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- [00:02]
Adrian Clarke
This episode of the Totally Football show is brought to you by Shopify. When we're kids, we dream of being anything. A footballer, an astronaut, an international man, a mystery. But as we get older, reality kicks in and dreams change and we focus on how to take our skills and ideas and turn them into something tangible, like owning your own business. And for that, you'll need a website, a payment system, a logo, and a way to advertise to new customers. It can all be overwhelming and confusing, but that's where Shopify comes in. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. When it comes to websites, Shopify's got beautiful ready to go templates to match your brand style. And you can amplify that brand with Shopify's easy to run email and social media campaigns. Shopify's AI tools are created for commerce and can help you with tasks like generating discount codes, writing product descriptions and enhancing product images. And whenever you get stuck, Shopify's award winning 247 customer support is always there. So turn those dreams into sales and get the best shot at success with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com totally. That's shopify.com totally all in lowercase one last time.
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- [01:53]
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- [02:19]
David Ornstein
JPMorgan Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval.
- [02:25]
The Athletic FC Podcast Network
The Athletic FC Podcast Network.
- [02:32]
Guy Clark
Welcome to the Athletic FC Podcast with me, Ayo Akim Mulere. Coming up, we'll take you inside the 2025 transfer market to explain the deals that are being worked on across both the winter and and the summer windows. This includes the players that could arrive and the ones who could be on their way out across the Premier League and beyond. And with me today, we've got the main man, none other than the athletics football correspondent David Ornstein in the studio. Look, he's even on his phone already. I can't even stop him. I mean, January is not far off, brother. And this is the one. This is the money time for you. How do you manage this? How does this work for you? Do you have a burner phone? Do you have your regular phone? You have family life, you have work life. How do you balance it all?
- [03:17]
David Ornstein
I used to have two phones when I worked at the BBC because often you're on television, so you might need this for your comms and then you need another phone to look out for the info and the script. But everyone says, never trust a man with two phones. So now I've got something slightly different where within the one phone there's a second SIM card, a virtual, virtual SIM card. But it's not to like for people to see me ringing from different numbers. It's when I lose signal on one network, it's a different network SIM card, I flip onto the other and suddenly you've got your 4G. But no, I mean, the phone is actually. It went into relative hibernation, it cooled down and now it's starting to heat up again. So I got to keep it away from my body. I don't get burned.
- [03:59]
Guy Clark
Well, this is the interesting thing because you've literally been a meeting just before you got here and you were just saying before we started the pod that it's often quite frustrating and probably a source of anxiety because you're like, I've been gone now off my phone for the last hour. God knows what I've missed.
- [04:15]
David Ornstein
Yeah, well, if you did that during the window, you would definitely have missed stuff. But at this time of the year, you shouldn't miss stuff because there's not as much happening in my kind of world. But if you do, it's more frustrating because that quiet period doesn't present as many opportunities afterwards like the window does. So when stuff happens now, you want to be on it. Luckily, I didn't miss too much just then, but it gives a bit of insight into how our heads work. Our minds are going at a million miles an hour. And it's an industry that, you know, football transfers didn't really used to be a thing, they just happened. There wasn't much reporting around it. And then I think 2002, the transfer market took its current form with the winter and summer windows and television and radio and online media started up and social media got going and transfer reporting became a thing. And I kind of came around at that time within this industry, professionally since 2006, and started building the right content and the right values and methods of working. That meant we sort of collided quite beautifully. And it's been a bit of a song and dance since then. But the way football transfers are now, it's almost like a sport within the sport, an industry within the industry. And so transfers generate as much, if not more interest than many matches. Even when the match is going. You could do a transfer story and that would be bigger and gain more traction than stuff that's happening, happening on the pitch. And the appetite from the public is insatiable and their knowledge is higher than ever in terms of what is going on in the market, what they want to happen. There's FPL as well, which we're talking about. That's a football manager. There's chats on WhatsApp groups and it creates conversation thoughts. The stakes are higher, there's more money than ever before and people love trading. It creates a thrill. And we've seen that in America with the NFL in particular, the draft system. And it's just getting bigger and bigger business all the time. It's proliferating, it's exploding as a section of the industry and we try and keep up with it.
