The Ultimate 2024 January Transfer Window Guide
Angus and Ben are joined by Fabrizio Romano, Sam Matterface and Tom Bogert to offer key insights into the 2024 January Transfer Window. Tune in and submit your questions live!
Transcript
hello everyone and a very Happy New Year to you all after a short break for Christmas the dbrief is back well the transfer window is open so where else are you going to go for all the news about the big names making their way across Europe and the rest of the world than here with us we are truly Global today as ever the transfer Guru for Brito Romano is with us the hot news from Italy is that Fab didn't get a new phone for Christmas as ever I'm pleased to say that Ben Jacobs is with me and as you may be able to see even though Ben got plenty of presents for Christmas a new jumper wasn't one of them how do you know maybe I got the same jumper for Christmas maybe my entire closet is full of only this festive jumper the thing is Angus look at Tom looking Majestic and colorful as ever you just didn't get the memo that you had to dress brightly for the first show of the year I know I certain certainly got missed missed out of that one yours sort of reminds me of a slightly random Crystal Palace away kit but but it is as much a part of the show as you are Ben and happy New Year to you another gift for you uh is the idv sport and talk sport commentator Sam matterface who will be with us later and he has very interesting thoughts on Brighton England and the best summer signing of last year and as uh Ben has alluded our final present is State side it's a big happy New Year and a very warm welcome back to the debrief for the Athletics Tom Boger Tom how are you what's going on fellas I'm I'm pretty good like I said feel feeling colorful feeling feeling good again I don't have quite quite the same nice wool sweater that Ben has on but uh but you know we went for the tracks we went for the New Jersey look hey New Jersey look is good with us because it beats the Crystal Palace strip anyway let's get down let's get down to business look the window is open The Talk of the Town or London Town is Ru dragas into Spurs Ben it seems that this one is some way down the line already yeah absolutely I think that tottenham's priority for the window is a center back and we know the horrific injury list at the moment at the club so an polu wants to move very quickly and this is why the Romanian has become a priority they actually would have loved to try and proceed with Jean Clair tobo at n but n's position is not for sale and you would expect that mid-season because they're second in league on at the moment and only something in the region of 50 million quid or 60 million Euros was going to change that so dragon has become a priority an poog is playing a big role in this one and the players already given the green light so this is really now just about can ofbe agreed and you might see some reports out there saying that Gena are looking for something in the region of 30 million euros but my understanding is that the price might come down down a little bit as I reported a few days ago Spurs were looking somewhere around the 17 to 20 million pound Mark so that's pushing 25 million euros I suppose at the top end and there's a feeling now that although the parties are maybe three or four million euros apart I realize that I'm changing currencies all the time here so sorry if I'm giving you an early headache in 2024 but there's only a few million between the parties in negotiations and although structure will be important as well there's a real real possibility that this one gets done in the next 48 hours or so okay well let's stay with Spurs while we're we're on um the north London club uh for you Tom is clearly interest at State Side in ug laice who's who's left North London for uh Los Angeles not a bad swap yeah that one was uh very surprising honestly I guess it's more aligned with the Georg o keini and and and Gareth Bale deals um LFC hadn't done much of this where they were going for these bigname you know legendary kind of players in the past until Gareth Bale and Georg oini last year and now they're continuing with that hu laes what's interesting is that he's only making about 350,000 us next year that would put him as like the 28th highest paid goalkeeper in MOS if everybody has the same salary from last year which is just pretty mental honestly everybody I spoke with has reached out to me from other clubs being like how like what the hell like that's not a deal that that we can get LFC have have the leverage of of Los Angeles and clearly Tottenham are paying out a bit or I'd imagine whatever is left of his salary of his deal that was set to expire this summer so obviously money isn't a factor here for Hugo lce um very curious to see how he does he's gonna fit this kind of team very well their starting goalkeeper the last two years is a Canadian International by the name of Maxim kpo he's out of contract um his market value like in free agency like he'll probably get s or 800 th000 If he if he does stay in MLS like it's crazy that LFC are signing Hugo lorice and he's going to be probably half as expensive as as their starting goalie Who's very good and and it's just I don't know I I've gotten a lot of texts and a lot of calls from people across the league being like how the hell is it so cheap Tom just briefly whilst we're on the goalkeeper front and sorry Angus to interrupt I'm just Keen to get Tom's view on Keepers because I think they're underloved within the market and we've Ed with the tone of Keepers with lorice and Thomas story that you broke was Jordi Petrovic to Chelsea and I'm interested just to know your thoughts because he suddenly got game time because Robert Sanchez is injured are you surprised by how quickly he's taken to the Premier League or were all the signs always there that he could Step Up When required even if earlier than expected yeah so just I mean for me I'm going to S bias because I was used to watching him every single week and and and so I I truly belied that he was going to be able to come to CH I didn't think that he was going to start right away and of course he got the opportunity because Sanchez got injured but sources that I talked to throughout this deal it was like we truly believe that he's gonna have a chance to to start at Chelsea like we're not just doing this for him to be a backup um there was offers from Nottingham Forest ofns before that where he would have absolutely been the starter um and then when Chelsea came in it it was like you know this isn't this isn't just for him to sit on the bench like may maybe it'll take a little while for him to get his chance but