Euro Paper Talk: Real Madrid to break bank with Man City, Liverpool raids in spectacular triple coup; Turkish moves for Man Utd, Chelsea, Newcastle stars

Real Madrid have lined up a monumental triple swoop in 2025 that includes Manchester City ace Rodri and Liverpool superstar Trent Alexander-Arnold, while Turkish clubs are plotting late Premier League raids and the rarely seen ‘joker’ transfer has been activated in Ligue 1 – all in Wednesday’s Euro Paper Talk.

REAL MADRID’S GRAND TRANSFER PLANS

LaLiga giant Real Madrid are prepared to break the bank in a move for Man City midfielder Rodri, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and another impending free agent are also wanted in a spectacular triple coup, according to reports.

Real Madrid presided over unquestionably the biggest move of the 2024 summer window when landing Kylian Mbappe via free agency.

Brazilian wonderkid Endrick arrived too, though beyond the two forwards there was little else to shout about.

Indeed, Real Madrid had attempted to sign Lille’s Leny Yoro before losing out to Manchester United who blew Los Blancos away from a financial standpoint.

Real Madrid also failed in their attempts to lure Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies to the Bernabeu in a similarly cut-price transfer.

According to a fresh update from Spanish outlet AS, those misses have emboldened Real Madrid to begin work on a blockbuster window in the summer of 2025.

Real Madrid want Davies, Alexander-Arnold and Rodri

Per the report, Real Madrid want to complete their unfinished business by snaring Davies as a free agent.

They’re also prepared to break their transfer record by signing Rodri from Man City, while numerous reports Real Madrid want Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold via free agency too were previously backed up by Fabrizio Romano.

Alexander-Arnold – like Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah – are all in the final year of their respective contracts at Anfield.

The trio are world class operators and the idea of losing a homegrown superstar like Alexander-Arnold in the prime of his career without collecting a fee would represent worst-case scenario for the Reds.

Yet that’s exactly the plan being hatched over at Real Madrid who hope to snatch Davies and Rodri too.

Regarding Davies, AS strongly suggested the Canadian joining Real Madrid is a certainty.

They stated: ‘Alphonso Davies is agreed and tied to land in the capital next summer with the letter of freedom under his arm.

‘Bayern Munich did not get the Canadian to accept the generous renewal offer that the Bavarian club offered him, so Davies will become, at zero cost like Mbappe since there is no transfer with the club of origin, the first high-profile signing of next season.

‘But the ‘big fish’ will be someone else.’

Will Rodri stay or go?

The ‘big fish’ is Rodri who is now widely viewed as the world’s best holding midfielder. The fact he won player of the tournament for champions Spain at Euro 2024 is further proof of that.

Rodri was born and raised in Madrid and Los Blancos have identified the 28-year-old as the successor to Toni Kroos. The legendary German hung up his boots upon retiring after Euro 2024.

Furthermore, fellow midfield maestro Luka Modric is reportedly expected to announce his own retirement at the end of the 2024/25 campaign.

The report insists Rodri would be open to leaving Man City but only to join Real Madrid. It’s claimed Rodri’s future only has two paths – signing a new deal with Man City or transferring to Real Madrid. Re-signing with Man City is a scenario that remains very much in play.

Man City are understood to be willing to put Rodri alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland as the club’s top earners through imminent contract talks.

However, the lure of playing for Real Madrid can and often has proven difficult for English sides to overcome.

Real Madrid haunting England’s elite again

Liverpool previously saw their top targets in both 2022 (Aurelien Tchouameni) and 2023 (Jude Bellingham) snub the Reds in favour of joining Real Madrid despite putting more money on the table.

Man City also offered superior terms over Real Madrid for Bellingham, though the Englishman only had eyes for the Bernabeu.

But while Real Madrid hope to sign Davies and Alexander-Arnold on free transfers, they’re prepared to break the bank for Rodri.

A move in the 2025 summer window is being lined up, at which point Rodri will be aged 29. That is the same age at which Real Madrid signed club icon Zinedine Zidane from Juventus way back in 2001.