- [06:31]
Guy Clark
Yeah, honestly, you know, you talk about how it's exploding and I wonder what that pressure is like in one sense to get it right. But secondly, this is the semi quiet period for you. We come into January, it becomes silly season. How on earth do you prep for January? Is it you just constantly watching, seeing the ins and outs? Obviously personnel have changed behind the scenes as well as on the field, or will be changing on the field as well. What's your prep like?
- [06:57]
David Ornstein
Well, your first question was about pressure. I'm not going to give the corny answer that pressure's a privilege, but it has been imbued in me throughout my entire career to do things the right way, to follow correct process and procedure with any kind of journalism. And it just happens that this is one of the forms of journalism, but you apply the same values and principles. So you make your checks, you multiply Independent source information. If in doubt, leave it out. Don't do it until you're sure of something. You've got to apply the right checks and balances and scrutinize the information, and be aware of potential manipulation and chance that you're being used or people are trying to use you for something, and even within that, the stuff may be correct and then you have to balance up. Well, they may be trying to use me, but there's some validity to this as well. How do I handle it? And with time and experience, you tend more often than not to find the right balance. And I guard and cherish and prioritize the accuracy and the integrity with my life. And it would mortify me to get stuff wrong or actively know that something I was saying or writing was inaccurate. Now, we're not perfect. There are maybe discrepancies. You source what you think is properly correct information, follow your guidelines of the company you work for, and it's not quite where it should be. And you might have to correct things, you might have to apologize, and you should be humble enough to do so. Things change, which the public often don't appreciate. In a transfer that might be off, and you report it as being off, and then it comes back on, it's revived, or at the last minute the destination changes because of a different offer, and you have to say, oh, now somebody's going here. And you weren't wrong to be reporting where they were going in the first place. And sometimes sections of the public are not sympathetic towards that, and it brings on a lot of criticism and that adds to the pressure you talk about. So I would rather do nothing than to be wrong. I would be crestfallen. If and when it occasionally happens, you do get bits wrong. And that sets the tone for me in everything I do. In terms of your second question about preparing for a market, I don't think you actively prepare. It's just an ongoing thing all year round. And therefore you're always in touch with your contacts, your sources, your connections. They're always in touch with you as well. And that's a real privilege and blessing of the way my career has gone is that most of the relationships are mutual. And it's like information sharing. It helps every party. And that allows you to, where possible, pick off a story here and there. The stories that we report are far fewer than the amount of information we get and are privy to. Sometimes we have to keep it under wraps. Sometimes you're not so sure, sometimes you do do it. So it's prob Only like scratching at the surface a small percentage of what comes out compared to what you're hearing. And so outside of the windows, you're probably going for more coffees, lunches, dinners, events where you see a lot of these people. It's almost like you're off season, not hibernating, but putting, you might say, perks in the job.
- [10:12]
Guy Clark
You know, coffee meetings, look at.
- [10:14]
David Ornstein
Sounds glorious, but I can assure you it's not as glamorous as some, I think, but that's where you're putting in the actual hard yard. You're building the foundations of the stories so the stories don't tend to grow off trees in the window. It's not like, how did he get that? It's because you've done your time and the trust has been built. And you know that not always, but often someone will answer the phone or someone will call you when the time is right. And those relationships could have been formed years ago and are worked on consistently. And so, yeah, when the window comes around, you might have your eye on certain deals or situations and talk with your editors and your colleagues or yourself about things you want to pursue. And contacts may say, you know, stay across this one, and everybody works differently. Some people will be planning coming into the window, but it's a 24, 7, 365 day a year thing because there are always things happening, developing, whether you're in the market, whether you're outside the market, when the markets close or when they're not quite started. There's always the opportunity to have some downtime, go away, relax a little bit. Definitely after the market closes because many of the people you need to speak to don't want to be anywhere near these deals. And so they go on holiday, they turn their phones off, and it's a bit of a downtime where you look at other forms of journalism or take a break of sorts yourself. And then as the window nears, those people are back in action. They're starting to do their negotiations. That's when you hear stuff and it's showtime.
