EPL Gossip:
Victor Valdes won’t be joining Liverpool, Chelsea want
William Carvalho and have found Carlo Cudicini’s natural successor, and
‘several’ Chinese clubs are interested in signing John Terry…VALDES CAN LEAVE – ON ONE CONDITION
Victor Valdes can’t – and probably won’t ever – get a game at Manchester United. Of course, the Spaniard can console himself with the No 1 jersey in the Frozen Out XI.
With Valdes falling out of favour (to say the least) with manager Louis van Gaal, the Daily Mirror claim that the 33-year-old is free to leave the club. There’s just one condition however: He cannot join another Premier League club.
What that basically means is he can’t join Liverpool. The Reds were interested in Valdes before he joined Manchester United in the summer, and have been linked with the former Barcelona man in the last couple of weeks. According to John Cross however, Van Gaal will not sanction a sale if a Premier League club are his only suitors. Cross says that Valdes has been sent to Coventry in the meantime, so perhaps the League One side need a back-up.
BLUES TARGET CARVALHO
Not Ricardo, but that would be hilarious (and understandable at the minute). No, the man in question is William Carvalho. Or, to give his full name, Arsenal and Manchester United target William Carvalho.
Anyway, this comes from the Metro (sorry), who credit their source as Tuttomercatoweb (sorry). The following is the story from the Italian website in all its glory:
The defensive midfielder of Sporting Lisbon, William Carvalho, is entered in the sights of big European clubs. Between Paris Saint Germain, Liverpool and Chelsea, there are many teams interested in the performance of the median, which expires in June 2018.Which roughly translates to: ‘This player is good so big European clubs are tracking him.’
You’ll note there’s no mention of Arsenal in there, but that doesn’t stop the Metro saying Chelsea ‘will rival Arsenal’ for his signature. SEO, after all.
CHELSEA TARGET BACK-UP KEEPER
Forget Magnus Hedman and Lenny Pidgeley, there’s a new contender for the ‘Carlo Cudicini invitational Chelsea back-up ‘keeper’ role. And that man is a World Cup winner, no less.
The Guardian are reporting, along with pretty much everyone else, that Chelsea are set to sign 33-year-old shot-stopper Marco Amelia. The Italian is a free agent after a four-year spell at AC Milan and then short stops at amateur club Rocca Priora and Serie B Perugia, and has been identified as ideal cover for Asmir Begovic.
Begovic has been relatively impressive since filling in for the injured Thibaut Courtois, and with 21-year-old Jamal Blackman, who has no appearances for the Blues thus far, their first-choice cover for the Bosnian, Amelia could be drafted in on an emergency deal. The ‘keeper was a part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning squad.
CAPTAIN, LEADER, CHINA
It looks like time is finally running out for John Terry at Chelsea. If he can’t get in Jose Mourinho’s side in this state, then he probably never will again.
The 34-year-old is out of contract come the summer, and is attracting more and more interest from Turkish club Fenerbahce. However, John Cross at the Daily Mirror believes China is the most likely destination for England’s brave lion.
Cross reveals that Terry has had ‘several offers’ from Chinese clubs (as yet unnamed) for if/when he leaves Stamford Bridge, and that the Chinese Super League, in their quest to sign big-name players, have the funds to accommodate the former.
KLOPP TO DEMAND TRANSFER CONTROL
While a boost, a scrappy 3-2 victory over Aston Villa does not represent the end of the “hysteria” at Liverpool for Brendan Rodgers. The pressure continues to mount on the Northern Irishman, with Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti the two favourites to usurp him at Anfield.
Well, according to the Daily Mail, Klopp has two demands before he considers stepping into Rodgers’ shoes. First, he wants assurances that he is wanted by all of the club’s hierarchy, including those perceived to be favourable towards Rodgers.
The piece by Joe Bernstein continues with Klopp’s second request, which is to be handed total control over transfers. No more transfer committee, no more Mario Balotellis, just the manager in complete control. Sounds like madness.
