That’s how every single outlet will surely report this story, with flurries of Liverpool fans flocking to read about how the club are interested in Suarez, Mario of Fiorentina.
The Viola midfielder is a former target of the club from last summer under Brendan Rodgers, but Italian newspaper Gazetta dello Sport report that Jurgen Klopp will revisit such interest heading into the winter transfer window.
The 28-year-old eventually joined Fiorentina from Atletico Madrid last summer, but has been used sparingly in Italy and is growing disillusioned with his lack of first-team football.
PEP PREFERS LONDON
The Daily Mail seem pretty adamant that Pep Guardiola will leave Bayern Munich at the end of his current deal with the German champions next summer, with the Spaniard heading to the Premier League.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are all likely to be interested in the former Barcelona head coach, but, according to the Mail, that list of four could well be whittled down to just two. Ol’ Pep prefers a move to London over Manchester.
City had previously been rather heavy favourites to capture Guardiola’s services as soon as Manuel Pellegrini was shuffled along, but Sami Mokbel’s claims throw the proverbial spanner in the works.
However, what are the odds of Pep getting either of the two London clubs? With Arsenal currently in #WengerIn mode (for now), that leaves Chelsea. Will the Blues part with manager Jose Mourinho in order to bring in one of his historic rivals?
SAINTS JUST WANT MORE MANE
Manchester United remain interested in Sadio Mane of Southampton, but the Daily Telegraph believe the Saints will settle for no less than £40million – double United’s initial valuation.
The claims come from Jeremy Wilson, who says Mane is considered in the same bracket as Anthony Martial, four years his junior but already a £36.7million player.
Wilson also cites ‘the lack of available strikers globally’ for Southampton being able to push the price up to around £40million for the 23-year-old Senegalese international, who has been in fine form under Ronald Koeman this season.
AND THE REST
Chelsea are considering a move for Boca Juniors striker Jonathan Calleri in the January transfer window…Juventus are becoming increasingly confident that they will be able to sign Chelsea’s Colombian international Juan Cuadrado on a permanent deal…Barcelona and Arsenal target Nolito has ruled out leaving current club Celta Vigo in the January transfer window. “God will decide my future. I’m not leaving in January. I’m happy in Vigo,” he said…Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes is hoping to move to a rival Premier League club in January, according to his agent Gines Carvaja…Chelsea are confident of deflecting interest from Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain to sign Red Star Belgrade and Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic
HAZARD TO PSG. OR REAL MADRID. OR BARCA. OR THE TWO MANCHESTER CLUBS
Well it’s been a while, but guess which old friend just walked through the door looking worse for wear. Oh yes, it’s ‘Eden Hazard to PSG’.
The Sun go with a massive splash that the Chelsea player could be tempted to move to Paris by their £75m offer. We’re told that PSG were ready to move for Hazard before he signed his new deal, and that his uncertainty at Chelsea could clinch it.
It is worth remembering that Hazard said last year that he didn’t want to go back to France to play because he has already won everything there. It’s also worth remembering that none of the French papers have this story, despite all having close links to PSG. So don’t get too excited.
The Daily Star do their own thing, saying Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Manchester United all eye Hazard. We’d be more surprised if they weren’t interested.
SPURS WANT VARDY
Suppose it was only a matter of time before Jamie Vardy’s name started to get mentioned with a move. The Leicester striker has become only the eighth player to score in seven consecutive Premier League games. It’s a fair effort.
The Daily Mirror claim that Tottenham are considering a move for Vardy in January, impressed by his form this season. However, they also say that Leicester valued him at £15m in August, so that must have risen by at least £5m since.
ESPN add their own information, saying that Liverpool are also interested. Given that Vardy is 28, it just doesn’t make sense. Why would you buy a player at the absolute peak of his value with no viable resale value?
That the two clubs would scout Vardy is perfectly logical. That they will make bids anything close to Leicester’s asking price is not.