- [11:56]
The Athletic FC Podcast Network
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- [13:15]
Ayo Akinwalere
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- [13:45]
Guy Clark
How many discounts does USAA Auto Insurance offer?
- [13:48]
David Ornstein
Too many to say here.
- [13:50]
Guy Clark
Multi vehicle discount, Safe driver discount New.
- [13:52]
David Ornstein
Vehicle discount, Storage discount?
- [13:54]
Ayo Akinwalere
How many discounts will you stack up? Tap the banner or visit usaa.com autodiscounts restrictions apply.
- [14:04]
Adrian Clarke
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with IO Akinwalere.
- [14:08]
Guy Clark
Okay, well first let's start with the deal sheet that went up on Athletic last Friday and we'll once again be running through the 2025 transfer windows. David for wants to watch in January 2025 on the Athletic, the name Liam Delap keeps popping up. Explain.
- [14:27]
David Ornstein
Yeah, Liam Delap is one that people should keep an eye on. And don't underestimate the intelligence of the public. They're already talking about him and seeing his progress in the short period he's been at Ipswich Town, having signed permanently from Manchester City only last summer. A number of goals and and the wider public are now noticing that he's got quite a unique profile and style and body shape and skill set which is not everywhere in the market, you know, and to be honest, and we've talked about this many times, these center forwards are in short supply compared to the demand. But then within that you have his attributes which people are looking at and it's raising eyebrows and so they're paying greater attention. It's the lat. It's the lat. Brilliant.
- [15:13]
The Athletic FC Podcast Network
From the 21 year old completely does his man.
- [15:18]
David Ornstein
Many of these people have known it for a long time. When he was coming through the youth system at Manchester City and he had a couple of loan spells and people have tried and failed to sign him on loan permanently, but obviously Manchester City and the boy himself felt the time was right to make the move. Ipswich stumped up significant cash given his record and his age profile at that point, but so far he's delivering on that. And so those that had been following him for a long time are kind of thinking, okay, we've now seen he can do it in the Premier League as well and he's got maybe international credentials. It's our time to really ramp up that admiration. But many of those clubs are now out of the picture because the biggest clubs in the land are taking notice. And through multiple conversations I had, it was clear that, you know, the biggest guns, the so called top six members of that, call it elite bracket if you like, such as your Chelsea's, your Manchester United taking a very close look. They're monitoring, they've got interest in him, they've got interest in lots of players. I'm not just saying it's him, but he's on these transfer lists, the recruitment targets that they weigh up. They constantly consider the qualities of the drawbacks, the data and so on. And that's brought the sort of information to me that if he continues on this rise, we're going to be dealing with somebody that Ipswich face a battle, maybe even a struggle to keep hold of next summer even if they stay in the Premier League. And that's maybe just this food chain that football is now. It's not guaranteeing anything, but these are the sort of movements that start to happen within the market, within the industry. Now if they are to get relegated, which they sincerely hope they don't, then, then that would affect the price of De Lapp. I would imagine if Ipswich are relegated, De Lapp would have to be sold or would be sold. If they stay in the Premier League, they've got a stronger hand in terms of the price and the negotiation. They would love to keep him, I'm sure, but can they resist the advances of those bigger guns, should his form continue. And that will be the big question. And there are people in the industry that have an expectation that sooner rather than later, I'm not talking January mean the summer, that he will be snapped up by one of the most prominent clubs around. And that would be very interesting. But a lot needs to happen before we get to that point and super.
- [17:53]
Guy Clark
Quickly on that deal. I know we talked about the Manchester City connections. Is there a buyback clause for him in case he moves on from Manchester City? Do they have first dibs? Because, you know, they would have seen his prospects quite early.
