United planning big Aubameyang bid?
The winter window might have shut, but the rumour mill rolls on. As always, Transfer Talk has its finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest rumours and gossip. See the latest deals here.
TOP STORY: United linked with striking striker swoop
Earlier this month, Borussia Dortmund said they would not rule out the sale of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang — and you’d think they’d be unlikely to rule out the sort of potential deal the Daily Mirror is reporting.
Where does it think he’s going in the summer? Manchester United, that’s where. And it suggests that the money changing hands for the in-form Aubameyang, who it claims has been identified as transfer target No. 1 by oft-criticised executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, would be £60 million.
Tuesday’s Daily Mirror back page:
An Eiffel waste#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/FRRwzSxLUY– Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 15, 2016
The Mirror says that “despite their struggles to qualify for next season’s Champions League, United are confident they can lure Aubameyang to Old Trafford.”
And it adds that as well as that eye-watering transfer fee, they are ready to commit to a £200,000-a-week deal and are all set to make the Gabon international “a global superstar.”
The Mail on Sunday reported at the weekend that United were planning a £70m bid for Aubameyang, though, so perhaps they’re looking to cut some costs.
If Aubameyang really is coming in, an exit or two or three will be on the cards. The Daily Star predicts that one player on his way out could be midfielder Juan Mata, who may be heading for Atletico Madrid in a £25 million deal.
Signing Mata, 27, is one of Atletico’s major summer ambitions, the paper says, adding that the ex-Chelsea man “will consider his future if United fail to secure Champions League qualification.”
Sadio the Mane man for Manchester duo
Everyone loves a good transfer battle, don’t they? Great news — there’s one about to be sparked (they’re almost always sparked, hardly ever just started) by Southampton, according to the Mirror.
That’s because the Saints are said to be ready to let forward Sadio Mane go — sparking (yes) the attention of not only United, linked with him over the summer, but also that of Manchester City, where there are likely to be plenty of ins and outs as Pep Guardiola gets to grips with his new job.
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman doesn’t exactly appear to be desperate to keep Senegal international Mane, who was dropped for the recent win at Swansea, saying: “We do not play with three up front, we play with two strikers — that is one reason Mane did not start — and in the last few weeks he has been struggling a little bit with his performances.”
Maybe that’s something that Guardiola or LVG — or whoever United’s manager happens to be by that point — might fancy their chances of putting right.
Hiddink’s Hazard warning
Well, it doesn’t appear that Chelsea’s interim manager Guus Hiddink had too many qualms about speaking his mind on the future of Eden Hazard ahead of his side’s Champions League tie in Paris on Tuesday.
Hazard, such a star for the Blues last season but struggling to replicate his sparkling form this time around, has been linked, more than once, with opponents Paris Saint-Germain. On Monday he said it would be “difficult to say no to PSG — like all the teams who are capable of winning the Champions League.”
But Hiddink is having none of that, despite Hazard adding that “for the moment, I’m not dwelling on that.”
Tuesday’s Telegraph Sport:
Hazard warning#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/dEoJOLL5QW– Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) February 15, 2016
The manager has suggested that Ligue 1, of which Laurent Blanc’s PSG are the runaway leaders, is a bit of a small-time operation in comparison with other European leagues.
“For me, I think big, big, big players always like to be in the biggest league — which is the Premier League, La Liga and also the Bundesliga,” he said.
Hiddink reckons Hazard needs to pep up his Chelsea performances before talking about moving to PSG, Real Madrid or anywhere else.
He said, pretty starkly, that the Belgium international “must get fit and show he is a top player. And then for Chelsea, which is a big club, he can be of huge value.”
The manager added that although there would always be speculation about who might be coming or going at Stamford Bridge, “I don’t want to go into that.”
Even though, to an extent, he did.
Tap-ins
– Radamel Falcao will stay at Chelsea until the end of the season despite reports suggesting he could be the latest star to move to China, his father Radamel Garcia is quoted as saying by the The Sun.
Falcao, who has not played for the Blues since the end of October amid injury problems, has endured little but frustration since arriving at Stamford Bridge on loan from Monaco. But his father said: “A lot of things can happen, but he will keep playing at Chelsea until the end of the season. He is not thinking about moving to China at all.”
– Liverpool are keen on a summer move for Borussia Monchenglabach defensive midfielder Havard Nordtveit, according to the Daily Express.
Nordtveit, a 25-year-old Norway international who joined Monchengladbach in 2011, will be able to leave on a free in the summer when his contract expires in the summer having failed to agreed terms on a new deal.
– Former Aston Villa star Tony Morley was disgusted with what he saw in the 6-0 home humiliation against Liverpool at the weekend — and he wasn’t the only one, with plenty of Villa fans making their fury loud and clear.
It’s time for wholesale changes to the squad, Morley believes, with relegation to the Championship now appearing inevitable. The Mirror quotes him as saying: “We need to have a good clear-out to sort it out because we are going nowhere at the moment as a club.
“Maybe this is a pivotal point where we have to look at each other and the people at the club and say: ‘Where are we going to take this club from here?'”
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