Ten Hag ‘obsessed’ but anti-Man Utd clause muddles €55m deal; two Liverpool transfer updates

Erik ten Hag sounds desperate to sign Brahim Diaz but there remains an anti-Man Utd clause in his contract. Liverpool also have some bad news.

COME ON, DIAZ
Man Utd already have one Manchester City academy alumnus – with more than a small nod to Watford – in Jadon Sancho. Reports from Spain suggest they wish to add another to their squad.

That slightly underplays it actually: Erik ten Hag is ‘obsessed’ with Brahim Diaz and ‘several meetings’ have already been instigated by Man Utd, who have no problem with matching AC Milan’s €55m asking price.

There are a couple of problems, as detailed by Nacional. First, AC Milan would likely want to keep the player they have loaned in from Real Madrid and they have a buyback option which would help them do so. Second, Real themselves would not awfully mind welcoming Diaz back, although they would have to convince him that he would actually play, unlike the last time he was at the Bernabeu under Zinedine Zidane.

The small matter of the anti-Man Utd clause which Man City insisted on when selling Diaz to Los Blancos would also come into play. As part of those terms, City would receive 40% of the fee if the Spaniard was shipped to Old Trafford. Could be a tidy €22m windfall for Pep.

CLAUSE CLIPPING
After it emerged that Liverpool would quite like to sign Alex Baena, Villarreal have been in a bit of a tizz. The 21-year-old left-winger has scored eight goals and assisted four in 18 appearances for the Spanish club so far this season; the idea of losing him is not worth contemplating.

But the release clause in his current contract makes it distinctly possible. It has been reported to stand at around €35m but AS claim it is even lower at €30m.

Villarreal want to negotiate a new deal with Baena, thus increasing the price of that clause. They did the same when Yeremy Pino started to attract attention, lifting a €30m release clause to €80m or so while extending his stay. That ought to deter Liverpool.

SSOUFA SCORE
YThe good news does not stop there for Jurgen Klopp. He likely did not expect to enjoy a free run at Youssoufa Moukoko but competition from Manchester City in the Borussia Dortmund forward will come as a crushing blow.

Football Insider say Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Barcelona are also monitoring the teenager, who has played all but one of Dortmund’s games this season in a valiant attempt to replace Erling Haaland.

Manchester City, bullies that they are, would quite…