- [18:04]
David Ornstein
Yeah, they could scupper this for the other suitors because with all of Manchester City sales, and there have been many in recent times of young players in particular, they've made a business out of it and they've brought in huge revenues. They tend to insert matching rights, which allows any offer that is made by another club to give you first refusal that you can put the same offer in and then you still have to negotiate personal terms and the like. Or a buyback clause, which is pretty similar, to be honest. It gives you the opportunity to sign him. He would have to agree. So we don't know in this or any cases, that's always a significant element. And if they were to activate that, that there's a question that would need to be asked at their end. Are they bringing him back to play him and he's part of our future and let's go. Or is it to resell him at a profit? And it's not often seen, but it's possible and it's not unheard of. And some I speak to think that that could be conceivable in this situation. But again, these are hypothetical matters at the moment and we'll just wait and see how it develops.
- [19:13]
Guy Clark
I mean, we've got a lot to get through in this pod, but very quickly, a couple of names as well that maybe jump out through this period that we should sort of keep an eye on.
- [19:21]
David Ornstein
I like the name and player that is Nico Williams at Athletic Bilbao. Like with loads of the players we'll talk about not only in this pod, but in the coming weeks and months. There's not a massive desire to move in January on the part of the player. There's not a massive desire on the part of the club who they play for at this moment in time, and maybe even the case of potential buyers, whether it's to do with their finances or their squad planning, they would rather do it in the summer. But in the case of Williams, there's a release clause that has been very well documented and that's applicable in January. Presume, but don't know for a fact that there may be certain timescales with many of these release clauses. It's the same with Ebereche essay at Crystal Palace. There are certain dates it has to be triggered within, and if not, then the clause has expired until the next window. But there is a clause in the case of Williams. He is a fantastic player who has been of interest to Premier League clubs for some time now. And he had his heart set on joining Barcelona last summer, which is why the Premier League clubs didn't get their way. They didn't make the move. And from conversations I've had, it seems that he might be more open to a move to the Premier League now or in 2025 than he was before. And so that poses the question, will these teams come again? Because as you say, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham, they've all got admiration for him. So I keep an eye on him. Improbable for January, more likely for the summer. But you never know. It may be a case that clubs try, but they're unsuccessful. So does somebody try for Martin Zubimendi in that crucial number six position? Interesting.
- [21:05]
Guy Clark
I was going to come to Zubamendi. Interesting. You brought me there early. Come on then.
- [21:08]
David Ornstein
This is a player who came close to joining Liverpool last summer, not for the first time. He decided to stay with Real Sociedad. Arsenal have tried previously. Real Madrid, I think, have been linked and others and some people think that his loyalty to La Real will. Will continue to keep him forever. But increasingly in the chats I've had, there is an expectation now that the summer he is more ready in his head to move than before. They've had more time to plan. The sporting director, Roberto Alabe is leaving. As I revealed on the Athletic, things are changing a little bit there. Mikel Marino has moved and, you know, instead of maybe being like the second or third out the door would have been a problem in the past for Sociedad. He may be the first on this occasion, if everybody's got their head around it. And that would be one for the summer. But it doesn't stop people trying. And I. I see the same reports as you. Could Manchester City go for him in the absence of Rodri through injury? I don't have any information on that. I see the link. He's Spanish, he's a great player. And this move does seem to be coming, but I think people may revisit that, but I can only go on the information I'm being guided towards and that would say more towards the summer. So there's surely clubs and positions that I'm missing. But January, if it is going to be busy, needs a kind of a moment that sort of lights the touch paper and maybe that will be Manchester City because they're struggling on the pitch at the moment.
- [22:46]
Guy Clark
We spoke about City yesterday and. And obviously we're looking at a dip in form. Rodri's obviously not there, so there are gaps there to fill that squad.
