Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Where have you been I hope you have been asking. Well after a weekend of “Scouting” that was followed by a few days of feeling somewhat below par – truth be told, I’m too old for these kind of “scouting trips” but do I learn? no I do not. Anyway enough about me, you’ve only arrived for the transfer gossip and thankfully I have a whole host of it. So without further ado here is Thursday’s bumper serving
Gossip in standard font, my thoughts are in bold
Liverpool have placed a £133m price tag on attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho, 25, to scare off Barcelona. (Mirror) That is all very well but if Barcelona receive £198m for Neymar then it is still small change to them
Chelsea failed in a late bid to buy Kyle Walker, 27, from Tottenham. The England right-back moved to Manchester City for an initial £45m. (Evening Standard) I don’t think that would have gone down too well with the Tottenham fanbase had Walker moved to Chelsea
Huddersfield Town head coach David Wagner says the club will listen to offers for 27-year-old Bermuda striker Nahki Wells. (Huddersfield Daily Examiner) I would expect those offers to be that of a Championship level
Swansea City are tracking Leeds United striker Chris Wood, but face competition from two other Premier League clubs for the 25-year-old New Zealand international. (Wales Online) Wood you believe it?
Watford striker Obbi Oulare, 21, is set for a loan move to Belgian club Royal Antwerp. (Watford Observer) I’ve genuinely never heard of this player, I would not be surprised if Watford haven’t either
Burnley boss Sean Dyche says his business in the transfer window is not yet done, after signing Stoke City’s 32-year-old defender Phil Bardsley. (Burnley Express) Since when have Burnley started buying up all the scraps from Stoke. Second season syndrome anyone?
Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock says “a couple” of clubs have shown interest in winger Craig Noone, 29, this summer, but there has been no contact for any of his other players. (Wales Online) That way you cannot say noone cares about the former Brighton man (Sorry)
Paris St-Germain remain confident of concluding a £198m deal to sign Barcelona’s 25-year-old forward Neymar within the next 15 days. (L’Equipe – in French, subscription required) Is this the point where football finally eats itself?
A move by Real Madrid for France and Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe, 18, could see Real’s winger Gareth Bale, 28, join Manchester United. (Independent) The move does have to be funded to a certain degree so out of the BBC, Bale will be the one who is expendable
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says his club have the finances to challenge Real Madrid for the signing of Mbappe.(Mail) £160m for a 18 year old – stop the world I want to get off
Meanwhile, Bale has rejected a possible move to Arsenal. The Gunners wanted the Wales international to replace Alexis Sanchez.(Don Balon, via Star) After his history with Tottenham, no chance of that
Midfielder Jack Wilshere, 25, wants to stay in England if he leaves Arsenal. (ESPN) Not many suitors for him though, West Ham perhaps but he may have to drop his lofty ambitions
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has given the clearest indication yet that Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 35, will re-sign for the club. (Times – subscription required) Never go back Zlatan….never go back
Manchester United are still keen to sign Chelsea’s 28-year-old midfielder Nemanja Matic, and believe they can persuade the Premier League champions to sell for a fee over £40m. (Independent) Will Chelsea want to do business though after “Lukaku-Gate”
Borussia Dortmund’s Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino, 21, is close to signing for Newcastle. (Evening Chronicle) Is that a chink in the Newcastle transfer armour?
France centre-back Mamadou Sakho, 27, has not been included in Liverpool’s 30-man squad for their three-match tour of Germany.(Liverpool Echo) Who will stump up the £30m required to land the services of the French international?
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte says if he could buy any striker in the world, he would go for Tottenham’s 23-year-old forward Harry Kane.(Daily Mail) Which will not be happening anytime soon
Everton boss Ronald Koeman wants to sign three more players – a centre-back, a forward and Swansea’s 27-year-old attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.(Mirror) Everton’s quest to sign everyone this summer continues
Birmingham are close to signing 33-year-old Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing. (Mirror) Triffic
Birmingham boss Harry Redknapp had his picture taken with potential signing Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, 26, in a pre-season friendly match between Huddersfield Town and Italian side Udinese. (Birmingham Mail) Double Triffic
