Only the second Frenchman to play for Basque club Athletic Bilbao (Bixente Lizarazu was the first), Aymeric Laporte is currently inching his way across Manchester United’s radar. Despite his tender years, the 20 year old central defender and occasional left-back has a £30m release clause in his contract and has previously attracted interest from Arsenal and Barcelona and was instrumental in helping Athletic qualify for their maiden Champions League campaign courtesy of a string of assured performances in defence for Los Leones last season. But if we’re going to praise him for getting Athletic a seat at Europe’s top table, it would be remiss of us to ignore the fact that his side will be leaving straight after the soup course. Not having seen their three defeats and one draw from four games, we have no idea how culpable Monsieur Laporte was in securing their early exit.
The Moriarty to Manchester City’s Sherlock Holmes, Seydou Doumbia could be on his way to the Premier League to further antagonise the Premier League champions. CSKA Moskow’s 27-year-old Ivorian striker has scored five of his 10 career Champions League goals against Manchester City and is wanted by Chelsea and Liverpool, who have been told the bidding will start at £15m.
Having conceded that, yes, that is his horse bolting across the fields towards yonder horizon, Arsène Wenger hopes to lock his stable door in January by bringing Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels to the Emirates. Despite repeated warnings that the aforementioned out-house door has been hanging ajar since the summer, Wenger opted to ignore warnings about potential security breaches and as recently as last week was accusing people (hello Merse!) who questioned his naivety of being “a farce”. But with Arsenal’s need for new defensive recruits more apparent than ever, Wenger is believed to be anxious to sign Hummels, who unnamed and possibly unreliable “sources” claim would prefer a move to the Emirates over Old Trafford.
André Schurrle could be on his way out of Stamford Bridge, with his Chelsea overlords confident that Borussia Dortmund will take him in a January swap deal involving midfielder and Rumour Mill staple Marco Reus. That said, German newspaper Bild reckon he’s actually off to join Bayern Munich.
Meanwhile on Merseyside, Everton’s Arouna Kone has had a torrid time of it since joining the Toffees from Wigan, after suffering a nasty knee injury not long after signing on the dotted line. Struggling Spanish side Levante, who sold him to Wigan in 2012, will offer the Ivorian a career jump-start if he can prove his fitness.
Arsenal and Tottenham both want to introduce Barcelona full-back Dani Alves to life in the Premier League, although if what the Rumour Mill witnessed late doors at the Liberty Stadium yesterday is anything to go by, the last thing the Gunners need is yet another defender who spends more time in the opposition half than his own. With the Brazilian’s contract due to expire in the summer, Manchester United are also believed to be interested in offering him a gig.
Inter may attempt to sign Manchester City attacker Stevan Jovetic on loan in January, while Suede-headed Celtic skipper and midfielder Scott Brown could get to test his mettle outside the SPL if rumours suggesting Crystal Palace are weighing up a £5m January bid turn out to have any basis in truth. Finally, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are all interested in signing Fulham teenager Patrick Roberts.