- [22:55]
David Ornstein
Well, I think the only deal that I can remember of note by them in a January window was Emerick Laporte and I remember being at Anfield may have been his debut and he was put at left back. Was it Champions League? He was deeply uncomfortable. It was the middle of the season. I mean, there aren't much harder places to go either and it was quite chastening. But they were really preparing him for the summer and he did go on to have a good career at Manchester City despite his knee injury and now he's moved on. So obviously they wouldn't choose to normally do business then they plan around the summers, but they wouldn't choose to be in the position that they're in now. And again, I'm deferring to conversations that I have with people that move in the transfer market, whether it be executives, players, agents, you name it, sporting directors. And they have the feeling that if the market is going to kick off, it needs a Manchester City to make a move, whether it be for a Rodri deputy, maybe even another position like a fullback. There's been a bit of a long quest for a left back there who can be sort of first choice. There's been questions about Kyle Walker. Do they look to develop at right back? Do they bring in some backup for Erling Haaland up front? Because they didn't in the summer, they didn't replace Julian Alvarez, they didn't spend too much money in the window and you can have all your conversations. Were they mindful of the 115 charges? Blah, blah, blah. There was uncertainty about Pep and Cheeky Bagheera Stain. But the fact is that their financial position is strong, their footballing need is quite high and so it wouldn't surprise you if they do. And then if they do, what knock on effect does that have? Does it put money and liquidity in the market so the club that they sign from will need to replace and it has a domino effect? But secondly, and perhaps More pertinently, how do the others, their rivals, respond to that? Do Arsenal and Liverpool and Manchester United and Chelsea and Tottenham turn around and say, whoa, we better get our act together now? And there was something that we were thinking about, but it was more a summer move. Do we bring that forward to the winter or do we just unilaterally say the plan we had tentatively for January, now we're going to go full steam ahead because we're in a battle with Manchester City for positions and it creates a bit of an arms race. I think that will be an interesting plot or subplot for the winter market.
- [25:35]
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- [26:06]
David Ornstein
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- [26:25]
Guy Clark
Let's talk about the transfer raider which launches today actually on the Athletic. You know, each major tournament the Athletic has built a scouting guide highlighting the players to watch by David and also by a lot of our esteemed writers as well. Today on the Athletic we are launching a new version of the radar one focused on transfers across 2025. And and obviously you've contributed a few names. I mean names like Florian Wurtz were in there, Seb Stafford Bloor's done a lovely little section on there, you know, some hot, hot property across Europe. The one I'm interested in and we spoke about Liverpool yesterday on the pod is Trent Alexander Arnold commercially age profile. I can see the benefits to keep him at Liverpool, yet he still hasn't signed a contract yet. David, what's going on there?
- [27:12]
David Ornstein
Well, I write in the transfer radar that this is one of the most high profile situations in the market right now. But it's this strange, unusual, pretty unique situation in that somebody that is so closely aligned with one club, Liverpool, he came through the youth system so good and at such a fine age for a player is coming towards the end of his contract. So firstly, Liverpool may do some soul searching on how it got to this point. Maybe the same with, with Salah and Virgil Van Dyke, but certainly in the case of Trent Alexander Arnold and let's give them some respect, you don't know everything that goes on behind the scenes. It's not. Click your fingers and a contract gets drawn up and agreed. There are many conversations, negotiations, variables that go into these things. And so, you know, clearly Liverpool have started up talks and there'll be many listening to this who say, well, why didn't they start them earlier? But, but you know, there was great change at executive level at Liverpool. Obviously they had Michael Edwards a couple of years ago decide that he wanted to move on and a number of other staff there went at the same time or soon after. Julian Ward and David Woodfine. Jurgen Klopp was the sort of common denominator. He stayed and they brought in Jurg Schmatke who. Whether it was a Jurgen Klopp