Trent’s priority, Barca’s Szczesny talks and more

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I’m a big fan of Gabriel and William Saliba, they are an incredible and fantastic duo, for sure.

Saliba’s development was perfect. The Marseille chapter allowed him to adapt to pressure and get to an important level, so credits to Edu who found the best way for Saliba in order to have the player back at Arsenal and ready to become the beast he is right now.

And Gabriel… another top player.

A super professional who is always studying how to improve, he was an excellent signing from Lille when other clubs (especially Napoli and Juventus) wanted him.

There are no concrete movements so far for Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, despite recent interest.

Aston Villa didn’t sign a centre-back in August due to Financial Fair Play restrictions, and Newcastle wanted Guehi.

At the moment, it’s quiet and the next months will be important to understand how much Slot will use Gomez with rotations in several competitions.

Chelsea were one of several clubs interested in Estevao, but in reality all of the top European clubs were very attentive to his situation.

He was on Barcelona’s list for example, and they wanted him before Lamine Yamal started to show what an exceptional talent he is.

For sure Chelsea believe they’ve signed a top player for the present and future, and one who they believe can play as right winger but also as a number 10.

Newcastle already started planning for Anthony Gordon’s new deal in June, when they turned down various approaches for him.

It’s not something imminent and not something happening today but it is something that the Magpies plan to do in the future as the player is considered an important part of their project.

The super serious injury to Marc-Andre ter Stegen was the bad news from the weekend.

The German keeper will be out for somewhere around seven to eight months, and it will depend on his recovery process. For sure, it’s a nasty, serious injury and Barça immediately understood the situation.

Internal discussions are ongoing involving Hansi Flick, because Barça want to decide with the manager whether they will bring in a new goalkeeper or not.

Claudio Bravo has already said about coming out of retirement, Barça are talking to Szczesny and discussions are ongoing with his agents; let’s see what he decides to do, return to football or not.

Keylor Navas and one more option are on Deco’s list but Szczesny is a strong candidate… it depends on him. I’d not say that Inaki Pena would not be their number one, this would be open and not guaranteed at all.

Let’s see what they will decide to do, but what we can say is that ter Stegen is really hoping to return for the final part of the season because he really believes that Barça will be competing for important titles.

We know since March that Real Madrid have been attentive to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s situation and are always attentive to top players in general – especially if these top players are still not extending their contracts.

Trent, for sure, is a player they really like and the player they are monitoring, but as of today we can’t mention a negotiation or discussion between him and Real Madrid because the priority for Trent is Liverpool.

For the first time recently, he spoke in public about Liverpool and his contract situation. He said “I want to win trophies. This is what is going to drive my future.”

What does it mean, guys? That Trent will keep discussing things with Liverpool about the project, about the idea they have and about what they want to do at the club for the next years.

Obviously, as for all people in and out of football, it’s also going to be about money, but the main focus is about the project.

Let’s see if they can reach an agreement because Trent is obviously one of the biggest, if not the biggest player out of contract in summer 2025.

One player who had the chance to leave his club in the summer transfer window was Raphinha.

He has always been a really attractive proposition for several clubs, not only in Europe.

Remember when Barcelona signed him from Leeds United, there was interest from Chelsea and Arsenal, and he’s always been a player of interest at Tottenham.

They always, always appreciated him, but last summer the club really trying to sign Raphinha was from the Saudi Pro League.

They presented a very important proposal in terms of money but the answer was very clear; “No thanks.” He was approached on two different occasions by Saudi clubs and he always said, no. Why?

Because Raphinha really loves Barcelona and wants to succeed there. He wants to do something important with the club.

The beginning of this season has been fantastic for him, and under Hansi Flick, the numbers, goals, assists, the leadership, his importance in the dressing room… for all these reasons Barça are very happy with Raphinha.

Guess who scored again at the weekend… Viktor Gyokeres. Again and again and again. This time he scored a brace for Sporting.

I keep receiving many questions about him for the January transfer window, and maybe something can happen because he keeps scoring goals.

What I can tell you about Gyokeres is that Sporting – as they were very clear in the summer transfer window – remain intent on asking for the full release clause. They want €100m or the player stays.

We will follow the situation closely, because Gyokeres is clearly one of the best number nines around Europe.