– I think this could quickly become a record window. I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be, says TV 2 commentator Øyvind Alsaker. June 14 opens the international transfer window, but rumors have already been rife for a long time. The club season has just finished, and while players now (after a couple of international matches) go on summer holidays, the hard work begins for both sporting directors and agents. READY: Jude Bellingham was launched as the hottest transfer target this summer. Now he is ready for Real Madrid. Photo: Martin Meissner / AP Mykje what will happen Manchester United and Chelsea will – among other things – be looking for a new striker. Liverpool will renew the midfield and are already well underway with the purchase of Alexis MacAllister. Arsenal will again try to take up the match with triple winners Manchester City, who will surely also strengthen the team. Tottenham and Chelsea have some solid cleaning jobs ahead of them, while Newcastle, who secured Champions League play for the first time in 20 years, will also come to act. And that’s just clubbing in England. BIG JOB: Erik ten Hag had a good debut season with victory in the league cup and 3rd place in the Premier League. This summer he wants to both sell and strengthen. Photo: CARL RECINE / Reuters Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are likely to join the striker hunt. Napoli will try to both retain and strengthen the champion team. Paris Saint-Germain wishes to say goodbye to several superstars and build a stronger team. Barcelona wants to build on the La Liga gold and once again fight in the European elite. Not to mention all the “smaller” clubs who have big ambitions. – It is quite difficult to imagine that it will not be quite wild again this year, says Alsaker. On Monday evening, just two days before the transfer window opens, the news came that the French superstar, Kylian Mbappé, does not wish to extend his contract with PSG. This could have major consequences for the transition summer. The Frenchman’s contract expires next summer, and then PSG have a real dilemma: sell him now for a good sum, or keep him, but let him leave the club for free in a year. Tyseag claimed in the French newspaper Le Parisien that Mbappé wants a transfer to Real Madrid already this summer, which the Frenchman denies. – It is a lie. They get bigger each time. I have already said that I wish to stay at PSG next season. I am satisfied here, he writes on Twitter. But few people take it for granted that Mbappé will be a PSG player when the window closes, even after the Twitter message. The latest reports from France claim that PSG would rather sell this summer than steal him for free in a year’s time. Alsaker believes Mbappé will end up at Real Madrid. – If Real Madrid land both Bellingham and Mbappé, it will be absolutely wild. Then we’re back in “Galacticos” mode, that is, says the commentator. – He is one of the world’s very best players, has tried with PSG for a few years, but they haven’t succeeded in Europe. It’s an insane amount of money to get a player like him, but Real Madrid was the first thing I thought of when I saw it, he adds. AU REVOIR? Kylian Mbappé’s days at PSG may be numbered. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP New Kane saga? There are a few names that recur in the rumor columns. Jude Bellingham was seen by many as the summer’s hottest transfer target, but Real Madrid have been out early and have already secured the midfielder, who costs well over one billion Norwegian kroner. His compatriots, Mason Mount (Chelsea) and Declan Rice (West Ham) are others who are frequently mentioned, and this year, like last year (and most summers before that as well) shape the future of the Harry Kane news photo. But Alsaker does not believe in any Kane saga this time. – I put my head on the block and say that I think it will be resolved quite early. They cannot allow themselves the same round as last year. It was a little undignified. He is a legend at the club, there is a new coach who will have his say. COMMENTATOR: Øyvind Alsaker. Photo: TV 2 Daniel Sannum Lauten / TV 2 – Kane has one year left on his contract and has scored 30 goals in such a Tottenham season. It’s all bullshit. He is perhaps the best, most complete striker in the world. What he does when he is not scoring goals is at a sky-high level, and the next contract may be his last, properly big contract. Kane has, after Karim Benzema’s departure, been linked to Real Madrid, but also to Manchester United. Alsaker is looking forward to the summer until the latter. – Especially with regard to the ownership situation. There is a lot of noise around it, which is not favorable with the transition window on the road. Erik ten Hag has delivered this season and is standing strong. So now he must be able to make demands. And he has a cleaning job, too. Alsaker believes the battle to secure a top striker will be one of the most interesting things this summer. Because there aren’t that many top strikers, but several clubs who are on the hunt for goal machines. The TV 2 commentator launches Victor Osimhen in Naples as a hot alternative, but points out that he will probably cost a billion Norwegian kroner. Other strikers who are returning are Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica), Randal Kolo Muani (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Rasmus Højlund (Atalanta). ALTERNATIVES: Randal Kolo Muani (left), Gonçalo Ramos and Rasmus Højlund are among the strikers who can move on this summer. Photo: Reuters, AP Spår sales trouble Football writer Thore Haugstad in news also believes in a busy summer, but he does not think the challenge will be buying, but rather selling, players. – There are several clubs, such as Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United and PSG who have many they wish to get rid of. And it is not always that easy, because there are players on high salaries, he says, and points out: – It is a consequence of the fact that money and talent have been so concentrated by a bunch of top clubs, and that means that there are very few of those that can be sold on without drastic pay cuts. Haugstad has written several comments about the transfer market and believes we will have an appreciable transfer summer. – I’m guessing there will be some very big names who will influence the picture for quite a few weeks. Names like Kane, Bellingham and Mount have already been in the news for a long time, because everyone knows that they can, will or will change clubs. – And then one knows from experience that there are always some soap operas that never end. WRITER: news’s Thore Haugstad. There will be no Messi soap opera, because the Argentine is already ready for David Beckham’s MLS club Inter Miami. He, too, is excited about the outcome of the Mbappé saga. – It is quite clear that Real Madrid wants him, and that he wants Real Madrid, says Haugstad, and points out that Mbappé is stuck in a dysfunctional club. – And then he is a genuine “Galactico”. Haugstad believes it is extremely far-fetched for PSG to let Mbappé go to a Champions League rival, but the alternative, to sign him for free in one year, makes him think it will end with a transfer. But he is most excited about Chelsea. Haugstad has written several comments about the blue shirts after owner Todd Boehly’s entry, and he is excited, now that Mauricio Pochettino is taking over the coaching job at Stamford Bridge. – There is such crazy chaos in Chelsea. They have brought in a lot of new players, that stable is very big, and there are a lot of people who are going out. It is a big question how these are analyzed and assessed by Pochettino, says Haugstad. WITH A CRITICAL LOOK: Mauricio Pochettino has a small cleaning job when he now takes over Chelsea. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP And here comes the challenge he launched again: That it can be difficult to sell players. – It may well be that Pochettino wants to bring in his own players as well, and then you get even more, huge replacements in a short time. Some of the decisions that have been made in the last couple of windows will probably have to be reversed. At the same time: How will it be for Chelsea to sell players when everyone knows they have to? – They probably have the most difficult transfer window, Haugstad believes.
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