Bernstein goes on to say Klopp is ‘open’ to the idea of managing one of Europe’s (previous) elites, with the German ‘in a strong negotiating position’ after his successful time at Dortmund.
One thing that did tickle us is the headline: Jurgen Klopp will only take Liverpool job if transfer committee is scrapped. Jurgen Klopp will probably only take the Liverpool job if Liverpool offer the job to him, in all fairness.
CATS SHORTLIST VIEIRA FOR JOB
A slightly less sexy managerial musical chairs, but a managerial musical chairs nonetheless. With Sunderland rooted at the bottom of the table and being, well, quite rubbish, the Daily Mirror claim the Black Cats are lining up Patrick Vieira in case Dick Advocaat leaves.
Advocaat, who has previously said he will leave if he feels someone could do a better job, is under no pressure from the club itself it seems, but if the Dutchman chooses to step aside, Vieira and Burnley boss Sean Dyche are the two at the top of Sunderland’s shortlist.
Vieira is earning a burgeoning reputation as manager of Manchester City’s Elite Development squad, and was approached by Newcastle for their then vacant managerial role in the summer. According to John Cross, Sunderland were also interested at that point before Advocaat’s U-turn.
MAN CITY EYE THIAGO
Remember when David Moyes targeted Cesc Fabregas and Thiago Alcantara that summer before ending up with a £27.5million Marouane Fellaini? We hope that memory doesn’t ruin you currently being top of the table, Manchester United fans.
Anyway, Fabregas and Thiago eventually left for Chelsea and Bayern Munich respectively, but it’s the latter who is back in the news. According to the Daily Star, Thiago has emerged as a transfer target for Manchester City.
City were tentatively linked at the same time United were heavily interested in 2013, but Manuel Pellegrini will revisit the target as a back-up in case a deal for Paul Pogba does not materialise. They aren’t exactly similar players, but because they’re midfielders from the continent the Daily Star reckons that’s enough.
Thiago has struggled with injury somewhat during his spell in Germany, making just 46 appearances over two-and-a-bit seasons. At just 24 however, he is still rather good.
BEST OF THE REST
Tottenham are set to offer £345,000 for Brondby teenager Armend Aslani. The 17-year-old forward can play on either wing or as a central striker…Chelsea and Manchester United both want Dutch winger Tahith Chong, 15, who plays for Feyenoord…Manchester City hope to wrap up an agreement with Australian Luke Brattan this week on a free transfer.
Eden Hazard is wanted by Real Madrid, Barcelona are
targeting Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, and the Reds are
interested in Croatia midfielder Marko Rog.HAZARD WARNING FOR CHELSEA
It’s Sunday morning, and we’re headed to the Sunday Times for our first piece of lovely
This comes courtesy of Duncan Castles, who claims the reigning Player of the Year is in line to become Real’s next galactico. Castles claims that Real president Florentino Perez is willing to sanction a third world record transfer fee for the Belgian after signing Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale in recent years. Real could fund the deals by selling either Ronaldo to Paris Saint-Germain or Bale to Manchester United for fees of around £110million, Castles goes on to claim.
BARCA TARGET COUTINHO
But Castles isn’t done there. Real aren’t the only Spanish giants interested in a Premier League star; Barcelona are targeting Philippe Coutinho.
The Brazilian has been one of Liverpool’s better players so far this season, and Castles believes Barcelona could follow up on these quotes made by forward Neymar earlier this week.
The Spanish side’s interest has been brewing for a while however, as the club made an initial approach during Liverpool’s negotiations over winger Adama Traore, who eventually left for Aston Villa.
LIVERPOOL WANT CROATIA MIDFIELDER
We don’t think that the Sun on Sunday have identified the man Liverpool want to replace Philippe Coutinho if he leaves, but they do report on a midfield target for the Reds.
