Ah transfer rumours. The fuel that gently propels us towards another season while allowing us to poke fun at the veritable cavalcade of missed Manchester United signings. The Premier League doesn’t kick off for almost a month so there’s plenty of time for speculation.
Speaking of which, in what is the worst price mark-up since Freddo bar to an outrageous 30c, Manchester United have reportedly offered an offensive €124m for Paul Pogba. As is often the case with United transfer rumours, this is to be taken with a hefty dose of salt. Being a United fan during the summer transfer window must be no craic.
Keeping with the annual theme of audacious moves the Manchester, in a move befitting his moniker of ‘The Messiah’ Joe Allen looks increasingly likely to walk on water and become the first direct transfer between Liverpool and Manchester United in 53 years. Incidentally water has not been walked on in roughly 2,000 years but unconfirmed reports suggest that the ‘Welsh Xavi’ is chasing down that record too.
Off the Germany and Mario Gotze. It all looked so rosy after he scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup. Dortmund signed Mkhitaryan fill the gap after Gotze was pilfered by spiritual parent club Bayern. But in a twist of fate the likes of which has not been seen since the glory days of Matt Hardy, Gotze looks as though he could be on his way back to Dortmund to replace Mkhitaryan, that’s according to The Guardian anyway.
Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports News has tweeted that Napoli would rather sell Gonzalo Higuain to Arsenal than to rivals Juventus who would have to pay a whopping €94m for the Argentine. It was reported on Monday that Olivier Giroud would be a makeweight in a €50m deal to bring Higuain to The Emirates and with news that Napoli are reluctant to sell to rivals, Arsenal could finally have the world class striker that their fans claim is holding them back.
Sky in Italy: If Higuain wants to go, Napoli would rather negotiate with Arsenal. Will not negotiate with Juventus. Price for Juve is €94m
— Kaveh Solhekol (@SkyKaveh) July 16, 2016
Riyad Mahrezis hot property, hot property with plenty of road frontage. Reports from the Telegraph suggest that a figure as high as £45m could be quoted to potential suitors and despite Leicester’s confidence to the contrary, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the Algerian packs his bags and heads to pastures new.
Skybet are currently offering odds of 1/3 on Georginio Wijnaldum leaving Newcastle to join Liverpool. The metaphorical rats are leaping off the sinking Toon ship and Wijnaldum’s exit will come at a reported price tag of £20-25m.
Following on from a decent display in Portugal’s Euro winning cup run, the 22-year-old is courting interest from the big boys. Metro have reported that Manchester United have tabled a bid for the Portuguese, a report subsequently rejected by United.
On Sunday, the Manchester Evening News reported that Leonardo Bonnuci was being offered to Manchester City in a deal worth £50m. But with Conte at Chelsea it isn’t totally crazy to suggest that something akin to an Italian Job-esque swoop for the centre-back is viable. As John Terry visibly collects dust before our very eyes this deal could well be one to keep an eye on.
Bayern Munich have reportedly joined the race to sign the £40m rated, afro-sporting German winger Leroy Sane. May not be a bad thing, the last time City signed a 20-year-old nippy winger for a ludicrous sum it didn’t exactly pay dividends.
Oh Mario... like his namesake Gotze, Balotelli has seen a drastic decline in fortune after a barnstorming performance in a major international tournament. A proposed move to China is finding its way into multiple news outlets. 2012 is a long time ago and Balotelli’s career has stagnated to the point that his flexing meme could be the centrepiece of his legacy.
