Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United are only missing the final piece of their title-contesting jigsaw – and it’s a big piece. A big, expensive piece. So special is this piece that in many ways it’s not the last piece of this jigsaw but the first piece of the next one. “Chelsea have Hazard, he can always make an action and decide a goal,” said Louis van Gaal. “City have Agüero, and Barcelona have Messi, Neymar and Suárez. We have to compete with these clubs, so we have to look also for that kind of player.”
Inevitably if entertainingly this mysterious potential supersigning has been dubbed a Gaalactico. United may have thought they had got one of those when they paid £59.7m for Ángel Di María last summer, or £37.1m for Juan Mata the previous January, but apparently they have failed to sufficiently gaalvanise the squad. The identity of the potential recruit has not been revealed, so nobody knows if United would like to sign a French forward – a gaallic Gaalactico – or perhaps a player from northern Spain – a Gaalician Gaalactico – or one from western Iberia – a Portugaal Gaalactico. All we know is that Cristiano Ronaldo – the prodigaal Gaalactico – will not be the one, and that the signing, if and when it happens, is extraordinarily unlikely to be particularly frugaal.
Stevan Jovetic is in Italy right now, hoping to pass a medical and sign a contract with Internazionale. Whether it’s a loan deal (as Inter would prefer) or a permanent signing (Manchester City’s desired outcome) remains to be seen, but City have resigned themselves to losing upwards of £6m on a player they signed for £20.4m.
A similar battle is ongoing between Chelsea and Juventus over Juan Cuadrado, with the Italian club ready to end the player’s brief Stamford Bridge-based misery with a loan deal, and Chelsea never wanting to see him again, and ready to accept a £5m hit on the £23m they paid for the Colombian in January (and talking of big financial hits, Borussia Dortmund have joined Sevilla in the race for £11m-rated Spurs flop Roberto Soldado, a full £15m less than the Spaniard cost when he arrived in London two years ago).
Quite what it is with Italians and loan moves the Mill does not know, but Tottenham’s Vlad Chiriches is also involved in one, with Fiorentina happy to have him for the season and perhaps buy him next summer if they still feel like it, and Tottenham minded to accept anything to get him out of the club, after signing two new centre-backs this summer.
Everton are considering a move for Celtic’s £10m-rated (by Celtic) Virgil van Dijk, with Roberto Martínez admitting that “maybe we need another new face at centre-half”. So apparently do Crystal Palace, Leicester, Southampton, Newcastle, West Brom and Aston Villa, all of whom are after Hull’s James Chester, who might cost as much as £6m. Palace, though, have been told to leave Fabricio Coloccini alone, with Newcastle’s Steve McClaren insisting the 33-year-old “has a future here”.
Enough defenders, though, and Arsenal will be happy to spend £8.5m on the 30-year-old Spanish beanpole Fernando Llorente if their move for Karim Benzema comes to nought, though their opening offer is a comparatively meagre £5.6m. His current club, Juventus, are also bracing themselves for an English bid for 19-year-old Kingsley Coman, with Liverpool and the Gunners both keen, though the Frenchman has also caught the eye of Bayern Munich.
Palace and West Brom are also both competing for Adrian Ramos, Borussia Dortmund’s 29-year-old Colombian striker, though the German side are so reluctant to part with him that they are demanding £16m, not far off double the sensible valuation for a player who scored only six goals last season.
Jordan Ayew is ready to waive a £800,000 transfer bonus to grease the wheels of his transfer from Lorient to Aston Villa, so desperate is he to follow his brother André – who has swapped Marseille for Swansea – to the Premier League. Villa’s Nathan Baker, meanwhile, is a £2m target for Burnley.
Southampton have told Emmanuel Mayuka to please go away, having left him out of their pre-season tour and told him he won’t be in their Premier League squad. The Zambian, a £3m signing in 2012, could end up at Spartak Moscow as a result.
