Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Wednesday morning has arrived and as always I’m up early to bring you all the latest transfer gossip in one sizeable portion of rumour debunking. Enough with the not so witty opening today, lets now crack on with the task in hand.
Gossip in standard font, my thoughts are in bold
United are looking to make a new bid for Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic, 28, with the Serie A side willing to cash in on the £48m-rated Croat. (Sky Italia – in Italian) This one keeps blowing hot and cold, one week he’s staying another he’s leaving. I would still consider this one a maybe
United will make a final push to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, 24, this week, but the La Liga champions are refusing to lower £72m asking price. (Independent) Real Madrid are really not making life easy for United, that said I’m surprised Morata is not trying to push a move away from the Santiago Bernabeu as his chances of first team football on a regular basis will once again be limited next season
Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, 24, arrived in London to complete a £36m move to Premier League champions Chelsea. (Daily Mirror) Half the price of what Virgil Van Dijk would potentially cost, smart business by Chelsea
Chelsea are considering a move for Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, 24. (Transfermarketweb – via Daily Star) Now that they have Willy Caballero in their ranks, surely this only becomes a starter should Thibault Courtois leave for Real Madrid
Manchester City have rejected Newcastle’s interest in a loan move for goalkeeper Joe Hart, 30. (Daily Mail) Surprising when the other day Pep Guardiola was ready to let him move to Manchester United, perhaps it has to be a permanent move only if Hart is to leave The Etihad for good
Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare has made a £20m bid for Watford striker Troy Deeney, 29. (Daily Mirror) If Deeney was to leave then Watford would demand more and also you have to consider will the club captain want to leave?
Liverpool have made a £14.9m bid to sign 21-year-old Lyon defender Emanuel Mammana. (Sport Review – via Daily Express) Who wants to be the first one to make The Muppets joke?
Juventus have offered Brazil left-back Alex Sandro £84,000 a week in an attempt to keep him. Chelsea are ready to pay £61m for the 26-year-old, in what would be a world-record deal for a defender. (London Evening Standard) Chelsea will not lie down just yet, I have a feeling that he will be wearing Blue next season
Arsenal’s 32-year-old midfielder Santi Cazorla, who has not played for the club since October 2016 because of an Achilles problem, may miss the whole of the 2017-18 season. (Daily Express) Could Cazorla be consigned to The Emirates scrapheap?
Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin, 22, has told the club he wants to leave, but manager Arsene Wenger has rejected the request. Barcelona want to re-sign the player in a £35m deal. (Daily Express) Barcelona are not going away in regards to their interest, although I’m not sure if they will complete a move for the player this summer. Maybe 12 months down the line will be when a move to the Nou Camp comes to fruition
Tottenham are looking at signing Alfie Mawson, 23, from Swansea or fellow defender Ben Gibson, 24, from Middlesbrough as they want to sell 24-year-old centre-back Kevin Wimmer for £20m. (Daily Mirror) This is exactly the kind of business that Tottenham should be looking at as Wimmer is one of the weaker players in the squad and Tottenham do require some more defensive backup. Either Mawson or Gibson would be a solid capture but whoever pays £20m for Kevin Wimmer is mental, he’s not worth that much. Then again it’s Daniel Levy we’re dealing with
Burnley have had an £8m bid for striker Britt Assombalonga, 24, rejected by Championship side Nottingham Forest. (Daily Mail) If they come back with a £10m bid then that might be enough for Forest to consider parting company with the ex Peterborough forward
Middlesbrough and Sunderland are considering a move for Leeds goalkeeper Rob Green, 37. (Yorkshire Evening Post) His career was never the same after that howler for England in the 2010 World Cup
Sunderland are close to securing season-long loan deals for Everton defenders Tyias Browning, 23, and Brendan Galloway, 21. (Sunderland Echo) What have they done to deserve that?
Crystal Palace are looking at signing Dutch defenders Joel Veltman, 25, and Kenny Tete, 21, from Ajax for a combined fee of around £10m. (Guardian) Veltman would be a good signing for the club, Tete perhaps not so much
Aston Villa boss Steve Bruce hopes the signing of John Terry will help the club impress more transfer targets – as they try to sign Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan, 33, and Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, 24. (Daily Star) The lure of working with John Terry may just be too much to turn down, then again it is John Terry so who knows
Newcastle United are considering a summer move for striker Andre Gray, 26, whose contract talks to stay at Burnley have hit difficulties. (Shields Gazette) Gray wants £100k a week, if Burnley do not give him that then someone eventually will.