appointment or just somebody that he knew or respected, it was a bit, bit strange. It didn't work out particularly in a beneficial way for Liverpool. And then Jurgen Klopp himself left. So suddenly manager and sporting director go need to be replaced. A sporting director comes in in the form of Richard Hughes. Michael Edwards comes back as chief executive of football for Fenway Sports Group. We had all the big drama with Xabi Alonso. Whatever the ins and outs were, they ended up with Arna Slot. That is a period of massive transition and that transition has clearly on the pitch gone pretty well because they're looking pretty in in all competitions. There's been, you know, clear and understandable scrutiny from the fans at lack of transfer activity in the summer market just gone. They tried and failed to sign Martin Zubamendi. They've got these three contract situations but let's be fair, those were inherited problems. It could be legitimately asked by the current incumbent. So you've got Richard Hughes's sporting director, David Woodfine has come back to be his deputy. You've got Michael Edwards and Julian Ward has come back in at an executive level as well, almost looking over their shoulder saying to FSG and the powers that be at the time, what were you doing? Why hasn't this been dealt with already? And it puts them in a very unenviable position of having to deal with it. And by the day the strength of the players who are performing brilliantly increases and their hand in the negotiations gets better and better. So the talks have clearly started up with all of those to varying Degrees. But with Trent Alexander Arnold, there's been no agreement so far. It's as simple as that. And it's decision time for Liverpool, for him, for potential suitors. We know of interest from Real Madrid. It's been very well documented. There may be others as well. And. And they'll be sort of licking their lips at this potential opportunity to pounce on somebody that you could say shouldn't really be in the market and so know in 2025, obviously, because that's when his contract ends in June or sooner. So these weeks ahead, Trent Alexander needs to decide what he wants to do in terms of the proposal or proposals that have been put in front of him by Liverpool. If it's not satisfactory, which would appear to be the case, given nothing's been agreed or signed, Liverpool need to decide can they go further? And we don't just mean money in these situations. You know, there are many factors that need to be satisfied and if they can't, is he going to take what is on the table or is he going to make a huge decision and seek past as new, which would be a huge story. The answer to your question is we have no clarity at this moment in time, but we're getting to the point that we're going to receive it. There have been reports of a meeting that was meant to take place between Real Madrid and Liverpool before the recent Champions League game. There have been reports that that Real Madrid have informed Liverpool of their intention to sign Trent Alexander Arnold. I'm not going to profess to have information on either of those situations to be able to relay it with certainty. But clearly tough conversations need to be had. Real Madrid or anybody else, they don't need to inform Liverpool because from January 1st they can reach a free contract agreement with Trent Alexander Arnold if they're overseas clubs for a summer transfer. Or they can sign him unilaterally at the end of the season without talking to Liverpool. I think the essence of these reports is that there's a lot of respect between these clubs. So it would not be unusual for them to have a word with Liverpool. I just don't know of it at this point. The other scenario is do Real Madrid or anybody else make a move for him in January to sign him outright in January and that would take a negotiation because there'd need to be a transfer fee attached to it. It Are Liverpool willing to countenance it? At what price? What level are the suitors prepared to go to? And would Trent Alexander Arnold even want to go in January when he's flying with Liverpool in this one. I cannot predict it. I could obviously see him staying on his vice captain at the moment, captaining Liverpool into the future, but at the same time the opportunity to join Sarah Real Madrid is one that most players don't turn down. His good friend Jude Bellingham's there. I think it's a. It's a good dilemma for him to have, but it's a very difficult one. Facing Liverpool, Alexander Arnold has pinned one into Liverpool. He fair fisted into the bottom corner.
- [33:24]
Guy Clark
Before you go, David, we asked our listeners for some questions. We've got a couple here for you. Firstly, this is an interesting one and one that's pricked my ears up. What does a deuce exit mean for Arsenal's plan?
