It has already been a good year for Chelsea. The opening days of 2017 have seen both Arsenal and Liverpool unexpectedly drop points in away games they might have expected to win comfortably, leaving the Blues basking in the luxury of both a game in hand and a five-point lead at the table’s summit. All of this has given Antonio Conte a little space in which to relax and perhaps be a little bit more imaginative with his January transfer dealings, in an effort to ensure that any arrivals will absolutely certainly carry his side heroically over the finish line come May. And after all the deep thought, the name currently nestling Costa-shot-like in the top corner of his shopping list is West Ham’s versatile right-sided sometime-forward Michail Antonio, seen as just the man to improve the side’s energy levels in the second half of the season. Though they might just sign Bayern Munich’s Arturo Vidal for £36m instead.
Everton consider themselves favourites to sign Morgan Schneiderlin, with the player apparently keen to move to Merseyside, partly to rejoin his former manager Ronald Koeman and partly because they would pay him £115,000 a week. But Everton are also determined to add defensive reinforcements this month, and though Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk remains their top choice, he might cost as much as £50m and seems likely to join a title-chasing side, and alternatives must thus be found. Chief among them, it seems, is Middlesbrough’s Ben Gibson, tough-tackling Teessider and chairman’s nephew, who the Mirror previously reported had been valued by Uncle Steve at as much as £35m. Also on the list is Burnley’s Michael Keane, though convincing his current club to sell him may prove troublesome. Talking of defences, Manchester City have identified Atlético Madrid’s Lucas Hernández as the man to make theirs look halfway competent, and are willing to put up with their current rabble until the Frenchman can be tempted over from Spain in the summer.
Leicester City’s £7.5m summer signing Bartosz Kapustka turned 20 two days before Christmas – the first thing he has had to celebrate in a season in which his undoubted footballing highlight was that time he was named as a substitute but didn’t get a kick, and that was in the defeat at Hull on the opening day back in August. It is the only time he has been in a Premier League matchday squad and, though he was also on the bench for an EFL Cup tie against Chelsea in September, he has yet to make his competitive debut. And now they want to sell him, or at the very least loan him out, and replace him with Norwich’s Robbie Brady.
Talking of wingers, Crystal Palace’s Bakary Sako seems certain to be on the move, with Birmingham and Derby ready to battle over the £4m-rated wideman. And talking of expensive failed summer transfers, Swansea’s Borja Bastón, signed from Atlético for £15.5m, could leave on loan, with Sevilla interested. And Chelsea’s £33m frontman Michy Batshuayi is wanted, also on loan, by Lille.
West Ham have offered £5m for 34-year-old goal machine Jermain Defoe, but Sunderland have decided not to let 63.2% of this season’s Premier League goals-for tally leave the club so cheaply. Still, the Hammers and Crystal Palace could yet return with a more generous offer – Slaven Bilic’s next effort is expected to be around £7m – and it would certainly be entertaining/depressing/horrific (delete as appropriate) to see how the Black Cats fare without him. The Hammers will raise a bit of that money by selling Ashley Fletcher to Leeds – who are also ready to spend £3.6m on Torino’s Pontus Janssen – for £1.5m
Cash by name, cash by nature: Championship-loving German side RB Leipzig are apparently ready to spend £6m on Nottingham Forest’s 19-year-old midfielder Matty Cash, previously linked with Chelsea. Talking of Forest, their captain, Henri Lansbury, also seems to be on the move, with his contract being only six months from expiry. Aston Villa are the latest side to be linked with a move for the former Arsenal midfielder, though Derby and Watford are also sniffing hungrily around like so many truffle-hunting hogs.
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