Author: Amrit Santlani
Lionel Messi shocked the whole world when he decided to reject a successful offer from Saudi club Al-Hilal to join Major League Soccer (MLS) club Inter Miami. The team owned by David Beckham have also signed Messi’s former teammate Sergio Busquets and are still in the running to sign Jordi Alba, bringing the three legends together.
However, after losing Messi, Al Hilal are now eyeing another world-class star, Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva. The 28-year-old had a stellar campaign with City, helping them to a third league title, and the Portuguese was at the heart of the team’s success.
Silva is also being heavily pursued by Paris Saint-Germain and there seems to be a two-way race for the midfielder, who could be the second high-profile player to leave after Ilkay Gundogan decided to join Barcelona on a free transfer.
The former Monaco player’s current contract with City is set to expire in 2025 and, although Pep Guardiola wants to keep him, the player has plenty of good offers on the table.
Saudi Arabian clubs have taken the ongoing transfer window by storm, as the Public Investment Fund has taken control of some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest clubs and they have since signed a number of high-profile players.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and Chelsea’s N’Golo Kante have gone to Al-Ittihad, Al Nassr have signed Hakim Ziyech, while Eduard Mendy is about to join Al Ahli and Kalidou Koulibaly is close to joining Al Hilal.
The Riyadh-based club also signed Ruben Neves from Wolves, but haven’t finished yet and are making efforts to sign Silva as well. The Man City player has won five Premier League titles since joining the club in 2017 and recently completed the triple crown.
Although some players, such as Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann, have turned down the chance to join the Gulf clubs, it remains to be seen what Silva’s next destination will be.
City have drafted in Mateo Kovacic as Gundogan’s replacement and are also battling with Arsenal to land Declan Rice from West Ham United, although an offer of 90 million pounds from Arsenal was recently turned down.
Mikel Arteta’s team, however, are not finished yet and are keen to make the England international their record signing, as they will be submitting a third bid shortly. The north London club are also interested in Brighton’s Moises Caicedo, although Chelsea are interested in the midfielder. Arsenal are ready to sign Kai Havertz in a £65 million deal and are also closing in on Ajax defender Jurrien Timber.
In addition, Chelsea recently announced the signing of Christopher Nkunku, and the summer exodus is shaping up nicely, with many players leaving, including legendary defender Cesar Azpilicueta, who has reached an agreement with Inter Milan and is expected to terminate his contract with Chelsea as the Spaniard seeks a new challenge. And that’s not all: the Londoners are also expected to sign Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal for 35 million pounds.
In London, Tottenham have signed goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli and are also close to signing defender Edmond Tapsoba from Bayer Leverkusen for around 25 million pounds.
Although it has been a quiet summer at Manchester United so far, they are set to continue their search for a striker, while Newcastle United have completed the signing of Sandro Tonali from AC Milan and are expected to be next in line to sign James Maddison, who is also on Spurs’ radar.