Merry Christmas, readers! At least it could feel like that for fans of some clubs today – but which clubs? Might Arsenal fans wake up and find a brand new striker under the transfer tree? It sometimes feels like Arsène Wenger would have to be plied with mulled wine before accepting that Olivier Giroud is not the man to spearhead a title charge, but after the manager was spotted on a plane to Paris on Monday night there are hopes he is preparing to wrap up a deal for Edinson Cavani, or at least the Uruguayan’s Paris Saint-Germain midfield team-mate Adrien Rabiot.
The Telegraph tells us, however, that Arsenal may instead put their faith in Gabriel Barbosa, an 18-year-old striking sensation who has been tearing it up for Santos and has already rejected an offer from Fenerbahce. And, of course, reports continue to claim that Arsenal are still trying to prise Gonzalo Higuaín from Napoli. Options abound, money is no object – yet if they had to bet, Gooners far and wide would wager that the next time we hear from Wenger, he’ll be saying he had a nice coffee in Paris while philosophising about the difficulty of finding good players, the madness of the transfer market and his certainty that Yaya Sanogo remains Arsenal’s long-term solution.
Galatasaray, meanwhile, suspect Wenger might just be brazen enough to rile Arsenal fans even further by agreeing to sell them Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Athletic Bilbao hope that Nacho Monreal’s decision to follow them on Twitter means he is as good as theirs.
Tottenham hope, meanwhile, that they will not also be talking tomorrow about all the deals that they nearly got done but did not. Daniel Levy, who was not seen aboard a plane to Paris but may well have been spotted dawdling around an airport before sprinting for several flights and missing them all, is expected to make a last-gasp bid for Newcastle’s Ayoze Pérez and another below-price one for Saido Berahino.
West Ham are yet another London club who will spend the last day of the window running around in frantic search of a striker, but, of course, they don’t want Charlie Austin – what David Sullivan demands is someone who meets West Ham’s meticulous standards, a surefire hit. They’re in for Emmanuel Adebayor, apparently.
Aston Villa are also pursuing Adebayor, with Sherwood – a celebrated nurturer of young talent – also keen to land Joleon Lescott.
West Bromwich Albion and Leicester are facing off for Napoli’s Spanish midfielder David López.
Sunderland are hoping that Brendan Rodgers still thinks Liverpool don’t need as many central defenders as they can get and will allow Tiago Ilori to depart to the Stadium of Light.
Watford want the Rennes midfielder Abdoulaye Doucouré. And Jonathan Walters wants a better contract than the one Stoke are offering him and could stomp out of the Britannia and all the way to West Brom or Norwich instead.
After announcing the deal to sign the River Plate centre-back Ramiro Funes Mori, Everton also plan to land Aaron Lennon on Tuesday.
Finally, no one knows what larks Manchester United have in store for us today, but there are suggestions that Louis van Gaal will head to Old Trafford straight after eating a £1.5m bowl of Corn Flakes, assuming Ed Woodward didn’t get lost in the supermarket. The Mill cannot confirm that on his arrival at Old Trafford, Van Gaal will pick a fight with someone, anyone, just to show he’s the man. There are reports, though, that Marcos Rojo could be sold after falling out with Garry Monk’s most famous pupil.
