TRANSFER GOSSIP..
It’s a story in a few of Tuesday’s papers, so we can assume there is something in Manchester United’s reported interest in Juventus central defender Leonardo Bonucci.
The Daily Mirror claim that Bonucci is the experienced central defender Jose Mourinho wants to complete his back line, and that he will go up against Manchester City for his services. With City on John Stones’ trail, Chelsea might actually be the nearest competitor.
The whole move looks slightly speculative, in truth. With United desperate to get Paul Pogba’s move over the line, is it really wise to start targeting other Juventus players? And will Juve really contemplate selling United another key player?
LIVERPOOL MAKE SISSOKO MOVE
You have to hand it to Jurgen Klopp, whose fetish for collecting midfielders show no sign of abating. Even if they lose a few, Klopp must still fit Philippe Coutinho, Jordan Henderson, Marko Grujic, Emre Can, Lucas Leiva, Adam Lallana, James Milner, Divock Origi, Danny Ings, Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Daniel Sturridge into six positions. And that’s assuming they sell all of Christian Benteke, Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Kevin Stewart and Luis Alberto and never want to play any of their youth prospects. They don’t even have European fixtures to blood them in.
So what is the answer to this surplus? Buy another! And what is the response to buying one of Newcastle’s expensive attacking midfielders? Buy another!
French outlet Le 10 Sport report that Liverpool will make a move for Moussa Sissoko, challenging Borussia Dortmund for the France midfielder. He’d likely cost around £30m.
Jurgen. Jurgen. JURGEN! Put that down. You know you don’t need another one. You’ve got three at home in your toybox that are still in the packaging.
MAN CITY WANT ANDRE AYEW
A slightly odd one now, courtesy of ESPN. They report that Pep Guardiola likes the look of Andre Ayew, and will challenge Napoli for his signature.
Ayes had a fine season at Swansea in 2015/16, one of the main reasons the club survived relegation, but would he really see first-team action at City?
It’s worth pointing out that the story is based in sources close to the player, which generally means his agent. This could be the case of an agent getting his client’s name out there and angling for a bigger move by name-dropping City.
AND THE REST
Manchester City are closing on the £20million transfer of Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus despite rival interest from Manchester United…Everton are working on a deal to land Stoke City winger Marko Arnautovic as Ronald Koeman looks to find a solution to bolster his attack…Chelsea are set for a boost with Atletico Madrid on the verge of dropping their interest in Diego Costa…Premier League champions Leicester will hold crunch contract talks with Kasper Schmeichel, Danny Simpson, Danny Drinkwater, Jeffrey Schlupp and Riyad Mahrez ahead of the new season…West Ham are set to make a move for a new left-back after Aaron Cresswell was ruled out for up to four months…Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker could be out for up to five months after suffering a knee injury…Crystal Palace have joined Premier League new boys Burnley in the battle to sign Brighton midfielder Dale Stephens…Steve Bruce is considering whether to quit football after his shock departure from Hull…Chelsea have made a surprise move for Carlos Tevez, as their search for a new striker widened last night.
INDECISION STOPPING POGBA'S MOVE
Paul Pogba’s protracted move to Manchester United has been ‘paralysed’ over the Frenchman’s indecision, according to reports.
United remain favourites to sign Pogba this summer – despite the midfielder reportedly favouring a move to Real Madrid – but the transfer has again stalled.
The fees for the move are understood to have been agreed between United and the selling club Juventus – although Paul Scholes believes the money involved is ludicrous.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, has agreed the deal and all its formalities with United, and is waiting for the player’s consent.
However, Pogba remains indecisive over the move, rendering the deal, in Marca’s words, ‘paralysed’.
Arsenal: Rob Holding
Why could it work out so well? With neither Calum Chambers nor Gabriel Paulista impressing and Per Mertesacker injured, England Under-21 defender Holding might now be Arsenal’s first-choice centre-half alongside Laurent Koscielny. Oh my.
Last season’s breakout star: Alex Iwobi. Eight starts and two league goals towards the end of last season. Back into the shadows now?
Bournemouth: Lys Mousset
Why could it work out so well? We’ve only just realised that Bournemouth spent €7.3m on the 20-year-old from Le Havre. Paul Pogba was a decent product of that youth system.
Last season’s breakout star: Adam Smith, even at 24. Six starts in the Championship became 22 in the Premier League.
Burnley: George Green
Why could it work out so well? Screw Jamie Vardy, this is a rags-to-riches story we can all get on board with. Time for another magnificent chapter?
Last season’s breakout star: Tendayi Darikwa. Joined from Chesterfield and started 21 games at right-back. That he will probably now leave on loan is pretty telling.
Chelsea: Papy Djilobo…hahahaha
Why could it work out so well? Chelsea’s squad is packed with experienced players who Antonio Conte needs to motivate and inspire. It doesn’t leave much room for fledgling talents. Will Ruben Loftus-Cheek even get chances? We think a loan would be a good idea.
Last season’s breakout star: Kenedy. Playing over 500 league minutes at the age of 19 and 20 at Chelsea counts as a success.
