Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
The weekend is almost upon us and that means we have a bumper amount of transfer gossip to dish out this morning, it might be better to put the comfy trousers on as this could be something of a gut buster. Let’s get debunking.
As always – gossip in plain text, may views in bold
Chelsea want Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone to replace Antonio Conte as head coach at the end of the season. (Times – requires subscription) Always murmurs of Conte wanting to return to Italy, or at least his wife does. Simeone would be a very adequate replacement but don’t read too much into this at the moment.
Chelsea have stepped up their bid to sign Everton and England midfielder Ross Barkley, 24, and have also enquired about England and West Ham striker Andy Carroll, 28. (Mail) One is almost a DONE DEAL. The other would be something of a surprise for two factors, one will West Ham want to sell while secondly his injury proneness.
Celtic and Scotland international Kieran Tierney, 20, has been included on a shortlist of left-backs Manchester United are considering to strengthen their defence, along with Fulham’s English youngster Ryan Sessegnon, 17. (Daily Record) The more left-backs that Manchester United look at the less chance of Danny Rose moving to Old Trafford which is all good.
Alternatively Paris St-Germain will rival Tottenham for the signature of £30m-rated Sessegnon. (Mirror) Seems as left-backs are going to be in demand either this month or come the end of the season.
Juventus are confident they will be able to sign Emre Can from Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer. The Serie A side have offered the 23-year-old £85,000 a week. (Guardian) The longer Can goes without signing a contract then the likelihood of a move to Juventus increases.
EDIT: DONE DEAL? According to Sky Sports Italy it is….
Manchester United have triggered year-long contract extensions with Spanish midfielders Juan Mata, 29, and Ander Herrera, 28, England left-back Ashley Young, 32, and Dutch defender Daley Blind, 27. (Mirror) Supposedly they were selling Juan Mata yesterday, so don’t believe everything you read in the papers.
Manchester United desperately want Juventus left-back Sandro but are being frustrated by the Italian club’s reluctance to sell the 26-year-old. (Express) Another left back, another player linked with Manchester United.
Tottenham are poised to offer improved new contracts to England striker Harry Kane, 24, and Belgium defender Toby Alderweireld, 28. (Independent) Give them exactly what they want and more
Marseille are interested in Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere but the 26-year-old wants to remain with the Gunners. (Mail) Far easier to stay in the Premier League I guess, remember when Joe Cole went to Lille?
Monaco head coach Leonardo Jardim says they have no intention of selling France forward Thomas Lemar, 22, to Liverpool during the January window. (Liverpool Echo) That means Liverpool’s hopes of getting a ready made replacement for Philippe Coutinho if he moves have been hampered.
Paris St-Germain boss Unai Emery has opened the door for Brazil winger Lucas Moura, 25, and France winger Hatem Ben Arfa, 30, to leave the club in January. (L’Equipe – in French) To be honest, PSG have such an embarrassment of riches that these two are obviously surplus to requirements.
Belgium international Thibaut Courtois, 25, is close to signing a new Chelsea contract after the club offered him a deal in excess of £200,000 a week to become the best paid goalkeeper in the world. (Telegraph) Bad news for Real Madrid fans
Chelsea defender David Luiz, 30, is desperate to leave the club and hopes Real Madrid may be interested. (Mundo Deportivo – via Express) More bad news for Real Madrid fans
Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is considering a move for Watford’s captain Troy Deeney, 29. (Northern Echo) Deeney is always linked with moves away from Vicarage Road, can you ever see him leaving though? I doubt he will be calling Newcastle home anytime soon.
Newcastle and Burnley are interested in signing Spanish midfielder Jonathan Viera, 28, from Las Palmas. (Telegraph) More of a Newcastle signing than a Burnley one in all fairness, be interesting to see how this one pans out.
Sunderland are close to signing 18-year-old Liverpool forward Ben Woodburn on a loan deal. (Star) Cookie Coleman playing the Welsh card to good use there.
Everton are interested in Nice and Ivory Coast midfielder Jean Michael Seri, 26. (Sky Sports) With Ross Barkley now set to move to Stamford Bridge this means there will be an extra £15m to use for the capture of the Nice midfielder.
Everton boss Sam Allardyce does not want to let striker Sandro Ramirez, 22, leave on loan in January but admits it may be out of his hands. (Liverpool Echo) Always a big ask for him to replace Romelu Lukaku’s goalscoring stature. A loan move to Spain may now work out for the best.
Besiktas are interested in Leicester and Algeria striker Islam Slimani, 29. (Leicester Mercury) Leicester have a fair few strikers at their disposal and a lot of them are not getting the game time they would have hoped for. Iheanacho being another one.
Barcelona are closing in on a deal for Palmeiras’ Colombia centre-back Yerry Mina, 23. (Marca) Will he join the long list of Barcelona’s somewhat dodgy defenders?
Manchester City remain focused on signing a defender in January in order to cope with the demands of several competitions. (Manchester Evening News) Inigo Martinez and Johnny Evans are repeatedly in the frame as players who could link up with this all conquering squad.
Bayern Munich’s comments about Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka have angered the club’s hierarchy, boosting Liverpool’s position in signing the 22-year-old. (Star) Earlier in the week Bayern were meant to have won the race to sign Goretzka, basically it’s all nonsense isn’t it
Former Bundesliga manager Jos Luhukay is a contender to replace Carlos Carvalhal as the new Sheffield Wednesday head coach. (Yorkshire Post) Whooooooooooooo?
