With six days and counting until the transfer window closes, it looks like the big clubs are getting their ducks in a row with some mega transfers imminent. Apparently.
Jose Mourinho, in typical Jose fashion, was telling Wayne Rooney last night that he must make his mind up in the next 24 hours about whether he is staying put or heading for pastures new. And it looks as though United and Chelsea hold the key to how much money is going to be spent before next Monday night.
Starting at Old Trafford, the club are being linked in most of the morning’s papers with a late swoop for Gareth Bale after Daniel Levy is rather perturbed with Real Madrid’s “arrogance” at the negotiation table. Whether it is simply a bargaining tool, or a genuine offer remains to be seen. The Sun quote a figure of £125 million, and that seems a little wide of the mark to us given that £86 million has been the fee touted by Madrid. The Red Devils have also joined Chelsea in the race to sign Porto’s French defender Eliaquim Mangala (The Daily Mirror) who is valued at £12m.
Marouane Felliani is being linked again with a £20 million move to Old Trafford (The Telegraph), with Leighton Baines watching on in the wings. The Sun say that James McCarthy is still the preferred replacement in the eyes of Roberto Martinez, but The Daily Telegraph suggest that Alan Pardew/Joe Kinnear are looking to bring in the Irish midfielder for £8 million should Yohan Cabaye make his move to Arsenal. At least McCarthy is an easy name to pronounce for Kinnear.
Will James be over the moon to sing a new Toon very soon?
Out-of-favour Juan Mata could well be staying in London after all. Despite the fact that Erik Lamela is set to sign for Spurs in a deal that is expected to break their transfer record for the third time this summer, AVB has shown interest in the Chelsea man. Relations between the clubs aren’t exactly at an all-time high after Willian was “stolen” under the noses of Tottenham, but Mata would certainly ease that pain.
Gareth Bale’s move to Spain is still having a big impact on Spurs’ Norf London rivals Arsenal. According to The Telegraph, the Gunners want to sign Real Madrid pair Mesut Ozil and Angel di Maria – but the deals hinge on whether the Spanish side land the Welsh wizard.
Elsewhere, Wenger has given up on Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita (The Times), Sunderland have agreed a loan deal for Inter Milan midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic – but fear Everton could scupper the move (The Express) with Paolo Di Canio obviously of the opinion you can never have enough players – while The Times says that Liverpool face strong competition to take Chelsea winger Victor Moses on loan with Newcastle, Everton, Schalke and AC Milan among those interested.
Finally, it is no secret that promoted teams face a serious battle to survive in top-flight. Generally they will lose far more than they win and will often come down to resilience, battling qualities and an ability to scrap for every point in order to preserve their coveted Premier League status. With that in mind Crystal Palace have shown interest (The Daily Mail) in one of the best scrappers around, with QPR’s Joey Barton lined up in a move from Loftus Road. What could possibly go wrong?
