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Fabrizio Romano Transfer News: Cunha to Man Utd BOMB, Man City LOVE Gibbs-White, Alonso set for Real
Tom Weber
- Updated: 21 Apr 2025 21:56 BST
- 7 min read
News
Fabrizio Romano has provided some massive updates on the biggest transfer stories from around Europe, including the latest on Matheus Cunha, Morgan Gibbs-White and Xabi Alonso.
Alonso allowed to join Real Madrid
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano confirmed that Bayer Leverkusen won't force Xabi Alonso to stay if Real Madrid come calling.
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"Bayer Leverkusen will not stand in Xabi Alonso's way in case he decides to go to Real Madrid. That's a clear agreement between Alonso and Leverkusen. If any of the clubs where he played come and the coach decides to go, there is already a compensation fixed for Alonso, and Real Madrid are the club wanted by Xabi.
"Xabi wants to be the new Real Madrid coach. Then it can be this summer, can be in the future, but now concrete possibilities for Xabi to be the new Real Madrid coach already now, already this summer. And the CEO of Leverkusen confirmed that they will not stand in Xabi's way.
"Remember, what they said in February, March from Leverkusen, they were announcing they were sure that Xabi was going nowhere. And I think it was also fair to say that because Leverkusen wanted to protect the club, the player, the manager, all of them. But now the reality is that Real Madrid are there, that there are strong possibilities for Carlo Ancelotti to leave.
"Brazil want Ancelotti before the Club World Cup. I told you the only case for Brazil is to go before the Club World Cup and to have Ancelotti in June. For Real Madrid, the number one candidate, number two, number three, number four, number five remains Alonso. The conversation between Xabi and Real Madrid is already ongoing.
"Xabi wants to go to Real Madrid. Real Madrid are willing to change, but still waiting for the formal steps. Real Madrid are there, Xabi is open and Bayer now also officially, in terms of words from the club, they are not going to create any problem for Alonso to go to Real Madrid. Obviously, there's going to be a compensation, it's going to be a fee that could be around €15 million, but work in progress on that."
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Tah move confirmed
Romano then addressed the situation of Jonathan Tah, who again confirmed on Monday that he will leave Bayer Leverkusen this summer.
"Jonathan Tah confirmed in a public statement that he's going to leave Leverkusen as a free agent. That was already clear. It was clear that the player wanted to go, the player wanted to try something different. He didn't even start any negotiations with Leverkusen to extend the contract.
"Tah, for the very first time, said, 'I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave as a free agent. I'm on the market.' For Tah, we know about the interest of Barcelona. Several conversations took place between the agents of Tah and Barcelona.Same agents as Hansi Flick, a player that Flick knows and so a German connection.
"For sure, he's an option for Barcelona, but it's not a done deal as of today between Tah and Barca. He's a candidate, yes, but the feeling is that Tah was quite close to Barca when the expectation was for Ronald Araujo to leave the club in January and maybe go to Juventus. Then, Araujo extended his contract and now Barcelona have to decide what they want to do.
"There is also interest from England, interest from Italy. Tah is still one of the most interesting free agents available in his position. Centre-back, big experience and so for sure there will be movements for Tah."
Man Utd home in on Cunha
Next up, Romano spoke about the bombshell news from Monday evening that Man Utd are trying to agree terms with Wolves star Matheus Cunha.
"We knew about the interest, we knew about his name being on the list at Newcastle, at Man Utd, both clubs wanted him. But now, we can say that Man Utd are leading the race to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves. Cunha signed a new deal at Wolverhampton in January, £62.5m release clause.
"No need to negotiate with Wolves. Maybe they can talk about the clause structure and payment terms, all these sort of things. But the agreement has to be done with the player, not with the club. I can tell you that these days, in the last 48 hours, Man Utd had fresh contacts with the agents of Cunha.
"It's been really positive because the project explained by Man Utd to the agents of the player, the feeling between Cunha and Ruben Amorim is excellent. There was some sort of great connection between the club, between the coach and between the player. So it was a very positive contact between Man Utd and Cunha.
"Because of this meeting, we can consider Man Utd ahead of Newcastle and also of the other clubs interested in Cunha. He was a dream target for Nottingham Forest, who are still fighting for Champions League football. He's was on the list of Arsenal in December, but then they decided not to proceed.
"My understanding is that Man Utd will push to get this deal done soon in the market. So I don't expect Cunha to be one of the cases that we will discuss in July, August, you know, until the final days of the market. I think Man Utd will try to be fast. Financial Fair Play is a point, so for sure Man Utd will have to assess the details of the story, make sure they can find a way at the right moment."
Man City very keen on Gibbs-White
Lastly, Romano revealed that Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White is very high on Man City's summer shortlist.
"Morgan Gibbs-White, he's in the list at Man City, he's quite high on the list at Man City. A player really appreciated by those at the club. Hugo Viana, the new sporting director at Man City really appreciates the player.
"He's a Premier League-proven player. He's still a really important player for Forest, so it's not going to be an easy deal. It's not going to be a cheap deal. It's going to be a tough one in terms of negotiations. But in terms of interest, Gibbs-White is on Man City's list.
"We know they like Florian Wirtz, dream target, but Bayern will be there. Leverkusen are offering a new contract. So the Wirtz case is going to be quite complicated for all parties involved. It's not an easy one. It really depends on the player. Gibbs-White's agents are aware of the interest from Man City.
"We expect City to be busy in the summer transfer window. A really important point is going to be how much Forest want for Gibbs-White. Because Forest, of course, will play European football. They will fight to play Champions League football. Forest are in a fantastic moment of their history, and they have no intention to accept any normal bid or cheap bid for Gibbs-White."
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