With Manchester City and Liverpool both having key fixtures in the coming weeks, the FC crew wonder who can avoid fatigue to get job done.
The transfer window for Europe’s biggest clubs is closed, but click here for all the deals and keep track of who has joined the big boys. And Transfer Talk will continue to scour the world’s media and set correspondents loose to see what’s on the agenda for the summer.
TOP STORY: Maddison avenue opens up for Spurs
With Christian Eriksen reluctant to commit his future to Spurs, the Daily Star claim that Leicester’s James Maddison could be the club’s replacement of choice.
The former Norwich star has been little short of sensational at the King Power so far this season and is the jewel in Leicester’s crown. The same could be said for Eriksen at White Hart Lane, or Wembley, or wherever Spurs are planning to play in the next couple of months.
Eriksen’s contract expires at the end of next season and the Dane is apparently in glacial mood when it comes to re-negotiating his next payday. Spurs’ interest in Maddison is nothing new, with the North Londoners having had an interest in Leicesters’ creative spark since his days at Coventry.
LIVE BLOG
08.35 GMT: Marek Hamsik’s proposed move from Napoli to a Chinese club, believed to be Dalian Yifang, has been put on hold after the Serie A club claimed irregularities over the payment of the transfer fee.
Hamsik, 31, seemed to say his goodbyes to the Napoli fans during their 3-0 win over Sampdoria on Saturday, while he was given a send-off meal by his teammates on Tuesday night, but he has continued to train for the Azzurri while the transfer formalities were being dealt with. However, Napoli said in a tweet on Wednesday evening that the move has now been suspended.
“The club has decided to suspend Marek Hamsik’s move to China because the payment methods proposed for the agreed sum fail to adhere to what was previously agreed,” read the tweet.
PAPER TALK (by Rich Edwards): Two good to turn down?
Real Madrid are canny operators — and having poached Thibaut Courtois from Chelsea last season, they’re now putting in place another plot to lure the Belgian to the Bernabeu.
The Daily Mail report that Madrid are planning to launch the “Courtois Plan” in order to ensure that Eden Hazard bids farewell to Stamford Bridge this summer — and are prepared to offered players like Isco or Marco Asensio as sweeteners to encourage Chelsea to lower their asking price.
It sounds clandestine, the sort of thing that Winston Churchill would sanction amid a fog of cigar smoke in the Cabinet War Rooms in the early 1940s, but essentially it’s simple. By offering one of their star players they can keep the price down, keep Chelsea happy and hasten Hazard’s departure.
Madrid know that bringing Hazard will cost considerably more than the £35 million they shelled out on the Belgian keeper last summer but having done business with Chelsea before, they will know they can do it again.
Ceaseless negotiators Madrid are confident that their cunning thinking can help turn Hazard’s La Liga dreams into a reality. And, frankly, end one of the longest-running transfer sagas in recent history.
That said, The Sun claim that any plan might be pointless anyway, with the paper reporting that Neymar could spoil everyone’s fun with a move to the Bernabeu that would leave Hazard licking his wounds and counting his cash — £300,000 a week for a new Chelsea deal to be precise.
If at first you don’t succeed…
Things are most definitely looking up for Manchester United — and they must be hoping that if they can continue their 2019 form until May, then Kalidou Koulibaly will finally succumb and head to the North West.
The Evening Standard report that despite two stalled bids for the central defender in the January transfer window, United will be back. They also claim that the Senegalese defender is increasingly keen on a move to Old Trafford.
And who wouldn’t be given the club’s up-tick in fortunes under new man Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. From United’s point of view, they are well aware that in comparison to the current top four, their central defensive coverage is wafer thin.
The likes of Chris Smalling and Marcos Rojo have largely underwhelmed during an admittedly difficult period for the club. Victor Lindelof’s form has dramatically improved under the Norwegian, with the Swede now looking one of the classiest performers in the top flight but the recruitment of a top notch centre back to play alongside him is clearly a priority this summer.
United were prepared to shell out £100m for Real Madrid’s French star, Raphael Varane, in the summer but that signing remains a pipedream. For the moment, at least, Koulibaly looks a far more likely option.
Should he eventually arrive at Old Trafford, he’s likely to have Phil Jones as a teammate, with The Metro reporting that the club are preparing to offer him a new contract to avoid him leaving as a freebie when his contract expires in July. Jones has been a regular starter in recent weeks but is he only really keeping that area of the pitch warm for Koulibaly? Time will tell.
Tap-ins
— Manchester United are set to offer Ander Herrera a new deal at Old Trafford. So say the Daily Mail, with the player who joined the club from Atletico Bilbao in 2014 now keen to stay at Old Trafford and soak up the current feel-good.
— Italy international Federico Chiesa could soon be saying goodbye to Fiorentina — although where he ends up appears to be a moveable feast. Calciomercato report that Inter and Juventus are ahead of the pack but there are sharks circling — with the two Manchester clubs, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid all sharpening their cheque book pencils.
— Back at Stamford Bridge, The Independent is claiming that Philippe Coutinho could emerge as a shock replacement for Hazard at Stamford Bridge after failing to make waves at Barcelona.
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