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Monday quote round-up is here. Today, we have some murmurs about Ronaldo, Morata, and, Coentrao.
AC Milan sporting director, Massimiliano Mirabelli, says a Morata deal has cooled, but not off the table...
"We have been looking at Morata from the beginning, and he has made himself available, then complications arose between the Champions League final and the emergence of different interested teams and things have cooled since. It can warm up again, but it will be on our terms."
Juan Mata, meanwhile, feels like a Morata move to Manchester United seems unlikely, though, not entireply impossible...
"It looks tough to see Alvaro Morata in a Red Devils shirt with the arrival of Romelu," he told Cadena Cope. "We've signed an important player in attack and it's difficult, although you never know.
"Things can happen in the last few days, but I wish Alvaro the best."
Fabio Coentrao, who inadvertently took a picture with a ‘Benfica is s***’ scarf, took to Instagram to apologize...
— B24 (@B24pt) July 16, 2017
Coentrao’s statement:
"I was unpleasantly surprised by an inscription on a scarf that does not reflect the respect I cherish for all my former clubs, and in this particular case, for one I dedicated a good part of my career.
"To offend anyone is not part of my character, neither as a man nor as a professional. Today I represent Sporting Clube de Portugal and, as always, with the commitment to leave the soul in the field for the fans and the club, but respecting, always with elevation, all my opponents."
Gareth Bale, in an interview with Marca, said he has ‘no clue’ on what players Real Madrid might still sign or sell...
"I haven't read anything," he told Marca. "I have no clue about what's going to happen. Look, yesterday I found out that [Romelu] Lukaku had signed for Manchester United... I honestly don't know.
"We won titles, we did well, we don't need to change anything."
When asked about Ronaldo’s situation, Bale said: "Well, you'll have to ask him."
Bale also said, unsurprisingly, he has zero desire to leave the club...
"I have not thought of leaving Madrid," Bale said. "I know it is difficult to recover the position, but I am in Real Madrid for that."
Fernando Morientes chimed in on the murmurs surrounding Ronaldo...
"I haven't heard Cristiano saying he wants to leave," Moro said at the Star Sixes tournament.
"I already know how this works… At the end of every season there are a lot of rumours and doubts on the big players. Ronaldo is one of them.
"I am calm because he hasn't spoken… At the time when he speaks, we will see.
"But I am pretty sure that Cristiano is so happy at Real Madrid, and Real Madrid is happy with Cristiano. So it will be complicated [if he leaves]."
Mbappe has already said he’ll be a Monaco player next season, and Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim, expects the same...
"He [Mbappe] seems very calm, he is young and has great potential," Jardim said during Monaco's pre-season tour.
"He has only just joined up with the squad and so he needs to find his rhythm again, but I see he's doing well.
"I am counting on Mbappe as I am all of the players I have; I expect to have him here."
Arsene Wenger says Mbappe might’ve had ‘too much choice’...
"Maybe he had too much choice, so in the end people don't move," Wenger said.
Additional due-diligence
- I wrote about Dani Ceballos’s arrival, and all the questions he brings with him.
- Ondra Paul and I answered some questions about James / Ceballos for Bleacher Report.
- I wrote about the James deal a bit further for FourFourTwo
- Gabe and I recorded a Managing Madrid podcast last night where we focused on the distribution of playing time next season, among other things.
- I was joined by John Dillon of Bavarian Football Works to talk about the James deal from a Bayern perspective, all on our ‘Churros y Tácticas’ podcast.