EUROPEAN WRAP....
LEWANDOWSKI TO LIVERPOOL
It might just be a classic case of 2 + 2 = 5, but the Sunday Mirror are claiming that Robert Lewandowski’s future could lie away from Bayern Munich, and that Jurgen Klopp is interested in bringing the striker to Liverpool.
Firstly, of course he bloody is. Lewandowski is one of the world’s most in-form strikers, having scored 16 goals this season for Bayern Munich. It would be more odd if Klopp said that, actually, he was fine without Lewandowski.
‘Suggestions persist that Bayern boss Pep Guardiola remains unconvinced,’ the story says. ‘A move to Real Madrid or Barcelona has been suggested in recent weeks, but neither club are in the market for a striker and Klopp’s arrival at Anfield could be the key.’
Guardiola is probably leaving Bayern Munich next summer anyway, we’re not sure that he is unconvinced and we’re not sure Lewandowski would fancy missing out on the Champions League. It’s a big hmmm from us for now.
CHELSEA TO REPLACE JOSE WITH SIMEONE
After being given a vote of confidence by Chelsea, reports in the Daily Mirror suggest that Diego Simeone is already being lined up as a replacement.
They use reports in Portugal which suggest that Mourinho is aware that there is a succession plan in place for his potential departure, which seems entirely normal.
Simeone is the logical choice to replace Mourinho, having achieved wonderful things at Atletico Madrid. However, it would cost an eye-watering amount to get him out of his Atleti contract. That includes a £15m buy-out clause.
BARCA WANT ANDER HERRERA
The rumours of Barcelona interest in Ander Herrera have been hanging around for a while, but the Daily Mirror push it out again. They say that Barca could push for the signing in January.
That would make a degree of sense. Herrera has again failed to get regular football under Louis van Gaal this season – much to the frustration of supporters – and Rafinha’s injury at Barcelona leaves them short in midfield. Arda Turan is able to play from January onwards after their ban on registering players ends.
You couldn’t blame Herrera for wanting the move, either. It’s not nice watching Wayne Rooney do his thing from the bench.
THE MOST OBVIOUS RUMOUR EVER
It’s Sam Allardyce at Sunderland. It’s Kevin Nolan on a free transfer. He had him at Bolton. He had him at Newcastle. He had him at West Ham.
It’s like Lady and the Tramp, Casablanca, Brief Encounter and Harold and Maude all rolled into one. Football’s eternal love story.
Lallana ‘excited’ about working with Klopp
Lallana was signed by Brendan Rodgers for £25m in summer 2014, but has struggled to justify that outlay.
The former Southampton midfielder has suffered from a series of niggling injuries since arriving at Liverpool, and was regularly substituted when he did start. Of his 25 Premier League starts for Liverpool, he has been subbed before the end in 16 of them.
Now Lallana says he is buzzing to work with Jurgen Klopp, having watched his press conference live.
“I am excited, very excited, to work with the new manager,” Lallana said.Klopp’s first game in charge of Liverpool is away at Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime. There will be conclusions. Sixteen of them.
“I saw the press conference and, like everyone at the press conference and the reaction he is getting, it is going to be exciting.
“I have obviously got one more game with England and I am fully focused on it, but I am excited to get back to the club afterwards.
“It was obviously disappointing to see Brendan go and our indifferent start, but change happens in football.”
Fergie: Silva didn’t defend enough for United
Date published: Sunday 11th October 2015 2:19
Ferguson, speaking to Sirius XM in America, explained that he felt Silva didn’t contribute enough defensively to warrant the signing. Presumably more Paul Scholes-like hacks from behind would have sealed the deal?
Fergie said that he would have changed his demand for defensive contributions for a player of Lionel Messi’s quality, but Silva was not at that level.
“We watched Silva a lot when he was at Valencia,” Ferguson said. “And the other player they had, the same type, years before it, played in that No. 10 role.
