Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid could spark a host of departures from the Bernabeu, with Manchester United and Arsenal amongst a host of clubs looking to profit from the leftovers.
Many of you unfortunate to have sat through the rather lame Ashton Kutcher movie of the same name will probably never want to hear the term ‘butterfly effect’ again, but basically it is the term for the phenomenon whereby a small change at one place in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.
Now that Gareth Bale’s move is (finally) on the verge of being completed – Real Madrid have set up a stage in the Bernabeu and everything – it could set in motion a change of events that see a number of current Madrid players depart for pastures new, or so the papers would have you believe at least.
With Real paying over the odds, and then some, for the Welsh wizard, they’re probably going to need some money coming back in to help fill that rather large change jar and the Daily Star say that the first man out the door could be Mesut Ozil, with Manchester United reported to be preparing a £30 million bid following an end to their pursuit of Cesc Fabregas.
Earlier this week, Arsenal were linked with a swoop for Ozil’s teammates Angel di Maria and Karim Benzema, but Marca, who are *cough* as straight as they come with regard to transfer stories *cough* reckon that Manchester United and PSG also want Di Maria and say that United might challenge Spurs for Fabio Coentrao while they’re at it.
Speaking of Benzema and that butterfly effect thing again, the Guardian say that Wenger’s hopes of signing his fellow countryman are reliant on Real following up on Bale with the signature of Luis Suarez, whom Arsenal seem to have given up on at this stage.
That’s a hell of a lot of moves that seem dependent on what Real Madrid do over the next couple of days but with just over a week left until transfer deadline day, the clubs involved should be prepared to act fast.
As well as being linked with Ozil, Di Maria, Coentrao and virtually every player in Europe this season, David Moyes has not given up on his pursuit of Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini from his old club, even if the manner in which he is going about it is putting more noses out of joint than Duncan Ferguson used to at Goodison Park.
Moyes is quoted widely as basically saying that he would find it hard to stand in the way of both of his targets leaving the club if he was still in charge of Everton, which is a bit rich considering that he’s doing something likewise with Wayne Rooney and kicked up an awful fuss when Manchester City poached Joleon Lescott from the Toffees a few years back.
Elsewhere, The Star say that Manchester City are going to scour Europe for a central defender in light of injuries to Vincent Kompany and other City defenders but they don’t go into too much detail about specific targets.
The Sun have taken a similar approach to Brendan Rodgers’ hunt for a left winger so he can move Philippe Coutinho into a more central role on a permanent basis, but maybe they’ll join everyone else in the queue for Angel di Maria referenced earlier on.
Finally, Ki Sung-Yueng is set to be released from Swansea and could be moved on loan to Sunderland (The Sun), Bebe could be on his way out of Manchester United to Pacos de Ferreira (The Sun) and former Fulham striker Mladen Petric is wanted by Championship outfit Reading (The Daily Mail).
