Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
You wait for one BBC Gossip Column to be debunked and then two come along at once – yes that’s right unbeknown to me they are now updating it twice a day which means you end up getting twice the debunking. So without further ado, here are my thoughts on the afternoon transfer gossip.
Gossip in standard font, my thoughts are in bold
Arsene Wenger is set for talks with France forward Olivier Giroud, 30, over his future as Arsenal seek to complete a club-record deal for Lyon’s France striker Alexandre Lacazette, 26. (Evening Standard) It looks like au revoir for Giroud as he will not want to give up regular game time in a World Cup season especially as Lacazette is a direct rival for his French shirt
Leicester City will have to offer at least £40m to even tempt Swansea City into discussing a possible deal for Iceland playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson, 27. (Leicester Mercury) One of those situations where Swansea will not want to sell their talisman to a Premier League counterpart but money does always have a habit of talking, sometimes though it is better to hold on to the player.
Liverpool are interested in signing Kylian Mbappe, 18, but they are not convinced that the France and Monaco striker wants to move to England. (Sky Sports) Even I’m interested in buying Mbappe, I just can’t see him moving to Anfield
Manchester United’s hopes of signing Croatia winger Ivan Perisic, 28, have suffered a setback, with Inter Milan’s new boss Luciano Spalletti desperate to keep the 28-year-old. (Corriere dello Sport via Daily Mail) If this is the case then Spalletti has obviously had a change of heart as he was set to let Perisic leave a fortnight ago. Then again do United really need him?
Liverpool target Naby Keita has been told he can leave RB Leipzig, but the German club want £70m for the 22-year-old Guinea midfielder. (Guardian) I think Leipzig need to lay off the energy drinks if you ask me
Stoke’s Switzerland forward Xherdan Shaqiri, 25, has dismissed rumours linking him with a move to Roma. (Blick via Stoke Sentinel) Yes I can see the how easy it is to decide to not live in Rome instead of Stoke
Tottenham are well placed to sign Barcelona’s Spain midfielder Carles Alena and the 19-year-old could be available for 3m euros (£2.63m). (AS) I wrote about this one here
Former Spurs midfielder Paulinho, 28, will cost Barcelona 40m euros (£35.1m) – the value of Guangzhou Evergrande’s release clause. (Sport – in Spanish) I also wrote about this one, you can read it here
