EPL Transfer Rumours and Gossip 15th July 2013
July 15th, 2013 by G WaldorfA week is a very long time in soccer, or so they say, however a week is clearly not long enough to resolve the ongoing fiasco that is the Luis Suarez transfer saga. Arsenal are understood to have upped their bid to $70million, however the player is so clearly hankering after a move to Real Madrid he is likely to make it hard for Liverpool to sell to their Premier League rivals. Whilst Madrid have remained silent on the Suarez chase, it seems that new Madrid Head Honcho Ancelotti is deciding who stays and who goes. Once he has made up him mind the wheels will start spinning. With Arsenal also linked to Madrid’s Higuain it seems more logical to me that Arsenal will sign Higuain, Madrid will sign Suarez and Liverpool will sign Aston Villa’s Benteke.
Certainly if Liverpool lose Suarez, they have a big goal getting shaped hole to fill and are likely to struggle in the 2013 / 2014 season. Liverpool are priced at odds of $18.00 to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table next season. I think this is great value.
Manchester City are rumoured to be close to bringing Swedish Title magnet Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Etihad. Ibrahimovich has a terrific record of winning titles, having won 9 titles at 6 clubs over 10 years in a run that goes: Ajax (2004), Juventus (2005), Juventus (2006), Internazionale (2007), Internazionale (2008), Internazionale (2009), Barcelona (2010), AC Milan (2011), Paris St-Germain (2013). A cut priced $28m price tag has been slapped on his head following PSG’s signing of Edinson Cavani from Napoli, and it seems Laurent Blance can’t get rid of Ibra quick enough. City are also in the running to sign Sevilla’s Alvaro Negredo and / or Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic in deals thought to be totalling $100m.
City are keenly priced at $3.10 to win the 2014 EPL, and with the amount of money they have already spent, plus the possible creation of an Aguero/Ibrahimovic/Negredo/Jovetic front line, represents a huge price and great value for money.
On the other side of Manchester, it seems like Manchester United are switching attention to trying to sign Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona as long time target Thiago Alcantara is on the verge of a move to Bayern Munich. To be honest I can’t see Barca letting both Thiago and Fabregas leave, that would leave them with an aging midfield, unless they have some targets up their sleeves. With Real Madrid already very active in the transfer market and all the news about Barcelona seemingly about losing players (David Villa, Thiago, Fabregas etc), this is one rumour that is just paper talk.
United are more likely to look to Germany to recruit some central midfield creativity, with Dortmund’s playmaker Marco Reus the likely target.
Alcantara’s imminent arrival at Bayern ushers another talented midfielder towards the exit sign. Xherdan Shaqiri is thought to be a target for Liverpool, in their desperate attempt to break into the Top 4. Liverpool have also confirmed that they have offered Steven Gerrard (86) a new 2 year contract. “Can Gerrard play on into his late 30s? Absolutely, no question about that” quoted Brendan Rogers “There will always be a need at Anfield for a player capable of pinging a football diagonally across a football pitch into the advertising hoardings” he didn’t add.
Here is a quick summary of other gossip and rumours:
PSG want Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in a deal that simply won’t happen.
QPR and Brazil main stopping man and horrendous spelling mistake Julio Cesar is going to Napoli on loan in a deal that very much will happen.
Newcastle want to sign Aston Villa’s Darren Bent in a $10m deal once Alan Pardew and Joe Kinnear decide whose Mont Blanc they are supposed to use.
Manchester City’s Pablo Zabeleta is on his way to Fiorentina in a deal which will leave the Premier League with one fewer players who sound like a nice coffee base Italian dessert.
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