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Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's Daily Transfer Roundup. Today, we have a huge update on the Neymar transfer saga and plenty of other exciting news as the dominos start to fall in the summer transfer window.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the top transfer news, rumours and updates from today - 18 July 2019.
De Ligt explains why he snubbed Barcelona
When this summer transfer window started, De Ligt was reportedly close to joining Barcelona. However, several weeks later, he has now been officially unveiled as a Juventus player. Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona all remained in the hunt for him until the very end.
All 3 clubs were willing to match and even pay in excess of how much Juve were paying for De Ligt. But in the end, the young Dutchman decided for himself that Turin is the place to be. He has now explained his rationale behind making that decision.
"It was difficult. There were several options, but you always have to look what’s the best for you. Various factors play a role.
"For me it’s very important to know how much you are going to play and how much trust the club has in me. They also mentioned that they really wanted me. They saw a future for me and the they could improve me in certain areas."
"I have been fascinated by the Italian way of defending from an early age. Many of my idols from the past are also Italians. Such as [Paolo] Maldini, [Franco] Baresi, [Alessandro] Nesta, [Fabio] Cannavaro and [Gaetano] Scirea. When you talk about defenders, then you soon talk about those names.
"I actually fell in love with the Italian way of defending and I made a choice based on that."
Surely Cristiano Ronaldo going up and talking to him after the UEFA United Nations League might have had an effect but anyway, that's all settled now. While his countryman Frenkie De Jong will play alongside Lionel Messi, De Ligt will be playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Jurgen Klopp insists he is happy with current Liverpool squad
Liverpool have been relatively dormant this summer and as the champions of Europe, they can afford to be. Jurgen Klopp has now admitted that he will be happy even if the club doesn't pull off big signings in this transfer window.
17-year-old Dutch defender Sepp Van Der Berg is the only arrival at Anfield and Klopp says the situation could remain that way. In an interview with liverpoolfc.com, Klopp said,
"We are pretty relaxed in that, we will see what's coming up. How I said, it will not be the biggest transfer window of LFC; we invested a lot in the team in the last two years, I would say. We cannot spend every year in the same manner.
"People talk about it like, 'now another £300m or £200m'. There are maybe only two clubs in the world - it looks in the moment like Barcelona and (Real) Madrid can do the same - (Manchester) City and PSG that can do it every year.
"But we are fine. I'm happy with the team, we are really happy. We have to see if we find maybe one position, if we find something for it, but there's no real pressure because it's not about signing a player. We have solutions for all the situations.
"I'm really looking forward to the season, it will be really exciting again."
Frank Lampard says Callum Hudson-Odoi knows what he feels about his staying at Chelsea
Frank Lampard wants to keep youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi at Chelsea and make him central to his plans for the future of the club. Hudson-Odoi remains a subject of interest to Bayern Munich. However, Chelsea do not want to sell him. Seeing as how keen ol' Frankie is to keep the youngster, he might just budge.
Callum couldn't join the Chelsea team on their pre-season tour owing to a ruptured Achilles. However, he did sit down with Lampard and the latter told him about how he fits into his plans for the upcoming season.
Lampard has now revealed to the press that Callum Hudson-Odoi knows how he feels about the current situation. He said,
"There's two things, there's the football side which I'm completely involved in - and then making sure the contract is signed, which I'm not,"
"So to say I'm confident would mean I know every side, I don't, I leave that to the club. What I do know is that the club want Callum to sign.
"Callum knows how I feel, I've spoken to him. I think he can be absolutely central to this team. We all care for the players at this club, particularly the young players - it's important I show that. Then the decision will be his and the club's together."
Pep Guardiola wants Leroy Sane to stay amid strong exit links
Pep Guardiola has revealed that he expects the German speedster Leroy Sane to kick on with life at the Etihad despite all the noise pointing towards an exit. Pep claims that Manchester City's desire to keep Sane at the club has been "always there" and that he expects him to stay.
Sane, who has been heavily linked with Bayern Munich, is not assured of first team minutes with Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva being Pep's preferred men on the wings as of late.
Pep said,
"The club made him an offer last year. As I said many times, we want people happy to be here. We are going to help him to be the best.
"We know his potential and what his level is. He has a special quality difficult to find around the world. He knows, they all know, it's difficult (to play regularly) because of the quality we have.
"But, at the same time, I spoke to the club 10 times (to say) I want people here to be happy. If they don't want, they go. The desire to have him to be with us is always there."
Paris Saint-Germain resigned to losing Neymar, wants to come to an agreement
You've got to admit that "player power" is real. Neymar wants out of Paris Saint-Germain and now the whole world knows about it and his desire to return to his former club Barcelona. PSG, who bought him for a world record €222 million in the summer of 2017 are now resigned to the fact that the situation cannot be changed.
As such, they're willing to sit down and negotiate with Barcelona. The Catalan giants who are keen on bringing the Brazilian back are, however, in no hurry. Their frontline is sorted and currently do not have the kind of money to pay upfront for Neymar's services.
They want to offer one player and make up the rest of the valuation in cash and would like it if they could pay the entire amount by July 2020. Sending Philippe Coutinho on loan for the current season with an obligation to buy and a €70 million transfer fee looks like the perfect route for both parties to take at the moment.