ARSENAL EYE SANE
Both the Daily Star and Daily Mirror are running with the news that Arsenal are targeting a move for Schalke winger Leroy Sane. Only the Star call it an exclusive, but we’re going with them because the tagline is so ridiculous:
‘Arsene Wenger is going nuts over trying to sign £11-million-rated German wonderkid Leroy Sane who has already said “No” to Liverpool and Tottenham.’
Now Wenger doesn’t seem like a man to ‘go nuts’ over anything, so this Sane must be the business. He’s scored seven goals in his last nine games for Schalke, and is tipped to break into Joachim Loew’s Germany squad soon.
As for that £11m, given that Sane only signed a new five-year deal in July we’d be surprised if he was that cheap.
PSG TO MAKE LUKAKU BID?
The rumours linking Paris St Germain with Romelu Lukaku have been carrying on for months, with agent Mino Raiola doing little but fan the flames.
Now it’s the Daily Star who take up the baton. They say Everton are already scouting South America and Europe for a replacement (rather than just a team-mate?) and that PSG would pay £40m for the forward.
Given that this is such significant information from a presumably reliable source, it’s weird that the Star only give the story four lines on their website. Almost as if it’s likely to be complete hogwash.
AND THE REST
Eddie Howe says he tried to sign Harry Kane four years ago when he was manager of Burnley… Alan Pardew accused Claudio Ranieri of goading his players… Arsenal want to hand Arsene Wenger a new deal and then persuade Patrick Vieira to replace him… Liverpool want to sign Mario Suarez from Fiorentina in January… Tony Pulis says that Saido Berahino is overweight… Swansea want Burnley defender Michael Keane… Tottenham have stepped up their interest in £10million Belgium international striker Laurent Depoitre.
Well, this was inevitable. Disappointing and disheartening, but inevitable nonetheless. According to The Sun, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United have all made ‘informal approaches’ to Barcelona and to Lionel Messi in particular.
The claims crop up every single transfer window and are soon dismissed as ridiculous for a number of reasons, but The Sun believe Messi’s current ‘ongoing issues’ (as they describe an alleged £3.1million tax fraud case) has led to the Argentinean becoming disillusioned with life at the Nou Camp.
As a result, the aforementioned Premier League trio have ‘informally approached’ old Lionel (they presumably have him on speed dial by now) and, apparently, ‘were pleasantly surprised by the reaction’. He has ‘given the trio the clearest hint yet that he is ready to listen’. Except The Sun never say exactly what that ‘hint’ is.
All this appears to emanate from an interview with Messi conducted by Guillem Balague earlier this week, in which the 28-year-old said, when asked whether he would ever play in another league: “I don’t want to look too far ahead. I live for the moment and at this moment I am with Barcelona in the Spanish League where I have made my living and where I live very well.”
A couple of things:
- Messi earns £336,000-a-week at Barcelona. That wouldn’t smash wage structures, it would obliterate them.
- Messi’s release clause is reported to be around 280million euros, or £180m. That’s a lot of money, and…
- …FFP is still a thing. Not as much of a thing as it seemed to be once upon a time, but certainly still a thing.
STONES CONTRACT TALKS BEGIN. OR NOT.
Over to the Daily Mirror now, whose boy David Maddock claims Everton have opened contract talks with Chelsea target John Stones.
Maddock insists no timescale has been set on the negotiations as manager Roberto Martinez is keen not to put any pressure on the England international, but the Toffees are keen to improve the 21-year-old’s current £30,000-a-week deal, which expires in 2019, to reflect his performances and persuade him to stay. As is widely reported however, Stones will request a release clause of some sort in case Chelsea come calling.
But what’s this? Paul Joyce of the Daily Express emerges from the bushes, and he is in the mood for some fisticuffs.
Joyce refutes Maddock’s claims – in a fashion – stating that Everton will delay talks with the centre-half so as to not distract him from his performances on the pitch. Amusingly, both use the exact same quotes from Martinez about “focus” and a lot of other stuff.
Joyce is slightly more reserved in his report than Maddock, admitting that talks may still be held between the two parties. If they are, Joyce says, Everton are unlikely to bow to Stones’ release clause demands. That probably won’t make him a happy bunny.
