Chelsea
Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has played down reports that winger Juan Cuadrado could soon leave the club for Chelsea amid reports the Premier League side are preparing a bid for the Colombian international.
Reports claim Chelsea are set to offer EU€27m (Dh114.9m) for Cuadrado, although Gazzetta dello Sport claimed Fiorentina club president Andrea Della Valle would not sell for less than the value of his buy-out clause, €35m.
Read more: The National’s Transfer Talk page
But Montella, speaking after his side’s 3-1 win over Atalanta in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup), said: “As far as I know there is no possibility for him to leave Fiorentina.
“He isn’t really concerned by all this talk. Sometimes these situations are taken all out of proportion.”
Cuadrado, a reported summer transfer target for Manchester United and Barcelona, has eclipsed his shaky start to the season with a string of solid performances to help the Serie A side up to sixth place.
Fiorentina are 16 points behind leaders and champions Juventus but are firmly in contention for the third and last Uefa Champions League qualifying spot at three points behind Napoli.
Cuadrado, who moved to Fiorentina from Udinese in the summer of 2012, has scored five goals this season including four in Serie A.
Arsenal
Arsenal on Wednesday confirmed the signing of teenage midfielder Krystian Bielik from Polish side Legia Warsaw.
The transfer of the promising 17-year-old was posted on the official Arsenal website, with a fee in the region of £2.5 million (Dh13.9m) said to have been agreed.
The Poland youth international is expected to work initially within Arsenal’s Under 21 side, but then the aim would be for him to swiftly progress through to the senior squad.
A statement from Arsenal read: “Arsenal have completed the signing of 17-year-old midfielder Krystian Bielik from Legia Warsaw for an undisclosed fee.”
Bielik, who made his senior debut for Legia at the age of 16, has made six appearances for the club, and can play in both midfield and defence.
Arsenal won 2-0 at Manchester City on Sunday to close back up on the top four of the Premier League and manager Arsene Wenger is determined to secure some more defensive cover in the January transfer window.
Hull City
Hull City announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to pay Blackpool up to £2.3m in a compensation agreement over the signing of winger Tom Ince.
Ince, 22, joined Hull last year after his contract with Blackpool expired, but due to his age, the Championship club were entitled to recoup a fee.
AC Milan
AC Milan's French striker M'Baye Niang has completed his loan move to Genoa, it was confirmed on Wednesday.
Genoa said in a statement: “Genoa CFC has taken the player M’Baye Babacar Niang on loan from AC Milan for the rest of the current season.”
Niang joined Milan in 2012 but spent much of last season on loan at Montpellier, where he scored four goals in 19 games for the Ligue 1 side.
The 20-year-old Niang, born in France to Senegalese parents, returned to Milan at the start of the season but has made only five appearances for Filippo Inzaghi’s side.
Milan and Genoa have yet to make any official announcement but a website report on La Gazzetta dello Sport said Niang, who made a rare start for Milan in a 1-1 draw away to Torino a fortnight ago, was seen saying goodbye to the rest of his teammates after training on Wednesday.
Niang’s move could see Genoa drop their interest in AS Roma forward Marco Borriello, who was tipped for a move to the Liguria-based club.
For the third consecutive season, seven-times European champions Milan are struggling in Serie A and are in danger of missing out on next season’s Champions League for what would be the second successive season.
Inzaghi’s side suffered a humiliating 1-0 home defeat last weekend to Atalanta, leaving the club 20 points adrift of leaders and champions Juventus but only seven behind Napoli who occupy the third and last Champions League qualifying spot.
Inter Milan
Dani Osvaldo has been suspended by Inter Milan after the striker failed to turn up for training for two consecutive days, according to reports in Italy on Wednesday.
Osvaldo, who is on a year-long loan deal at the Serie A club from Southampton, was unofficially sidelined by coach Roberto Mancini after a near bust-up with fellow striker Mauro Icardi during Inter’s loss to Juventus two weeks ago.
Osvaldo was effectively frozen out of the side and with the recent arrival of Lukas Podolski from Arsenal and Xherdan Shaqiri from Bayern Munich, speculation is rife that Argentine-born Italy international Osvaldo will soon be on the move.
Osvaldo has reportedly turned down the chance to sign for Queens Park Rangers, Cagliari and Genoa.
After failing to appear for training for the past two days, Osvaldo has been "officially suspended" by the Serie A giants, La Gazzetta dello Sport has claimed.
Osvaldo, 29, signed for Southampton in August 2013 for €15.1m from AS Roma but was fined and then suspended over his role in a touchline fracas in a league match against Newcastle United.
He was then fined by the club for a training ground incident in which he allegedly head-butted teammate Jose Fonte and was quickly loaned to Juventus last January.
Osvaldo scored three goals in 18 appearances as Juve, then coached by Antonio Conte, claimed a third consecutive “scudetto”, but the Turin club did not take up the option to buy at the end of last season.
He was then loaned to Inter for the 2014/2015 season, although his spell with Mancini’s side now looks likely to end prematurely.
Lazio
AZ Alkmaar defender Wesley Hoedt will join Lazio on July 1, the Serie A club announced on Wednesday.
Hoedt, 20, is a product of AZ’s youth academy and had only broken into the first team at the Dutch Eredivisie club this season.
No financial details of the deal were revealed although Lazio issued a brief statement on their website which read: “From July 1 Wesley Hoedt will become a player for SS Lazio.”
Lazio’s defence has shipped 22 goals in 19 games so far this season and the club on Wednesday also announced the loan signing of defender Mauricio dos Santos from Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon.
A statement from Lazio said: “The club announces the temporary transfer of Mauricio dos Santos Nascimento, from Sporting Lisbon. The player will undergo a medical,” on Thursday.
Lazio sit fifth in Serie A, 15 points behind leaders and champions Juventus but only two behind Napoli in the third and last qualifying place.
AS Monaco
AS Monaco have completed the permanent transfer of Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva from Benfica for a fee of €15.75m, the club announced on Wednesday.
Silva, 20, has been on loan with the Ligue 1 club since the start of the season and has impressed in the 15 games he has started.
“Bernardo Silva is one of the talented young players around whom Monaco plan to build the future,” vice-president Vadim Vasilyev said on the club website.
“He has already demonstrated his potential to our supporters this season and it was important for us to keep hold of him.”
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