“My problem with that was you have to be very, very good to play in that position, because there’s no defensive duties for them.
“So if you’re wanting to be really successful, everyone has to do their turn, has to work, you know?
“So I had a difficulty with that. But, in the end, of course, there’s the greats. You could say Lionel Messi was a No. 10 type, [Diego] Maradona, some fantastic players, and I don’t dispute that.
“But at United we always found it difficult. The kind of No. 10 I used came from my experience as a footballer.”
Apropos of nothing, in the year before and after City signed David Silva for £24m, Ferguson spent £33m on Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia. You can keep your “defensive duties”.
Muller flirts with the Premier League(‘s wages)
Date published: Sunday 11th October 2015 5:05
Muller was rumoured with a move to Manchester United in the summer, with Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rumenigge last week telling Ed Woodward to stop emailing him over a possible move. United made a bid of £60m, with reports suggesting the player was open to their advances.
Now uller has admitted that the huge wages on offer make the Premier League a temptation for him, though he says decisions cannot be made on that basis alone.
“In the end, we should not forget that playing football is our job,” Muller told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.Can’t help feeling Manchester United wouldn’t worry if Muller came for the money, rather dance around the room that he was coming at all.
“So people should accept that wages will always play a role in a player’s decision-making. Of course, the wages that are being paid in the Premier League are very tempting. It would be hypocrisy to deny that.
“You have to look at the complete package to determine whether something is right for you. What’s good for you one day will not necessarily still be good for you the day after.
“I know that a lot of German clubs are unhappy with the Premier League clubs’ spending, but I think it is something good for all clubs in the end. It can only be a good thing for football when clubs invest so much money.”
Wilfried Bony – the top Premier League goalscorer of 2014.Wilfried Bony – fewer Premier League goals than Fernandinho and Leroy Fer in 2015.
There are mitigating circumstances, of course. Bony was bought as a £28million back-up to Sergio Aguero in January 2015, and has remained exactly that. He has started just five matches in all competitions since arriving at Manchester City and managed a measly total of 642 minutes. This is a more expensive reserve than selling the Elgin marbles on Ebay.
“At the end of last season I said that if I moved it would be to a team in the Champions League because it’s a great tournament that I really want to play in,” Bony at his unveiling. He has so far experienced 40 minutes over the two legs of last-16 defeat to Barcelona, and a start in the home defeat to Juventus last month.
In May, Manuel Pellegrini made plenty of excuses for his striker, blaming (1) “he started by going to the Africa Cup of Nations”, (2) “he had a lot of games in his body”, (3) “he had an important injury in his ankle and his knee in the same leg” and (4) “we won five games in a row and I didn’t want to make changes during this moment”.
After that Juventus loss, the first signs of Pellegrini losing patience began to show. “I expect that when we have chances we must score,” he said after Bony had missed two presentable opportunities. “The differences are very slight, especially against a strong team like Juventus. Maybe Juventus didn’t create so many chances but they had a strong finish.”
Now there can be no more excuses. Aguero’s physical unreliability played a large part of Bony’s decision to leave Swansea for Manchester, and it has proved thus. The Argentinean has missed 39 matches through injury since joining City, his latest hamstring tear causing tears from the player and a migraine to his club manager. Thirty-nine matches is likely to become 45. Enter Bony, stage left.
At a crucial point of City’s season, they must rely on the form of a striker who is yet to justify such faith. The Ivorian has scored twice in the Premier League from 24 shots since his move, his conversion of 8.33% marginally worse than Rickie Lambert and Radamel Falcao over the same time period.
Bony’s mood will not have been helped by the form of his replacement at Swansea. Having sold one striker for £28m and recruited Bafetimbi Gomis on a free transfer, Garry Monk has enjoyed the smoothest of transitions after a four-month overlap. Gomis has scored ten league goals, and Swansea supporters have a new hero. Wilfried who?
