Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal has slammed the club’s hierarchy after he was informed that he was surplus to requirements this summer.

Vidal has been linked with a return to Serie A, with Juventus and Inter Milan mooted as potential destinations for the 33-year-old midfielder.

Meanwhile, talisman Lionel Messi has handed in a transfer request and is looking to leave in what would be a hammer blow to the Catalan giants

“The last three years are not what a team like Barcelona deserves,” Vidal told Daniel Habif’s YouTube channel.

“The best team in the world cannot have 13 professional players. You cannot always win with DNA. Messi is the best in the world, an extraterrestrial, but he needs help so that better results can be achieved.

“I have never understood placing the players with that word [transferable]. It is very ugly. If a player wants to leave or you want to sell him, find him a team but don’t say so. It is to pass it on, and each person needs respect.”

New Chelsea signing Thiago Silva’s agent has blasted former Arsenal manager Unai Emery.

The two spent time together at PSG but Paulo Tonietto has laid into the former Gunners boss.

He told L’Equipe: “PSG lost two years the day they appointed him.

“His problem is that he has trouble managing the stars. When he went to Arsenal, the first player he got angry with was Mesut Ozil.

“He’s a good coach to play in the Europa League, not the Champions League. The suit was too big for him. He was a terrible coach for PSG.

“If there had been a coach of another calibre during these two years, PSG would have already won the Champions League.”

Petr Cech has given his verdict on Kepa Arrizabalaga and his future at Chelsea after a number of errors.

Several stars have been linked with Chelsea including Alphonse Areola, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Mike Maignan and Jan Oblak.

The latest player in Lampard’s sights is Rennes ace Edouard Mendy, who the Blues will be making a revised offer for.

It spells doom for Kepa but Chelsea technical advisor Cech has handed him a lifeline.

“Kepa struggled last season, that is unquestionable,” he told Sport.cz.

“But the club invested in him and gave him a long-term contract because they believe he has the qualities and attributes to be successful.

“Additions will be made to the squad, perhaps even in goal, and this is what is being discussed now.”

Frank Lampard has warned Chelsea fans not to get ahead of themselves over their high expectations concerning new players joining the team.

The Blues have sent fans into meltdown with a raft of super signings including Ben Chilwell, Timo Werner and Thiago Silva.

Lampard told the club’s website: “We have an idea to try to add to improve, as you should do at a club of our level.

“We know that has not been absolutely possible for us, and we knew the ban and all this talk, and it was important for me to try to improve the squad and with the players that we are bringing in.

“It feels that way, but we need to be careful of getting too far ahead of ourselves because we need to give time to players to come in and adapt to the way I want us to play and to their team-mates.

“But I think the moves we are making our positive, so I am excited and then it is up to us to get our heads down and work very hard.”

Inter Milan are reportedly set for a mass exodus with Diego Godin and Marcelo Brozovic the first out to make way for N’Golo Kante and Arturo Vidal.

Antonio Conte is expected to flog at least eight valuable assets to raise enough cash to spend on Inter’s summer targets in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Inter chief Beppe Marotta and sporting director Piero Ausilio have been working overtime to revamp the squad to give Conte a title-winning side, according to Gazzetta.

The Italian outfit is said to be in the market for big players who are coming to the end of their contracts rather than up and coming youngsters.

Vidal’s Barcelona future appears on the rocks as he looks destined to leave this summer as part of new boss Ronald Koeman’s mass revamp.

Former Chelsea boss Conte is also keen to forge a reunion with Blues ace Kante, having prized him away from Premier League-winning Leicester in 2016.

Kai Havertz looks set to complete his big-money move to Chelsea after Bayer Leverkusen confirmed they do not expect him to train with them again.

The playmaker, 21, is set for a £90million move to the Premier League and has now linked up with Germany ahead of their Nations League games.

According to Leverkusen boss Peter Bosz, that means he has already had his final training session at the club as they plan for life without their talisman.

“Unfortunately, our squad has not yet been determined,” Bosz said on Monday.

“I don’t expect Kevin Volland and Kai Havertz to train with us again.”

Thiago Silva’s agent has confirmed reports indicating that Paris Saint-Germain made a last-ditch effort to stop the defender’s move to Chelsea.

The 35-year-old joined the west London club last week on free transfer, with the defender signing a one-year deal with an option for a second season.

According to the Brazil international’s representative, Paulo Tonietto, PSG sporting director Leonardo offered Silva a contract extension last Tuesday, but the player had already committed to Chelsea by then.

Tonietto says Leonardo initially did not want to keep him in the French capital, but ended up turning back on that decision by proposing a new contract after the agreement with the Blues was reached.

“He had given up hope [on a new contract offer] because Leonardo told him two months ago that he did not want to extend it,” Tonietto told L’Equipe as cited by Goal.

“But last Tuesday, Leonardo called Thiago and raised the possibility that he would stay another year.

“Thiago had already reached an agreement with Chelsea, there was no turning back. When you make such a proposal, you have to be convinced. A sporting director who tells a player he doesn’t want him anymore, and two months later wants to extend it, how do you take that?”

Tonietto says that PSG coach Thomas Tuchel had hoped to hold onto the former AC Milan star, but there was no chance of him agreeing to stay after Leonardo said his time in the French capital was up.

