Chelsea, Man City and Spurs – Christian Eriksen
Its strange that Eriksen is still a little under the radar yet is one of the best, most sought-after prospects around. City took a sizable nibble at him over the summer but were turned down by the player himself after he decided he wouldn’t get much first-team action. Instead he opted to stay at Ajax and continue his excellent progress. With this in mind it’s doubtful that he would perform a volte-face after only a few months but stranger things have happened. Certainly whoever offers this extremely talented creative midfielder the best chance of a regular start is heavily in the frame.
Bullshit rating – 3/5 Certainly considerable interest. The question is whether he will move mid-season or see the current campaign out in Holland. Our money is on the latter.
Liverpool – Seydou Keita
According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo Liverpool have been in touch about the availability of a player who has only started five game for Barca this term. Speculated interest also from Anzhi who – due to their immense financial clout – would be favourites for the midfielder’s signature.
Bullshit rating – 2/5 Could be something in this though just how many midfielders does Dalglish want to sign?
Chelsea – Kevin de Bruyne
This one has rumbled on from the summer and there is little doubt that AVB likes the look of the 20 year old Genk winger. Apparently the Belgian club are resigning themselves to a formal bid in Jan in the region of fifteen million.
Bullshit rating – 1/5 Certainly appears to have more than a grain of truth to this and interest is genuine – AVB even made a point of specifically singling de Bruyne out for praise when the two sides recently met in the Champion’s League. The one point is awarded for the time-scale. January? Possibly not.
Manchester United – Javi Garcia
On the surface this potential swoop makes a lot of sense. Garcia is just the type of player United are crying out for at present – still only 24 yet already the player Carrick was supposed to develop into. A defensive midfielder who has the class to stride forward when the need takes him Garcia also happens to be plying his trade in Portugal, a favourite shopping jaunt of Fergusons. Don’t take our word for how good he is…check out the YouTube clip. It’s worth it just for the music alone.
Bullshit rating – 4/5 When everything is such a neat fit it makes us suspicious. Some journo has put two and two together and a string of blogs have followed suit.
Arsenal – Paul Pogba
On the face if it this seems a highly unlikely coup from the Gunners. Yet there are some sources who are prepared to put their necks on the line and state this is virtually already a done deal. Talented teen Pogba is free to talk to clubs in January as his current deal expires next summer and he is growing increasingly frustrated with seeing his peers break into the United first XI and not him. The rangy centre-mid is certainly a Wenger type of player.
Bullshit rating – 3/5 Hard to judge with this one so we’re hedging our bets. Its hard to see Ferguson letting one of his prized youngster defect to a Premier League rival without one hell of a fight.
Manchester United – Mehdi Benatia
By his own admission Udinese’s centre-back/defensive midfielder covets a move to the Premier League and United are reported to have watched him on more than one occasion. Banatia certainly has all the attributes required to be a success in Blighty; a tall hard but fair type who likes to get stuck in and isn’t sluggish either.
Bullshit rating – 4/5 Doesn’t seem to be much in this besides idle speculation. Though it would be interesting if United did indeed take a punt – Nasri is one of Mehdi’s closest friends so settling into Manchester wouldn’t be a problem.
Manchester United – Nicolas Gaitan
Everything about this player oozes class. Primarily a left-sided playmaker signed to replace Di Maria at Benfica the young Argentine drifts into central areas and causes havoc. United are reportedly considering him as an alternative to Modric which makes perfect football sense but not financial – having recently been tied down to a lengthy contract his release fee is now £45m.
Bullshit rating – 4/5 Reports that United are watching him are credible. Anything beyond that for the time being remains doubtful.
Arsenal, Spurs – M’Baye Niang
Just turned seventeen and already being compared to Thierry Henry it is little wonder that both North London clubs are monitoring this sensation from Caen closely. Wenger is clear favourite here with his strong links to Ligue 1.
Bullshit rating – 0/5 For the link to Arsenal. 5/5 That it will happen this January.
Spurs – Leandro Damiao
The tall, tricky targetman has long been on Redknapp’s radar but it appears he missed his best chance to secure the Brazilian’s services last summer. Since then Damiao has hit a rich vein of form and been consistently superb for Internacional which has prompted the club to dangle a luxurious new contract under his nostrils. Even if he left it would probably be to AC Milan who now lead the chase.
Bullshit rating – 2/5 Not bullshit per se, just very unlikely.
Newcastle – Luuk De Jong
Despite Demba Ba’s sensation opening third to the season the Toon are still actively chasing a forward to take on the Carroll role. De Jong, who recently broke into the Dutch national set-up would demand a £10m fee and, according to the Mail among many other sources, Newcastle are more than prepared to pay up. The tall prolific front man could well be lighting up the Sports Direct Arena in only a matter of weeks.
Bullshit rating – 0/5 If this move doesn’t happen it will be due to a breakdown in negotiations.
Manchester City – Angel Di Maria
With contract negotiations hitting a impasse and a chequered relationship with Mourinho it is perhaps understandable that the Argentine flyer is being linked with
other clubs. Roberto Mancini meanwhile has repeatedly criticised Adam Johnson and – though he recently signed a new long-term deal – rumours persist about a possible move away from the Etihad especially when it’s considered that the Scarfed One has openly declared interest in Fiontina’s winger Cerci. Di Maria is one level above him and if there’s any possibility about him becoming available surely City would be interested?
Bullshit rating – 4/5 Appears to be another example of journalists doing elementary sums. United apparently got short shift recently when making an enquiry with Mournho insisting the current contract dispute will imminently reach a compromise.
Chelsea – Gary Cahill
His expected big move didn’t happen in the summer but, despite Bolton languishing near the foot of the table, his stock is still high. Of the leading clubs it is argueably Man City and Chelsea who require a decent addition to their back-line (well Arsenal too but they’ve needed a top quality centre-back for several seasons now and we can’t see Wenger acting upon it this Jan) and of those two Mancini took a good look in the summer and either wasn’t sure or considered Cahill too expensive. So the tabloids have decreed that it’s Chelsea.
Bullshit rating – 3/5 Could be something in this. Cahill recently shown his hand by criticising his team-mates – always a sign that behind the scenes he is engineering an imminent move.
