Liverpool looked to have all but sealed a deal for Henrikh Mkhitaryan until Borussia Dortmund complicated matters and new Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is set to go all out to land Gareth Bale.
One of the noticeable things about Liverpool in the transfer market this summer is that they seem determined to get their business done good and early, with deals for the likes of Kolo Touré, Luis Alberto and Simon Mignolet already completed. It looked as if Henrikh Mkhitaryan was all set to join the Rodgers revolution at Anfield until German giants Borussia Dortmund entered the race, which has complicated matters quite a bit.
The Sun are claiming today that Dortmund have lodged a bid of £19.5 million for the Armenian international and that Liverpool will not only have to stump up as much as £25 million for his signature, but that they’ll have to do so in the next ten days.
As far as Liverpool’s outgoings are concerned, it seems a matter of time before Luis Suarez heads out the exit door on Merseyside, but it could be an ugly exit with the Daily Telegraph speculating that Liverpool are investigating whether Suarez may have breached the terms of his contract amid claims in Marca that he has already agreed personal terms with Real Madrid.
Following Suarez out the door at Liverpool could be Jonjo Shelvey, with both The Sun and the Daily Mirror saying that he is on the verge of a move to Swansea for around five million quid.
Although Suarez seems bound for Real Madrid, Los Blancos are going to have to try a bit harder to lure primary target Gareth Bale to the Spanish capital, but many papers this morning reckon that new boss Carlo Ancelotti will be given the means to do so.
The Times say that Real will offer Gonzalo Higuain plus Fabio Coentrao plus a fair wad of cash in an attempt to persuade Spurs to part with their Welsh wizard, with the Daily Mirror adding that Angel di Maria might be thrown into the mix as well. They’ll have to come up with a good offer to convince ace negotiator Daniel Levy, who was last seen going into an igloo with a suitcase full of ice and leaving with a big wad of cash in his hand (selling ice to an Eskimo for those of you who didn’t grasp that unnecessarily complicated analogy).
Should Coentrao move to London you’d imagine he would be first choice and embarrassing incidents like the one below would surely be avoided.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vb9UMZDjTA
The mention of Higuain as part of the deal will surely worry Arsenal fans but The Star are claiming that not only is that deal still on, but that the Gunners are still hopeful of being able to pair him with Wayne Rooney next season, having come up with a lucrative financial package that might just turn the Man United striker’s head.
Elsewhere, meanwhile, Everton manager Roberto Martinez is hoping to raid former club Wigan for Arouna Kone and Antolin Alacaraz by the end of the week (Daily Mail), Norwich will pay Celtic £5 million to take striker Gary Hooper off their hands (Daily Mirror) and in an effort to promote a united front at Newcastle, Joe Kinnear’s first mission as Director of Football will be to chase the signings of Alan Pardew’s two main targets, Darren Bent and James Tomkins (Daily Mirror).