he's going to get chance and he'll have have the chance to play um his shot stopping as Elite he's you know ball playing isn't you know the best that's not his calling card I mean I don't think it's necess it wasn't a weakness in MLS maybe maybe it kind of will be in the higher level with the Premier League but again his shot stopping is Elite that that metric kind of really really exports well that's something that that travels well from from League to League it was the same thing with Matt Turner though he's not been very good at nottingam Force but he came from New England as well but yeah Georgie petravic like the I like again a lot of people I talked to was like you know if he does get this move to one of these European clubs and particularly Chelsea that like he's going to be on tur's uh Euros Squad and it's like if he's playing in Europe like he should be the starter for like at the Euros so like again I I don't want to suggest that this is all expected because that that'd probably be unfair that'd be taken away from the accomplishment but um again a lot of people that were involved in this deal like truly believe that this was a realistic possibility remember we want to hear from you do um put your question questions in the comments so that we can ask some of the guys uh who are on the show today anything that you want to know about the transfer market at the moment now that it is up and running we will hear from fabrio Romano very very shortly and Sam matterface as well as Tom and Ben here with me today um another thing for you Tom new DC United boss is going to be announced soon now okay the irony of this is that Wayne Rooney's free now yeah so Wayne Wayne Rooney last what 15 matches at Birmingham city um yeah his I I'll start by a little defense of RNE Rooney that like he did fine with DC United over a year and a half you know the record wasn't great he didn't make the playoffs but DC United has been a bit of a Terrain wreck um they gave him I think a little bit too much power in terms of of player signings that that weren't always you know so great that roster was kind of bloated with a lot of overpaid veterans like for some reason they let Wayne Rooney sign raval Morrison don't know why uh he was bought out pretty quickly because of all the stories that came from him not fitting not caring the stuff and then you know they people have said he's a good he's a good person genuinely I did hear nice things about him except for you know professionalism on the training field and then that's why he was just kind of let go from the squad but again that was a way signing so DC uh he left at the end of the season he was open to staying uh but DC needed to hire a new sporting director and they hadn't done that yet and they weren't going to trigger his contract extension until they hired a new sporting director who could make the decision on Rooney with the next manager so while they were waiting to hire the the new sporting director Rooney ends up going to Birmingham city the new sporting director takes over leads this coaching search um and he finalizing a deal with Troy lezay who was the head coach of the New York Red Bulls this year um and his contract wasn't renewed so he's going to be the DC United head coach they were also in talks with dom tant the former Manchester City assistant the former nycfc um and elsewhere head coach um but they were not close on salary or Dom probably would have been the head coach and then former El Sal manager Hugo Perez was was another finalist uh but Troy laay former New York Red Bulls head coach is is succeeding Wayne Rooney in at DC United and and now again like you said Wayne Wayne's available again yeah but Tom would Wayne be welcome back in the States or or not do you think I think he'd be welcome but I don't I don't know why somebody would would look at his 18 months at DC United and think like yeah we need to hire him um right now there was about 10 teams that changed their manager of the 29 over the last year almost all those jobs are filled right now there's you know Montreal which is an absolute dumpster fire um Minnesota United are starting their season with an interim head coach which is baffling to me um and so those are kind of the only jobs that are open right now and I I don't see Wayne Rooney Being Fit for either Ben who do you see as a succeeder uh a successor I should say to uh Wayne Rooney at um he hopefully he will succeed for bmam Birmingham fans who would you see as a successor to Wayne Rooney at St Andrews well it's funny because when this story broke and Rie was sacked I was out in the countryside in the middle of nowhere with no reception walking the dog and then I suddenly arrived back to reception in a nice little Country Pub and my phone exploded and I made some calls and the first thing from talking to sources is that John Eustace who's a little bit distant I suppose in terms of the odds and the light ly candidates is open to return and Birmingham were sixth in the table when he departed and Wayne Rooney has left Birmingham 20th in the table so clearly that Decline and only two wins in 15 is a disaster for Birmingham they've got this kind of new Tom Brady endorsed project he's part of the club and Gary cook the former Manchester City executive and he was a big part as well of the Saudi pro league has come in so the ambition is there and the strategy is there but Rooney was the wrong choice and my understanding is they want a safer pair of hands with championship knowledge so bringing back eustus would actually be very popular but I'm not so sure that he's the favorite there's a lot of talk about Steve Cooper um my understanding is that he would be Birmingham City's top choice but Cooper's not going to be short of options and it's only my personal view I'd be surprised if he doesn't bide his time and may wait for a premier league gig Jesse Marsh is one to watch it'd be interested to know Tom's thoughts on that one but he's certainly in the mixx the safest Pair of Hands or the most experienced name is Tony mry again I would classify him as a little bit more distant I sense what Birmingham will do is they'll find out whether Cooper would ever entertain it they may well get a no on that but let's wait and see and then Jesse Marsh could come into the frame potentially mry maybe they craw back to Eustace I don't think there'd be a backlash from the Birmingham fans I think that if there's a Contrition and in acceptance that sacking him was the wrong call and he was to be open to a return then that would go down well and will still can't be discounted but he's very happy in his current job as well and at the moment those are the main candidates that I'm aware