- [33:37]
David Ornstein
Well, it was a shock and not a shock in the sense that he's been heavily linked with the Maranakis Group, Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos, Rio Ave. He's got a personal relationship with Marinakis, he's very close to the agent Kia Durabtian and Kia Durabtian's close to those guys as well. Reports were coming out of Brazil in the summer that this may have been possible. And within football the rumblings continued, even if there wasn't that much in the public domain. So that's where I say it wasn't a massive surprise. And Arsenal are not stupid. They would have been hearing this sort of noise too. But the shock that he actually went ahead with it, because I'm not sure how many people saw that coming, I was getting suggestions in the weeks leading up to it. He's going to go, he's going to go. But then you never know. Is that a negotiation ploy for a better contract, for more power and authority? And ultimately when he did, Arsenal didn't know it was going to happen because they didn't have a replacement lined up and they embarked upon the search once it was confirmed. So that's a jolt to the system. This is a guy who's been integral to Arsenal's transfer plans in his fiveish years that he was at the club. He's done some very good work. He's very popular and well regarded at Arsenal outside throughout the industry. But he was only is only one person and it wasn't all built on him. So to answer your question, it doesn't mean that Arsenal aren't able to do business in the meantime if they wanted to. I don't know of January being a market that they're looking to recruit in, but that doesn't mean they won't be attentive to opportunities and situations that may arise and they will have done their work. I hear of a lot of groundwork being done that as and when the hierarchy, board executives, ownership manager in Mikel Arteta decide, for whatever reason, footballing need, injuries, circumstances that they need to pull the trigger on some of this, that they can go about it. I think it's more likely for the reasons of the sporting director, but also just the plans. That summer is a focus for say a centre forward and maybe some other positions too. But of course, let's see what the market brings. Center forward is the one that Arsenal fans are always asking us about. We've talked in the past about, you know, individuals like Benjamin Sesko and always getting people saying about Gokaresh.
- [35:59]
Guy Clark
That's my next question. What is going on with Gilkores? Where will he end up? I mean, there are a whole heap of teams. His stats are off the chain. I mean, where is he going?
- [36:08]
David Ornstein
Wonderful striker, brilliant numbers and is one of the wanted men within European football. Slightly older than a lot of the players that people are looking at at the younger scale, but the productivity makes him a tempting option in a position that many are looking to fill. My understanding is that he has his preference of where he would like to go. I don't know where that is. I'm sorry. There's been loads of speculation and his camper listening to all proposals because that doesn't mean it's set in stone, it doesn't mean that his preference will be realized. And so, you know, there's naturally speculation around Arsenal because of striker. I don't know of Arsenal making advances towards him and developing anything that may change, but I'm not sure the profile is what they are looking for as a priority or the price point, so. So wouldn't say that's a particularly hot one unless stuff changes. Manchester United get linked with him for some time, irrespective of Ruben Amarim, and now even more so because of him. So no doubt they're attentive to that situation, but can they do the money? There's 100 million euros release clause. I understand that it would be more in the region of 70 million euros that Sporting Lisbon would look to recoup for him. So can clubs like Manchester United do that? Does he even, even agree to a move there? These are all things that pan out in negotiations. You see him linked with Barcelona, Bayern Munich. There are movements that would need to happen at some of these places. Barcelona have Lewandowski, Bayern Munich have Harry Kane. What do Real Madrid do? There'll be clubs in Italy. This is going to be one of the most talked about players in the market, and rightly so, but the destination has not been decided and that can and should increase the hype and, and, and the the dreams of fans that want to sign him. But yeah, in respect of Arsenal, I, I don't really see that one developing. But somebody is going to get him and, and be fortunate to. Even though he, he, he was well looked after in, in the Arsenal match in the Champions League. I've got total respect for him and I love what he's doing.
- [38:13]
Guy Clark
I love that. I love that. Honestly, what an insight into your brain. I'm exhausted now. Thank you so much for joining us. Honestly. We will keep our eyes out for what goes on in January and of course keep our eyes out for more on the deal sheet and also the transfer radar as well. Thanks, David.
- [38:29]
David Ornstein
Pleasure.
- [38:32]
Adrian Clarke
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroot and Jay Beal. The executive producer was Ailey Moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC podcast is an athletic media company production.
- [38:56]
David Ornstein
The athletic.
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David Ornstein
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