Chelsea, a failed market; Thomas Tuchel and Zinedine Zidane discussed at Real Madrid; Lionel Messi, a monster offer from Saudi Arabia is ready. Here are some of the main stories over the last few days of the transfer market from TribalFootball's transfer expert Rudy Galetti.

CHELSEA - A FAILED SEASON ALSO IN THE MARKET

More than €320m spent in the January transfer market was not enough to solve Chelsea's problems this season. The signing of Enzo Fernandez not only was the biggest deal on deadline day, but with the Argentinian midfielder the Blues broke the record for the most expensive transfer ever in the Premier League.

Chelsea, a few weeks earlier, had already been protagonists by snatching from Arsenal - with a contract of eight and a half years - Mykahylo Mudryk, for the sum of €70m plus another 30 in bonuses paid into the coffers of Shakhtar Donetsk. Despite this, the results don't come: an anonymous 10th place in the EPL, early exit from the FA Cup and Carabao Cup and a Champions League eighth-final to be overturned in the 2nd leg. The situation of Graham Potter, much contested by the fans, is not going so well.

To add complexity, there is also the renewal of Mason Mount, which could become a soap opera. His contract will expire in June 2024, but the talks for his extension in recent weeks have cracked, above all because the player no longer feels at the centre of the Chelsea project. This could lead to his farewell in the summer, with Liverpool ready to take advantage of it in case the Jude Bellingham deal fails.

INTER TRY TO HEAD OFF COMPETITION FOR THURAM

We already anticipated it a few weeks ago: if Marcus Thuram hadn't moved in January, Inter could play a leading role in signing the French striker in the summer as a free agent. And so it is: the Nerazzurri, in fact, are trying to anticipate the competition for the Borussia Mönchengladbach player.

With the contract expiring in June, the Frenchman will not renew with the German club and he's already free to sign with any foreign club. For this reason, the Sporting Director of the Nerazzurri, Beppe Marotta, has already made an initial proposal to the entourage of Thuram: a 4-year contract at €2.7m-a-season. The negotiation is ready to speed up in the coming weeks, when the response of the player - who would like to wait for other offers before making a definitive decision – is expected.

However, Inter are not only working to strengthen the attack: with the ever-increasing hypothesis of a farewell for Marcelo Brozovic in the summer, the Nerazzurri continue to remain on the track of Franck Kessié, but the profile of Roberto Pereyra, whose contract with Udinese will expire in June, is on the list too. In defence, with the departure of a pillar like Milan Skriniar, destination Paris, keep an eye on Benjamin Pavard, with Bayern Munich open to selling him in the summer, and on the young Zeno Debast (RSC Anderlecht).

LOZANO COULD SAY GOODBYE TO NAPOLI AT SEASON'S END

Hirving Lozano is one of the most important players of Napoli, even if in the last period he is certainly not one of the most fit in the squad. If, on the pitch, Matteo Politano can be a great alternative, replacing him as best as possible in order to fill the gaps left by the Mexican right-winger, on the contractual front coach Luciano Spalletti seems to have some more worries thinking about next season.

In fact, Lozano would seem to have reached a gentleman's agreement with the board for his farewell at the end of the season. The former PSV player and Napoli would have agreed to spend another season together (the current one) before saying goodbye in the summer of 2023. With a contract expiring in June 2024, his great desire for the Premier League could come true in a few months.

This is why Napoli are already working to find a quality replacement: at the moment, Adama Traore is the low-cost profile at the top of the Italian club's list. The Spanish winger, despite Wolves' attempts to renew his contract, is looking around with his entourage to evaluate all alternatives for next season. The situation remains open to any scenario, with likely developments in the coming weeks.

ANCELOTTI - FUTURE IN THE BALANCE

The paths of Carlo Ancelotti and Real Madrid could separate at the end of the season. The poor performance of the Blancos in recent weeks is causing discontent within the Spanish management who did not like the team's results in LaLiga and, above all, in the Super Cup, lost against Barcelona.

This is why the hypothesis that Real Madrid could change the coach next season is increasingly advancing. The victory of the Club World Cup against Al Hilal certainly gave the Italian manager some oxygen, but the gap of 8 points with the Blaugrana in LaLiga still weighs a ton for a club that always hungers to win everything. That's why the Spanish team has started evaluating possible replacements for Don Carlo.

Thomas Tuchel is the most convincing name, together with Raul and Zinedine Zidane who, somewhat surprisingly, could consider yet another return to the Real Madrid bench. In any case, all evaluations on Carlo Ancelotti's possible farewell will be made at the end of the season, when Florentino Perez and the coach of records will meet to discuss the future.

MESSI - ARAB SIRENS FOR THE ARGENTINE

Al Hilal will not give up on Leo Messi: after reaching the 2nd place in the Club World Cup, now the Arab club wants to indulge in an exclusive purchase, trying to convince the Argentine world champion to embrace the Saudi project.

In recent weeks, a first proposal to the PSG player's entourage had already been made, but Messi politely refused. Now, however, the Saudi Arabian club would like to send a new increased bid. For this reason, there are internal assessments at Al Hilal about the offer: under discussion the idea is to double the salary of Cristiano Ronaldo – putting on the table around $400/450m per season - to convince Leo to land in the Saudi League.

And that's not all: also the Ministry of Sports of Saudi Arabia is fully committed to facilitate the transfer of the Argentine player to Al Hilal. However, as it stands, it remains a difficult move, but the club coached by Ramon Diaz is ready to do their best to convince Messi. At the moment, the PSG player, whose contract expires at the end of the season, hasn't yet decided what to do with his future: everything is still to be determined and the Arabs are now really hoping for him.