of I tell you what I mean it's a hell of a turnaround if they go and say right G you know you can John Eustace you can you can go back in I think you know that's that's I do do do uh new owners of a club ever admit they were wrong and go you know what we'll go back and do this I mean that's that's like putting Liz trust back in charge at number 10 came back to leer well he did maybe shouldn't never go back but so soon um and in fact Nigel Pearson's free so maybe his name should be in in the mix um I just before we we're gonna hear from fabrio Romano in just a moment he's going to come and join us um Tom I want to throw something we're getting plenty of questions in um and one of them is about Chicago Fire what news uh up there yeah Chicago Fire are continuing you know their their over their rebuild this this offseason yet another rebuild Frank lopus has been named a full-time manager uh the front office came back despite missing the Playoffs each of the last four years um and not and generally kind of missing on a bunch of signings so they'll kind of go again this this winter I know that they've been interested in in several kind of big free agents around MLS I've heard that they're kind of big into the in League Market this off season they definitely wanted to sign Georgie mahil from AZ alar he's a former Academy product of the club they traded him to Montreal and then he excelled there before he went to Europe um that's not going to happen from what I've been told as as Georgie is kind of headed back to the United States this week um I'm hoping to have some more information on that either later today or in the near future H but it will not be Chicago from what I've been told they they will be looking to add a a big Center forward and a big Winger um I'd imagine that they're definitely going to be looking to offload hyro Torres who hasn't worked out maybe jedon shakiri um but I'm not sure who the takers would be for jedon shakiri so i' guess that he's going to stay but they definitely want to add a designated player Center forward and a designated player Winger which just means that they can pay whatever the hell they want for these two players fantastic s Tom have a pause there and Ben have a breather we've got to get over to Fabrizio who we caught up with just a little bit earlier find out how his new year was what's what was in his Christmas stocking and also to find out all the decent Transfer News Fab Happy New Year to you great to have you back we've had a little break we've had a little breather now comes the busy time let's get let's get going straight away Victor Osan is anything possible in January everything is possible in life but I don't think Victor riman deal will happen in January at all I think it's 99% no then honestly after what happened with Eno Fernandez last year anything is really possible but again in that case there was a disclos in this case the relas Clos is on a different topic is something for the summer it's not something for January so I don't see Victor oosman leaving napol in January and I think the contct extension was part of the project between oan and Napoli to continue together till the end of the season to help Napoli get in Champions League next season and then probably to leave in the summer transfer week and what about anyone pre- agreeing a deal with oang is that possible Chelsea potentially I think more than pre agreeing deal with oan I think it could be important to try to agree something on the player side in terms of personal terms so to try to get a green light from the player this could be the mission for January I don't think it's going to be EAS so I don't think it's guaranteed that Victor oan will decide his his future in the gener transfer window also because clubs can approach him clubs can present him a project but we know that in football six months are like six years in other sports everything can change from the manager to the directors at any club in the world and so this is why is not guaranteed at all from what I'm hearing Al some people close to Victor Osan that he will decide his future in January I think it will take some time and I think it's not going to be that easy to to reach an agreement with oan in January and with Napoli I think it's really unlikely knowing how Napoli work how the president a lenes Works to reach an agreement now for the summer I think it's something that we will discuss as a saga in the next months in 2024 well let's stay with Chelsea just for a minute do you think it's more likely that Connor Gallagher will stay at Stanford bridge I think yes in this moment yes I think it's a possibility for him probably to leave in the summer transfer window in casee they can't agree on New Deal so in that case I think it's a serious possibility obviously for gallager to leave in the summer transfer window for January has to happen that someone has to go there and put big money on the table I saw some reports of 30 40 Millions I don't see Chelsea selling the player for that money so I think they would rather wait for the for the summer transfer window in a similar situation to what happened with mson Mount last last summer so if he doesn't want to agree on new deal with Chelsea he can be free to leave but a Chelsea conditions now or a Chelsea condition in the summer I think this is the the situation so the contract talks remain active but it's not something close at this point and on Tottenham we had reports of talks between Tottenham and Chelsea in the recent days from what I told there are no conversations no negotiations at this stage the interest of Tottenham is there since last summer we know Tottenham really like Conor gallager and told D po was big fan of the player since long time so they like Conor Gallagher but they're not negotiating to sign Gallagher now for Brito happy New Year let's talk about Ivan and Tony an equally difficult deal to get done in January what kind of price do you understand that brenford wants and even though we hear of this Arsenal admiration some link him with Chelsea as well because m buo is injured and wiissa is at the African Cup of Nations does that make it more likely that Tony will stay this window I think there is a chance a very good chance for Tony to stay at brenford honestly uh this is the feeling it's only in case they receive a really important proposal this could change uh this started from it was October end of October beginning of November from something around 60 65 million pounds but then brenford understood that there were no other Strikers basically available on the market I mean top Strikers available on the market for top Premier League clubs and so the idea of brenford is I think even h