Transfer Talk: No deal for Dunne, Higuain to Arsenal and Toure to Liverpool?

JOE's daily transfer tattle feature returns for the summer, with a couple of crackers to kick it off.

With the football almost out of the way, it’s time that transfer rumours took their rightful place at the top of the football agenda again. It is, gulp, 105 days until the transfer window slams shut on September 2 and we will bring you all the best, worst and most entertaining rumours between now and them. You never know, some of them will even turn out to be true.

We start with home news and after an entire season on the sidelines, Aston Villa have let Irish defender Richard Dunne go. The Telegraph are reporting that he will not be offered a new deal when his current one runs out at the end of June.

At 33, and on £50,000 a week, we can understand why Paul Lambert made the decision but our worry is where does he go next? Ireland could still do with him at the back, especially if we get our World Cup qualification hopes back on track.

A move to the MLS, with New York, was mooted a few times last season but unless the Dubliner gets fit, he won’t be playing for anyone. We wish you all the best Richard, he deserves another shot at a decent club.

In other Villa news, the same paper reports that Stephen Ireland and Shay Given may also be on the way, but as they are under contract, Lambert may find them hard to shift. Good luck with that one Paul.

Away from Villa, the biggest rumour doing the rounds today is the one linking Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuaín with a move to Arsenal. Most papers report that the Argentinian is Arsene Wenger’s top summer target and at a rumoured £19million, he seems like a decent purchase to us. It appears the Spanish giants want rid and at 25, his best years are probably still ahead of him.

The other big story today is the news that Liverpool look set to take Kolo Toure off of Manchester City’s hands. The former Arsenal man is available on a free and with Jamie Carragher gone and Martin Skrtel frozen out, the Reds do need a new central defender.

After a rather chequered time at City (failed drug test, alter-ego car salesman episode) Liverpool will be hoping the 32-year-old rediscovers his old form.

Elsewhere, Gareth Bale is staying at Spurs, for a hefty new weekly wedge, Falcao is leaving Atletico Madrid, causing Manchester City to get all flustered like a guy on a first date while Wigan have slapped a £15m price tag on Ireland’s James McCarthy. Seems cheap to us...