On the other hand, it’s difficult to imagine a less smooth transition than from Aguero to Bony. One is a schemer and scamperer extraordinaire, the best pure striker in world football. The other is the epitome of the modern lone striker, whose special trick his using his strength to hold defenders off the ball. “Sometimes I do it just for fun,” Bony told the Guardian last November. “Maybe we need to keep the ball, so I just make the defender angry and show him that he can’t do nothing when I’m there.”
Pellegrini has already placed great faith in Bony, allowing Edin Dzeko to leave and giving up on Stevan Jovetic. Early on his time at City, Dzeko gained a ‘super-sub’ reputation for his goals off the bench. Having failed to match those feats, Bony will hope that a run in the team as a starting fixture ignites a marked improvement.
City’s ability to cope without Aguero was the inevitable question asked when, rather than if, he sustained a muscle injury. For the next month at least, their Premier League and Champions League fortunes will be entwined with their only fit striker’s form. Time for Bony to prove his worth.
Giggs warns Depay over lifestyle – report
Date published: Sunday 11th October 2015 10:34
Depay has struggled for form in the Premier League, with his brace against Club Brugge in a Champions League qualifier the only true high point of his United career to date.
In the Sunday People, Steve Bates uses a United ‘source’ who describes how Depay’s tendency to be photographed out in Manchester has not gone unnoticed by United’s senior players and coaches. Giggs in particular is keen for the Dutchman to lay low until his performances have improved.
“Memphis is photographed out and about more than other players and that’s not gone unnoticed,” the source says.We’d be surprised if this sort of thing didn’t go on all the time, but there is no doubt that Depay needs to give off the impression of someone knuckling down.
“He’s been told to keep his head down a bit while his football catches up with the rest of his profile.”
Gossip: Samper, Boufal, Depoitre, Afobe
Date published: Wednesday 7th October 2015 8:58
SAMPER TO ARSENAL
We’re starting in the Metro today, which we hope you’ll agree is a horrible thing to have to do. It’s like starting a meal by eating sheep’s eyeballs for starter.
They claim that Barcelona midfielder Sergi Samper is ‘willing to accept’ a move to Arsenal. That supposes that an offer even comes his way.
The Metro get their golden gossip from their Spanish pen pal Fichajes.net. We’ve used the scientific tools of Google translate to bring you Fichajes’ take on the deal.
‘The player knows he must seize each and every opportunity you have, but it is also true that it is difficult for a squad turn into a key player for FC Barcelona, so many players have to find life on other computers.’We’ll be very surprised if that other computer is Arsenal.
SPURS EYE BOUFAL AND DEPOITRE (US NEITHER)
Gossip might be thin on the ground (and it is so, so thin), but two news outlets report interest from Tottenham in different players.
The first is the Daily Star’s claim that Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign Lille playmaker Sofiane Boufal. He’s a little gem who has understandably been dubbed as the ‘new Eden Hazard’.
Lille captain Rio Mavuba recently restarted the hype machine after Boufal’s excellent start to the Ligue Un season: “He reminds me of Eden when he was playing here. It is striking, he likes the ball, even if he plays too much sometimes. But he is young, you have to let him grow.”
Elsewhere, French radio station RTL claims that Spurs will make an approach for Gent forward Laurent Depoitre in January.
Depoitre would be both an odd and underwhelming signing. He’s scored six goals in ten league games for Gent this season, but only made the top tier in Belgium at the start of last season and has just been called up to the Belgium squad for the first time. He’s 26.
VILLA PREPARE AFOBE BID
It’s a link that has surfaced before, but there are further claims that Aston Villa will try and sign Benik Afobe from Wolves for a fee of over £10m in January.
The Birmingham Mail report the link without adding much flesh to the bones, normally an indication that they aren’t buying it. The Metro also pick up on the rumour which looks like it began in The Sun.
The Sun claim that Tim Sherwood will go over £10m for Afobe, with a contract worth around £50,000 a week. That relies on him still being in charge in January, which looks mightily unlikely on current form.
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