Madrid and for the situation of Felix. For Gallagher, he did the medical. The contract is OK. The only thing missing is the two clubs now. They need to find a new solution after the Samu deal collapsed.

"The solution can be Felix. But for Felix, there is still a difference between what Atletico Madrid want and what Chelsea can offer. There is still a gap. There is still a difference. And so the two clubs are talking. But for sure, Gallagher is still waiting for Atletico Madrid as of today. Jorge Mendes, the agent of Felix, is still in England for this story. And so the conversation for Felix and Gallagher remains active, absolutely active."

READ MORE: Latest Chelsea transfer news

Man Utd still want Ugarte

Romano subsequently stated that Man Utd remain interested in top midfield target Manuel Ugarte despite claims that they had moved on from the Uruguay international.

"I've always told you, always, that Ugarte is the top target for Man Utd's midfield and from what I'm hearing, Ugarte remains the top target for Man Utd in the midfield. Man United, after [Matthijs] de Ligt, [Noussair] Mazraoui, Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee want to go for Ugarte. They need some solutions to be sorted as soon as possible.

"The first point is to reduce the asking price for Ugarte because at the moment it's too expensive from PSG. The second is to find a solution for a player to leave Man Utd, to sell one more player in order to finance the move for Ugarte. Remember that PSG are also talking to the agents of Jadon Sancho.

"At the moment, Man Utd have not received the proposal for Jadon Sancho from PSG, a formal proposal, an official proposal, but Man United know that the agent of Jadon Sancho is talking to PSG. Meanwhile, Ugarte is really pushing to go to United. Ugarte wants to go to United. Ugarte agreed personal terms with United in July."

"So Ugarte is pushing. He's not untouchable at all for PSG. He's available on the market and he wants to go to Man United. In case the Ugarte deal will prove impossible or too expensive, they already have some Plan B in terms of players who can be available on a cheaper fee. Players like Sander Berge or others. They spoke to the agents of several players."

Arsenal push for Merino

Off the back of David Ornstein reporting that Arsenal director Edu has travelled to Spain to close the deal for Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino, Romano had the following to say: "Arsenal are in constant contact with Real Sociedad. There is a difference between verbal discussions and formal bids."

"So let me explain to you to give some clarity because sometimes it's not so clear. In football, you can have negotiations where it's more like, just to give you some context on Arsenal, it was like this on Declan Rice one year ago. You send an official bid and you get an official answer. This is a typical negotiation.

"Then there are other cases where you can have an exchange club-to-club. You try to find verbally a way together. This is what Arsenal did with [Riccardo] Calafiori with Bologna this summer. So it took a lot of time, but they were negotiating to find in a friendly way the best solution possible.

"It's similar for Merino because Arsenal are talking to Real Sociedad to find a solution in a friendly way because Merino has a few months left on his contract and is not extending his contract as of today. And so Arsenal know that Merino wants to join them. Merino wants to play for Mikel Arteta.

"Merino agreed on contract terms with Arsenal. So now Arsenal and Real Sociedad are talking, but it's already one month that they are talking about the structure of the deal, payment terms, structure of how to complete this deal. So they are discussing. But it's a constant contact. And the feeling is that Merino is really confident on becoming a new Arsenal player in the final two weeks."

READ MORE: Latest Arsenal transfer news

Liverpool close in on Mamardashvili

Regarding Liverpool's interesting pursuit of Giorgi Mamardashvili, Romano revealed that the player would initially join Bournemouth on loan from Valencia before becoming a Reds player next summer.

"For Liverpool and Mamardashvili, news from this morning, Liverpool and Mamardashvili have an agreement on contract terms. So Mamardashvili said yes to Liverpool's project. What's the Liverpool project and Liverpool idea? Mamardashvili agreed on the financials, the contract, and on the idea, the plan they have.

"What's the project now? The idea of Liverpool is that Mamardashvili goes to Bournemouth for one season on loan. So this is the idea, from Valencia to Bournemouth. Then in summer 2025, Mamardashvili becomes a new Liverpool player. This is the idea. So next season, this season, about to start, Alisson will be the goalkeeper of Liverpool. So he will stay as Liverpool goalkeeper.

"Mamardashvili will join Liverpool in summer 2025. Mamardashvili said yes. Bournemouth said yes. Liverpool are happy with the project. Now it's between Liverpool and Valencia. The agent of Mamardashvili is in Spain to negotiate. Valencia want €30 million plus €10m in add-ons. Liverpool want to negotiate and Bournemouth are waiting because they will be part of this idea for Mamardashvili."

Osimhen won't forego a single penny to join Chelsea

Finally, Romano once more insisted that nothing has changed regarding the situation of Victor Osimhen and a potential move to Chelsea. "Nothing is changing today for Osimhen. Osimhen remains of interest of Chelsea. Chelsea want Osimhen.

"Chelsea are in talks with Napoli for [Romelu] Lukaku. And in these talks two weeks ago, not yesterday, two weeks ago, Napoli told Chelsea, if you want, we can discuss about Osimhen. Chelsea at the moment are discussing still for a loan. Osimhen doesn't want to go on loan. And Osimhen will not reduce his salary.

"I keep repeating the same thing every day. If at some point of this summer transfer window, Osimhen changes his mind or Chelsea decide to offer a permanent transfer, this story can be different. Today it remains a strong interest, a discussion between Napoli and Chelsea, a discussion for Lukaku and potentially for Osimhen in another story.

"But it all depends on if Osimhen changes his mind about a loan or if Chelsea will pay for a permanent transfer or offer a creative formula or give Osimhen the salary he wants. Because Osimhen, I tell you again today, will not reduce one single euro of his salary to join any club in the world. Osimhen wants to leave Napoli but wants to keep the same salary.

"This has to be clear and has to be respected because Osimhen is a fantastic player. He's been a legendary player for Napoli. He won the title there and he wants that salary to be respected. So this is part of the game."