‘TOTTENHAM PLOT SHOCK MOVE TO SIGN HAZARD’
…is almost certainly how this one will be packaged. The actual ‘story’ is that Tottenham are interested in Thorgan Hazard, brother of Eden.
Spurs apparently had scouts watching Borussia Monchengladbach’s Champions League clash with Juventus in midweek, the second time they have watched the Bundesliga side in recent weeks. That’s basically it, really.
ANFIELD RETURN FOR SAHIN
Keep your family safe and lock your doors, the gossip apocalypse is upon us.
It’s always a sad day when Calciomercato and The Metro seem to collaborate to provide us some extra bullsh*t, but this one’s great. The Daily Express reported yesterday that Jurgen Klopp was interested in bringing Nuri Sahin to Liverpool after the German ‘slammed’ previous incumbent Brendan Rodgers for his treatment of the midfielder during his loan spell at the club a couple of seasons ago. Sounds juicy.
Except the quotes were from 2013. That, of course, didn’t stop the Express.
It is more than a little coincidental therefore that those lovely Calciomercatans report that Klopp wants Sahin at Liverpool. They don’t attribute the claims to anyone or anything, they just report that Klopp is a fan of the midfielder he once managed at Dortmund.
Within one hour and 51 minutes, The Metro had picked up on the rumour. We give it two hours until the Express start reporting this with ‘according to reports in Italy’.
AND THE REST
Italian giants Fiorentina are chasing Chelsea striker Radamel Falcao…Manchester United and Arsenal could look to reprise their interest in Paulo Dybala after Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini urged the 21-year-old to leave Juventus…Liverpool target Ruben Neves is not for sale, says Porto’s owner – but a number of Premier League clubs are tracking him…Chelsea and Manchester United will have to sump up £35million if they want to sign Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao (Daily Express)
HAZARD TO REAL MADRID
You wait a long time for a good day of transfer gossip, and then everything comes along at once. They’re like buses, buses painted a shiny colour but possibly made out of bulls**t.
The first story comes from L’Equipe, and it’s a whopper. They claim that Eden Hazard has already confided in friends and international colleagues that he wants to leave Chelsea, aiming to seal a move to Real Madrid next summer.
This probably stems from Hazard ‘liking’ an Instagram post linking him to Real, but L’Equipe take the story on further. They say the Belgian is not enjoying life in England, and sees Madrid as the perfect destination. How that would hurt Chelsea.
LIVERPOOL LEADING NEVES CHASE
Liverpool keep getting linked with Ruben Neves, and the Daily Mirror now claim that a move for the Porto midfielder is a step closer.
The first line of the article (‘Liverpool continue to make assessments of target Ruben Neves’) is a bit wishy-washy, but they then report that Liverpool are leading the race for the 18-year-old. He’s the dog’s b*llocks, basically.
Liverpool scouted Neves on Tuesday against Maccabi Tel Aviv, when he became the youngest captain in Champions League history. He was born eight months after Euro ‘96 finished, for goodness sake.
VAN GAAL TELLS UNITED TO SIGN KANE AND VARANE
Well isn’t this a poky call. It comes via beIN Sports, who claim that Louis van Gaal is ‘insisting’ that his Manchester United bosses complete a move for Tottenham striker Harry Kane.
Firstly, interest from United is nothing new. Kane was a summer target last year, but United’s valuation fell well short of what Spurs wanted. If United are going to make another move, Kane’s recent dip in form isn’t going to change that price too much. We’re looking at £40m plus.
In addition, we also have talkSPORT claiming that United will go back in for Raphael Varane next summer in a bid to bolster their defence. Did someone just turn on the big club rumour tap?
KLOPP WANTS RANOCCHIA
Finally, Jurgen Klopp has reportedly targeted Internazionale defender Andrea Ranocchia.
It’s a rumour that has been doing the rounds for a few days, but Gazzetta World in Italy (us neither) say that Jurgen Klopp is interested. It all seems based on Klopp’s interest in the defender when he was at Dortmund, which may or may not be relevant.
In addition, Tottenham, Everton, Galatasaray, Roma and Milan are all linked with a move for the Italian.
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