Another day, more alleged twists in the Luis Suarez saga…
The newspapers obsession with Luis Suarez continues as three different outlets offer up three different stories on the Uruguayan today.
First off it’s the Mirror’s story that Chelsea have upped their bid for the striker, tabling a £40m offer as it seems they will now miss out on Edinson Cavani, who, like half of Europe, is almost certainly PSG bound.
The much-vaunted clause in Suarez contract, where he is allowed speak to other clubs, is triggered at the magic £40m mark so the Mirror reckons Roman Abramovich is willing to test the waters.
But the Mail has a different angle, suggesting that Liverpool had further talks with Suarez’s agent yesterday and told him they are determined to keep him.
And completing the roller coaster of Suarez stories is the Sun who say that Suarez has once again told Brendan Rodgers he wants to leave so he can play Champions League football next season. The plot doesn’t so much thicken as get more confusing by the day.
Away from Anfield the big news is that last night Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke handed in a formal transfer request. The big Belgian effectively kept Villa up with his goals last term so the scramble for his signature should be fierce.
Already, the Telegraph are suggesting he is Jose Mourinho’s top target at Chelsea. Spurs are also rumoured to be interested, especially as David Villa has now signed for Atletico Madrid for the frankly scandalous price of just €2.1m initially. An actual villa, as in a house, is more expensive.
Anyway, Villa are reported to want £25m for their star man, so let’s see who wants to pay that much for the admittedly talented 22-year-old.
One club who might is Arsenal. Just last week Gunners fans everywhere were licking their lips at the prospect of nabbing Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid. Now that deal has gone very quiet, there was the slightly weird low-ball bid for Luis Suarez and now they are being linked with Gareth Barry again in the Star.
In other news Loic Remy might be called Mike Rennie by Joe Kinnear next year if a deal to Newcastle comes to pass (Mirror), Man City are kicking the tyres on Stevan Jovetic (Sun) and Chelsea are interested in bringing Norwich stopper John Ruddy to Stamford Bridge. The Canaries might take Celtic’s Fraser Forster to replace him (Sun).
Finally, Roberto Martinez is continuing his mission to recreate Wigan circa 2010-11 as he wants to bring Victor Moses to Everton from Chelsea (Mail).
