This feels like a never-ending season. Just a couple of weeks back, Chelsea secured a spot in the Champions League by winning away at Nottingham Forest and then won the UEFA Conference League final against Real Betis. Now, preparations are underway with the Club World Cup around the corner and Liam Delap has already been signed, while moves for Mike Maignan and Jamie Gittens failed.

Quite a few surprising names were left out of Chelsea’s Club World Cup squad. One that caused controversy was Djordje Petrovic, who is coming off an stellar campaign away on loan at Strasbourg.

Even last summer, a lot of Chelsea fans believed that Petrovic was the best goalkeeper that the club had. Those feelings have only been strengthened with his Player of the Season-winning campaign with Strasbourg.

But as reported by The Telegraph, it was Petrovic who asked to be omitted from the Chelsea squad to focus on a move. He wants to be a guaranteed starter, something that the Blues cannot offer. Should the Serbian goalie fail to secure a permanent move away that meets his demand, will rejoin the squad for pre-season training.

Chelsea player asks to leave after fantastic season
Unfortunately, despite his great performance on loan at Strasbourg, it does not look like Enzo Maresca views Petrovic as a starter. In that situation, an exit might be the best path forward for the Serbian.

At 25 years of age, he needs to be starting games on a regular basis. He might not get that chance at Chelsea, even though they don’t have a settled number one.

One has to wonder why Chelsea did not try to sign Caoimhin Kelleher this summer, who ended up at Bournemouth for a £12.5 million initial fee. He is a Premier League-proven goalkeeper and would have been a great addition to the Blues. But it looks like the club are more concerned about finding the next gem rather than signing ones readily available.

Theprideoflondon.com

Barcelona have had Portuguese wonderkid on their radar for more than a year, despite the fact that he is only 16 years old. Now playing his football in Croatia, Barcelona appear to be nearing an agreement to sign Varela.

That much was reported last week, when it was said that Dinamo Zagreb and Barcelona had agreed a deal for Varela that would cost €5m plus €5m in variables. It was also noted that Dinamo only own 59% of his rights. On Thursday, Varela’s representative, who also represents goalkeeper Joan Garcia, was seen meeting with President Joan Laporta at the Ciutat Esportiva offices. Said agent Andy Bara was then seen having lunch with Director of Football Deco, Director Enric Masip, and recruitment assistant Bojan Krkic.

Cardoso Varela atop the agenda
It appears all of the terms have been agreed on a deal for Garcia, and Sport, via Sempre Barca, say that the main topic of discussion was Varela. Further details about the deal were revealed with a much higher fee than initially thought. The teenage starlet is set to remain at Dinamo for the coming year, before making the move, which will be worth €5m, but could rise as high as €25m depending commissions and variables.

Varela looks set for a move to Barcelona.
The deal is at an advanced stage, and is expected to reach a conclusion within the next month, one way or another. Previous reports have noted that Varela could have an important role in the Dinamo side next season, despite only featuring for the under-19s thus far.

Barcelona have employed similar structure in previous deals
It is not the first time that Barcelona have structured a deal in a similar manner. Pedri arrived from Las Palmas as a 17-year-old for €5m, and he also had a further €20m in bonuses in the deal, and the same was the case for another talented playmaker Pablo Torre. The latter moved from Racing Santander, but is yet to establish himself for Barcelona.

Football-espana.net

Leroy Sané has been linked with a move away from Bayern Munich for the past few days and signed a contract today with Galatasaray SK.

However, a new report suggests that Sané will be available to the team for at least the next couple of weeks, and will play in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.

According to Sky Sport’s Kerry Hau (as captured by @iMiaSanMia), Sané will join the team at their base camp in Orlando tomorrow, along with the other international players. Hau and Florian Plettenberg also said that it was the wish of coach Vincent Kompany to have Sané with the team for as long as possible. Bild (via @iMiaSanMia) confirmed the news as well.

Sané’s contract runs out on the last day of June. This would make him eligible for Bayern’s three group games against Auckland City, Boca Juniors, and SL Benfica, as well as a possible round of 16 clash against the winners or runners-up of Group D, which contains Chelsea, Flamengo, Los Angeles FC, and Espérance de Tunis from Tunisia.

Should Bayern advance past the round of 16, Sané would be ineligible for the quarterfinals onwards. It is unclear if the club will grant him a mini-extension to stay until the end of the tournament, as they did with the departing Thomas Müller, or if his new club will allow that to happen.

Whatever the case is, however, it looks like Sané will have one last dance in a Bayern shirt.

Bavarianfootballworks.com