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Despite the jump start thanks to the FIFA Club World Cup, the transfer market has been open for just a minute, especially action-wise, yet some stories have already seemingly dragged on for an eternity because of their twists and turns, severely impacting a few teams, if not outright hurting them.<\/p>\n
For the second year in a row, Napoli are held up by the future of their most expensive player. It\u2019s not a coincidence that they have been negotiating hard in all their transactions. It\u2019s not just a savvy way to operate, but also a necessity, until the windfall finally arrives. Just as it looked like his transfer to Galatasaray was a fait accompli, the talks stalled because the sellers demanded ironclad bank guarantees, Mediaset<\/em> reports. Assuming the Turkish side isn\u2019t running any funny business, that\u2019s basic and routine stuff. There\u2019s probably something else behind the temporary interruption.<\/p>\n The deal will probably happen anyway, preferably in a hurry, so the Azzurri<\/em> can move on and focus on more pleasing stuff. But some questions linger. First of all, he could have just made it clear from the get-go that his preference, or perhaps only objective, was to stay with the Cimbom<\/em> rather than welcoming offers from other sides he wasn\u2019t too keen on joining. Secondly, his release clause has expired, which could open up a whole new can of worms. The Scudetto holders won\u2019t go there because it\u2019d complicate his transfer to any destination. However, if Mateo Retegui has fetched nearly \u20ac70M, they\u2019d be entitled to ask for well over \u20ac100M with the fixed sum no longer in the picture. It\u2019d be a very gusty move, but it\u2019d prolong the sufferance. The risk would be to postpone its end by another year.<\/p>\n While Napoli have some wriggle room, Juventus are straight-up held hostage by this situation early in the transfer market. They haven\u2019t declared it nor leaked it, but if they aren\u2019t fully penny-pinching, they are certainly acting a lot more judiciously with their money and their squad construction. It\u2019s a pivot that somewhat justifies an absurdly late regime change. They have to offload players before onboarding new ones. Not necessarily because they are cash-strapped, but to open up roster spots and better manage their resources. Jonathan David is an exception, but they are already pretty certain that they won\u2019t keep both the Serb and Randal Kolo Muani. It was an obvious foreshadowing of a future need. Plus, grabbing one of the best free agents available makes a lot of sense if you aren\u2019t in a position to make splashes.<\/p>\n If they can\u2019t find a way out of the mess, they probably won\u2019t keep the former Fiorentina on the stands and eat his mammoth wages. He\u2019ll be the backup striker before a very sad Bosman departure. It\u2019s clear that he won\u2019t give up any money, neither in a possible bridge renewal to set up a loan that would kick the can down the road, nor if he heads elsewhere, and why should he? Saudi Arabia is the only hope to salvage things from an economic standpoint. Though, he doesn\u2019t appear open to that, at least for now. The numbers and his attitude surely don\u2019t exactly entice other teams to invest in him. Even those that do like him can just wait and get him for nothing next season. He\u2019ll most likely have to settle for a far less rich salary if he does become a free agent after getting the lay of the land.<\/p>\n An all-important summit with his agent will reportedly occur soon. Every option is on the table, including an early contract rescission, TuttoSport<\/em> informs. While that\u2019d be an insane proposition in a normal situation, even more so for a player acquired for a humungous fee, it doesn\u2019t look too outlandish, even though it won\u2019t come cheap. At least, it\u2019d pave the way to signing another striker. The early confidence shown in him by Igor Tudor hasn\u2019t revived him. Any warm body, even a veteran who would serve merely as David\u2019s deputy, would be more useful. He wouldn\u2019t come with all the baggage and the aura of negativity.<\/p>\n Apparently, every summer, he and his camp decide that just staying at Inter without sussing out what the transfer market has to offer is too dull. His move to Galatasaray quickly became a real possibility. His intention to leave seems a lot more real than his previous flirtations with Bayern Munich and Middle Eastern franchises. Yet, after meeting with the representatives of the Turkish side in Milan, the Nerazzurri<\/em> brass let it be known there aren\u2019t the conditions for him to transfer and that he\u2019s going nowhere, La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/em> reports (via Goal<\/em>). The gap between the offer and the requests was too large even to start negotiating.<\/p>\n While it\u2019s easy to argue that he\u2019s more valuable to his present club than any bid he could realistically draw, that\u2019s a bold stance. It\u2019s not even mid-July yet. He could dig his heels in, and he had already dropped every possible hint, while stopping short of publicly asking out. In the players\u2019 empowerment era, it\u2019s hard to imagine that, if somebody is adamant about fleeing, a team will keep him against his will. Both would have a horrible time the following season. He\u2019ll either depart, or there will have to be a reckoning, a blatant backtracking and re-commitment by him, if not even an apology. The verbal scuffle with Lautaro Martinez is something mighty hard to come back from and potentially a locker-room destroying affair.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div>\nDusan Vlahovic<\/h3>\n
Hakan Calhanoglu<\/h3>\n
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