Matteo Moretto Transfer Column: Nico Williams, Riccardo Calafiori, Raphael Varane and Javi Guerra | OneFootball

Matteo Moretto gives Football España exclusive information on the latest deals dominating the papers in Spain, as revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing.

Offers for Nico Williams and talk of Raphinha exit – where are Barcelona really at?

The only thing I can really tell you is that at the moment, somebody up front has to leave first, Barcelona have to have the security of selling someone to bring another in. There are not many spots up front, they have to resolve the Joao Felix issue…

Nico Williams is a target that, because of his price tag, is almost impossible for Chelsea. I’m told that they have ruled him out due to the economics of the deal.

For Barcelona it will be very difficult, because he has the release clause of €58m, then with taxes, that could be as much as nearly €60m. The release clause has a payment structure that does not make a deal easier either.

Williams is a player that is out of reach for Chelsea, and very difficult for Barcelona. It’s true that he would like to continue in Spain, and he has a lot of friends at Barcelona, but the finances will be crucial.

Other outlets have mentioned offers for Williams including Inigo Martinez – I don’t have any confirmation of that and I know that Athletic Club are asking for his release clause.

Riccardo Calafiori is not Real Madrid’s alternative to Leny Yoro

For Real Madrid, Leny Yoro is plan A, and at the moment, they are fully focused on him. They know the player has given Real Madrid absolute priority, and for that reason, because of that crucial detail, Real Madrid believe they are ahead of the others.

The player would rather go there than anywhere else. As I’ve been saying the last couple of weeks, we still need to see how much Real Madrid will offer Lille, and they will enter talks soon. There are Premier League clubs and Paris Saint-Germain, but Leny Yoro is their plan A, and I have absolutely no indications that there are any talks with Riccardo Calafiori.

Juventus are interested in Calafiori, but with the way this Euros is going, he is playing very well, he will have interest from the Premier League. Already Arsenal have asked about him, but I think there will be others too. It will be an auction at the end of Euro 2024. Right now, there are no other names for Real Madrid. They will do everything possible to sign Yoro.

Last Newcastle United enquiry for Javi Guerra was in winter

With Javi Guerra, there are clubs interested in him from Spain and England who have enquired about him, because he is one of the most promising Spanish talents.

Guerra’s future is something that could develop in the coming weeks, but won’t be resolved imminently. There are clubs that need to sell first, there is financial fair play to consider, but I think he will be discussed in the coming weeks. There’s definitely a chance he could leave, and there are sides that for now must remain nameless that are paying very close attention.

Manchester United and Newcastle United were linked with him a while ago, I don’t know if United have asked again. Newcastle sounded him out in January or February, but right now, my information is that they have not asked again, but we’ll see, because it’s very open.

Cesc Fabregas has called Raphael Varane to join him at Como

There have been enquiries from Saudi Arabia about Raphael Varane, but Como’s Cesc Fabregas is trying to convince him. He has called Varane, there has been direct contacts. He has not closed the door on Como, and right now they are working to turn a dream into a reality basically.

But for example, look at Pau Lopez. He has given top priority to Como, he doesn’t want to go to Genoa or any other clubs, either he goes to Como or he stays at Marseille. It’s a place where you live very well, there is a very ambitious project in terms of the money behind it, they are trying to move forward with Varane, and we’ll see how it goes, but they’re in the race. I would not rule it out.

Matteo Moretto will be back with more transfer news in the coming days, providing exclusive information on the biggest stories in Spain and Italy.