The man in question is Croatia star Marko Rog, a 20-year-old midfielder at Dinamo Zagreb. The report claims that the Reds sent scout Barry Hunter to watch Rog last week, following up on interest they held in the midfielder last season. Rog was at Hajduk Split back then before Dinamo swooped to sign him for £4million, and the Croatians will ask for at least double that for Rog’s signature now. The Sun’s ‘Boss of Goss’ Alan Nixon believes that that may not deter Brendan Rodgers, and, depending on Dinamo’s progress in the Champions League, the Reds could move as soon as January.
AND THE REST
West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell, Leeds United’s Charlie Taylor and Charlton’s Morgan Fox are on Manchester United’s shortlist for the January transfer window…Liverpool have made contact with representatives of both former Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp and ex-AC Milan, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti…West Brom are ready to block a loan move for teenage forward Jonathan Leko, who is wanted by Swindon but is highly regarded by Tony Pulis having appeared as a late substitute in the Capital One Cup in midweek…Gael Bigirimana felt the full force of Newcastle United’s crackdown on dressing room indiscipline when he was ordered to travel down to London by himself for an Under 21s game.
LIVERPOOL HAVE TEN DAYS TO LOSE A GUY?
We are rather inclined to think this Daily Mirror back page is a flier based on a) talk of Jurgen Klopp being ready to end his sabbatical b) Liverpool having three games in ten days before an international break and c) the Mirror’s rather high circulation figures on Merseyside, rather than any inside information from Anfield. It’s telling that the Mirror’s Adrian Kajumba is not claiming any inside knowledge and quotes no ‘sources’ – he is simply pointing out that Rodgers is under pressure and Klopp news does not help.
Inside the Mirror, Merseyside man David Maddock says that ‘crucially, Rodgers has not lost his players’ and claims that backing from the US came ‘surprisingly strongly’ last week. It all sounds a bit wishy-washy to us. Rodgers is under pressure but we doubt that anybody inside Anfield has said anything about him having ten days.
MOYES SHADOW HANGS OVER McCLAREN
‘Mike Ashley, the Newcastle United owner, will remain loyal to under-fire managing director Lee Charnley and chief scout Graham Carr as they draw up plans for a risky January overhaul of the first-team squad’, it says here in the Daily Telegraph. Apparently Cheick Tioté, Papiss Cissé, Gabriel Obertan, Vurnon Anita, Moussa Sissoko, Mike Williamson, Sylvain Marveaux and Yoan Gouffran are all up for sale.
But it is a line further down the page that really grabbed us: ‘The faith in (Steve) McClaren could vanish if David Moyes becomes available.’ The fly in that ointment? There is little chance of David Moyes agreeing to a Newcastle set-up where the coach has little say over transfers. He needs to be able to decide when he buys Leon Osman and for how much.
PEP NEXT FOR ENGLAND?
The FA are ‘eyeing up’ Pep Guardiola to replace Roy Hodgson as England boss, according to an ‘exclusive’ in The Sun. Quite why Guardiola would take the national team boss job of England – with the chance to work with Jamie Vardy – when he could manage any club in world football (barring Real Madrid), is never really explained. Understandably, because it’s clearly a load of old nonsense. It’s very easy to say that the FA are ‘considering a move for Pep Guardiola’ because they are hardly likely to deny it. Let’s face it, there would be no point putting Liverpool on the back page.
AND THE REST
Brentford manager Marinus Dijkhuizen is already fighting for his job after taking charge in the summer…Brazilian Alexandre Pato says he had “a really good offer from Manchester United” on transfer deadline day to move to the Premier League…Everton and Tottenham are considered the front-runners for the signature of Inter Milan club captain Andrea Ranocchia, who has reportedly fallen out with Inter boss Roberto Mancini…Manchester United have been told Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller is not for sale at any price…Liverpool striker Divock Origi may be loaned out in January, with Norwich, Stuttgart and Bordeaux interested in signing the 20-year-old…Watford have turned down the chance to let striker Emmanuel Adebayor train with them, with the 31-year-old unable to sign for a club until January following his release by Tottenham.
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