“In a club, the sporting director and the coach have to walk together. This was not the case,” he added. “Tuchel always wanted to keep Thiago. Leonardo was the one who didn’t want to, and he’s the one with the power.

“That’s why, even if he hadn’t signed with Chelsea, Thiago couldn’t see how he could have accepted Leonardo’s proposal given what he had told him two months earlier. It would have been humiliating.

“We never talked about money or the length of the contract. Never. Leonardo just said he wasn’t counting on him anymore. Nothing more.”

There are reports that Inter boss Antonio Conte wants a reunion with Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante.

The former Chelsea manager signed the Frenchman from Leicester City and the midfielder has since been a key figure in the Blues line-ups.

And, according to Tuttomercatoweb, Conte wants to recruit the 29-year-old midfielder again with Inter keen to sign him on loan with a view to a permanent €50million (£44.5m) move.

Chelsea are seeking to raise funds for two more signings after splashing out on Timo Werner, Ben Chilwell, Hakim Ziyech and Thiago Silva.

Conte is keen to add a sixth Premier League player to his squad.

He last year signed Romelu Lukaku, Christian Eriksen, Ashley Young, Victor Moses and Alexis Sanchez.

Football Italia report that the coach has taken full control of transfer strategy, which was one of the main reasons behind the crisis talks with President Steven Zhang just days after the Europa League Final.

Because of his suggestions, the Nerazzurri pulled out of their deal for Sandro Tonali, leaving the Brescia midfielder to Milan instead.

They are focusing now on more experienced figures, such as Barcelona outcast Arturo Vidal and Tottenham Hotspur man Tanguy Ndombele.

And, just like Chelsea, the Nerazzurri need to sell in order to raise funds, with exits for the likes of Roberto Gagliardini, Matias Vecino, Marcelo Brozovic and Eriksen.

Frank Lampard has explained what Chelsea’s new boy Thiago Silva is bringing to the club.

The 35-year-old defender joined the west London club on free transfer during the week.

The Brazilian left Paris Saint-Germain after the Lique 1 giants lost the Champions League final to Bayern Munich in Lisbon.

Now, the Chelsea boss claims that the veteran defender is adding quality leadership and experience to the Stamford Bridge side.

He told the club’s website that: “With Thiago Silva, we are looking at a player I know very well, pretty much as we all do.

“He brings great experience for us, he is still playing at a massively high level, as we saw in the Champions League final and games towards the final, so I expect him to come and bring that, bring his experience, leadership and his qualities. It is going to be very important for us.

“We have a relatively young squad, we saw that last year, there were games afterwards when I was probably asking for more voice and some more leadership in different ways and he brings that naturally straightaway, and also on the pitch he can help talk and be the player that he is which means affecting others. On those levels I hope he brings that.

“I am pretty sure he will with the qualities we know he has, so I am excited for when he joins up.”

The Blues coach went head-to-head with his new signing during his playing days and was recently reminded about the time they both captained their countries in a 2-2 draw in an international friendly seven years ago.

“I got sent that picture the other day, of us shaking hands at the kick-off. Unfortunately, I am a bit older now and memories of all these games are not crystal clear!” Lampard added.

“But I do have memories, it was a special game, I think it was the reopening of the Maracana.

“It was a very difficult game and I remember Thiago Silva and Neymar and all those players. It was a tough game, we got a good result there.

“It was a pleasure to play up against him because when a player has had the career he has had and achieved what he has achieved, it is not by luck, it is not by anything other than hard work and pure talent and hopefully he is bringing that to the club.

“Now we are in slightly different roles, I am doing my job here and he is coming in to help on the pitch, and let’s hope it works.”

Reports in England state that Malang Sarr could be heading straight off to Germany on loan to long-term admirers Bayer Leverkusen in a sweetener to help Chelsea get a deal for Kai Havertz over the line.

The former Nice defender joined the Blues on free transfer during the week, but is expected, according to the Daily Mail, to move to Germany.

Meanwhile, Havertz missed Bayer Leverkusen’s performance tests over the weekend as he closes in on a transfer to Chelsea, according to Bild.

Our Story: Transfer is getting closer! Kai Havertz did not take part of the performance test today of @bayer04fussball (he
completed the Corona tests on Friday and Saturday because he needs them for the national team) @ChelseaFC @PippoArens @BILD_Sport #LONDONCALLING

— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) August 30, 2020

The 21-year-old did attend the club’s headquarters on Friday and Saturday as he reported for two coronavirus tests, as he is required to carry them out for his upcoming national team matches with Germany.

Chelsea have been pursuing the attacking midfielder for some time, as they continue to spend big in their summer rebuild under manager Frank Lampard.

Earlier in the window, fellow Germany team-mate Timo Werner made the switch from RB Leipzig to Stamford Bridge, with Havertz reportedly taking baby steps closer to following him.

The Blues recently added Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell to their growing list of new signings, as the England international made a £50million move to London.

They also announced the signing of Thiago Silva on free transfer from PSG, as well as French defender Malang Sarr.

The German wonderkid is set to cost Chelsea around £90million, with the finer details of the deal being the biggest negotiating factor in the drawn out transfer saga.

The Premier League side were hoping to secure Havertz’ signature for £70million, but Leverkusen stuck by their £90m valuation.