Crystal Palace: Jordon Mutch
Why could it work out so well? An odd candidate at 24 years of age, but Mutch went from being excellent at Cardiff in the Premier League to the fringes at Palace. Can he finally break through into the first team? He has been playing and scoring goals in pre-season.
Last season’s breakout star: Honestly? Nobody. No player under the age of 23 started a match for Palace last season. Sorry.
Everton: Shani Tarashaj
Why could it work out so well? When the other back-up strikers are Oumar Niasse and Arouna Kone, you’ve got a chance. Now back from his loan spell at Grasshoppers, Tarashaj was part of Switzerland’s Euro 2016 squad.
Last season’s breakout star: Brendan Galloway. Before last season had six career league starts. More than doubled that total when deputising for Leighton Baines.
Hull City: Adama Diomande
Why could it work out so well? Arrived from Norway last summer, but injury meant he only made his debut in December. Scored three goals in 11 games, and has international experience in Norway.
Last season’s breakout star: Moses Odubajo. Fantastic last season, sadly injured until 2017.
Leicester City: Ben Chilwell
Why could it work out so well? If Leicester can ward off Liverpool’s interest and get their left-back to sign a new deal, Chilwell will surely be give opportunity to impress.
Last season’s breakout star: N’Golo Kante. From a relative unknown in this country to the league’s best player in 2015/16.
Liverpool: Loris Karius
Why could it work out so well? Already talking a good game about usurping Simon Mignolet’s No. 1 spot.
Last season’s breakout star: Joe Gomez until his season-ending injury, Divock Origi thereafter.
Manchester City: Oleksandr Zinchenko
Why could it work out so well? Still only 19, but if he can survive a loan move Zinchenko could well be given a chance to impress on the right-hand side of a three-man attacking trio behind a striker. Ukraine’s youngest ever scorer.
Last season’s breakout star: Kelechi Iheanacho. Eight league goals in 752 minutes. The boy could be a bloody superstar.
Manchester United: Eric Bailly
Why could it work out so well? With so many getting their first chance under Louis van Gaal and given Jose Mourinho’s past record, it can only be a big-money signing. Bailly has a chance to form a partnership with Chris Smalling that could last for several years. Unless they buy Leonardo Bonucci.
Last season’s breakout star: Plenty of competition for this, but can only be Marcus Rashford. From nowhere to France, via eight goals in his first 18 senior matches.
Middlesbrough: Julien de Sart
Why could it work out so well? Bought in January as one for the future, reports from the Boro training ground and initial pre-season friendlies suggest that De Sart looks a fine player already.
Last season’s breakout star: Dael Fry. Man of the Match on the opening day at the age of 17, the central defender looked assured during most of his seven starts.
Southampton: Harrison Reed
Why could it work out so well? “I like to improve the young players. It’s important for the club and important for me at all the clubs I have managed. It is a possibility to work with an excellent academy. It’s one of the best academies in England” – Claude Puel.
Last season’s breakout star: Matt Targett. Only 224 career league minutes before last season, Targett added more than 1,000 more after Luke Shaw left.
Stoke City: Ramadan Sobhi
Why could it work out so well? He’s 19 and he’s nickname is Ramadona. But I’m mainly showing off that I noticed he signed yesterday.
Last season’s breakout star: Jack Butland. Difficult to believe he’d only started five top-flight games before last season.
Sunderland: Jordan Pickford
Why could it work out so well? Made two starts last season, but could finally seriously challenge Vito Mannone.
Last season’s breakout star: Duncan Watmore. But he has absolutely no competition for that prize.
Swansea: Mike van der Hoorn
Why could it work out so well? He’s a Dutch Under-21 international centre-half and Ashley Williams surely cannot play every game forever. Or can he?
Last season’s breakout star: Modou Barrow won Young Player of the Year last season. He’s 23 and not very good.
Tottenham: Harry Winks
Why could it work out so well? We know Mauricio Pochettino likes to use youngsters. While other midfielders (Ryan Mason, Alex Pritchard) are available for transfer, Winks isn’t. A first senior appearance on the way?
Last season’s breakout star: Dele Alli. And he wins against plenty of competition.
Watford: Jerome Sinclair
Why could it work out so well? Having moved for £4m, Sinclair will be aiming to break into the Watford first team after struggling for minutes at Liverpool. Will have to wait for his chance, but possible impact substitute? Opta’s lovely man (and Watford fan) Matt Furniss reckons Tommie Hoban could be good too.
Last season’s breakout star: Nathan Ake, and he’s not even theirs.
West Brom: Sam Field
Why could it work out so well? Well he’s there. Of those under 25 in West Brom’s squad, one (Saido Berahino) is leaving, another (Tyler Roberts) will probably be loaned out and the third (Jonathan Leko) is below…
Last season’s breakout star: Leko. Became the first time teenager given a league start by Tony Pulis since his appointment at Stoke in 2006.
West Ham: Reece Oxford
Why could it work out so well? If he stays, he should play. James Tomkins has been allowed to leave, and the £18m price tag might put off suitors.
Last season’s breakout star: Manuel Lanzini. He may be 23, but nobody expected much from a loanee from the Arabian Gulf League. Lanzini surprised us all.
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