Given Rodri’s elite status within the game and the fact he’ll still have two years remaining on his Man City deal – assuming he doesn’t sign an extension – a gigantic transfer fee will be required to unlock a deal.

On that front, AS state a monstrous transfer fee of roughly €130m (£109.5m / $143.7m) would be needed.

TURKISH MOVES FOR PREMIER LEAGUE STARS

Istanbul Basaksehir are attempting to sign Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier who has also been linked with fellow Turkish side Eyupspor. The Turkish window remains open until September 12. (Yagiz Sabuncuoglu)

Trippier is unhappy with losing his starting spot to Tino Livramento and would consider leaving the Magpies. (The Athletic – August 22)

Man Utd and Galatasaray are in talks over a one-year loan switch that would see Casemiro move to Turkey. (Ali Naci Kucuk)

Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce are showing serious interest in out-of-favour Chelsea man Ben Chilwell. Fenerbahce still haven’t signed a replacement for Ferdi Kadioglu who joined Brighton. (TEAMtalk exclusive)

JUVENTUS SCARRED BY FEDERICO CHIESA DEBACLE

Juventus chief Cristiano Giuntoli plans to hold a meeting with striker Dusan Vlahovic (out of contract in 2026) regarding a contract extension. Juve are desperate to avoid a repeat of the Federico Chiesa debacle which saw the winger sold to Liverpool for just £12.5m due to his dwindling deal. (La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport)

Roma have sealed a deal to sign free agent centre-back Mats Hummels. The 35-year-old will undergo a medical in Italy later today ahead of signing a one-year contract. (Fabrizio Romano)

Brazilian side Corinthians have offered free agent Memphis Depay a contract worth €100,000-a-week. Depay is seriously considering the opportunity. (UOL)

Victor Osimhen negotiated his own loan switch to Galatasaray after taking a dim view of how his future was handled late in the window by agent Roberto Calenda. Osimhen saw moves to Chelsea and Al Ahli both fall through before moving to Turkey. (Il Mattino)

Real Betis tried with a late-window approach for Man Utd midfielder Christian Eriksen. Despite their efforts, no agreements were struck on the club-to-club end or with the Dane. (Fabrizio Romano)

LIGUE ONE ‘JOKER’ TRANSFER

Lyon are close to finalising a permanent move for Marseille midfielder Jordan Veretout despite the French transfer window closing last Friday. Ligue 1 sides are allowed to make one ‘joker’ transfer post-deadline, with the stipulation being clubs can only sign a player from another French side. (L’Equipe)

Liverpool abandoned a late move for Mexican winger Cesar Huerta in the penultimate day of the English transfer window. The move fell through after Sunderland – the club Liverpool planned to loan Huerta to – rejected the idea. (TUDN)

Sevilla have announced the sale of winger Lucas Ocampos to Mexican side Monterrey. The deal is believed to be worth roughly €8m. (Sevilla and Diario AS)

Panathinaikos have announced the signing of Azzedine Ounahi from Marseille on a season-long loan containing an €11.5m option to buy. (Panathinaikos)

Borussia Dortmund blocked Gio Reyna’s proposed loan move to Bochum over the summer after prioritising a permanent switch. In the end, a buyer was not found and Reyna remained in situ. (BILD)

AEK ATHENS WANT MAN UTD FLOP AND CHELSEA OUTCAST

AEK Athens have offered to make former Man Utd striker Anthony Martial the highest paid player in the club’s history. Martial is currently a free agent, though has doubts about dropping into the Greek league. (Sport24)

AEK Athens are also closing in on the signature of Chelsea outcast, David Datro Fofana. Martial and Fofana’s respective moves are independent and both could arrive, rather than one or the other. (Daily Mail and Sport24)

Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has declared the “book is closed” for Steven Bergwijn at international level after the winger signed with Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad aged 26. (Ronald Koeman)

France have been trialling a front three of Bradley Barcola, Kylian Mbappe and Michael Olise as their new forward line. (L’Equipe)