In a severe case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, Liverpool would like to add the Napoli player, Fabián Ruiz, to their midfield. A player seen as the new Xavi is wanted by others, too, and Real Madrid and Barcelona are also stalking someone who impressed during Napoli’s 2-0 defeat of Liverpool on Tuesday evening.
It feels like Jadon Sancho is going to become a mainstay of this august column – he already is, frankly – and those links with Manchester United continue to grow. That link of promising young Englishman and fallen giant trying to rebuild itself could be the feel good hit of the next transfer window, if not a winter warmer during the gloom of the January transfer window.
Another in that category of stories that will just not go away is Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid, which already feels like something of a fait accompli. It seems a matter of when but not if when the French forward deserts Paris Saint-Germain for what would have to be a world-record fee. The word out there in the Spanish media is that an agreement is already in place for Mbappé to join next summer and announce – as is customary – to a packed Bernabéu crowd that it has always been his dream to wear the white shirt.
Here’s what you could have won? This summer, West Ham got as far as talking to the family of Ansu Fati, the 16-year-old sensation who became Barcelona’s youngest ever Champions League player against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday. He will soon be out of the Hammers’ reach, with a new contract on the table and a buyout clause that would make Jeff Bezos blanche likely to be part of the package. Newcastle are another club looking through their fingers at a player they were interested in signing.
Isco, a player Zinedine Zidane has never seemed to fancy much at Real Madrid, is very much open to offers though will not come cheaply. Liverpool and Manchester City are those linked with a playmaker who would cost £66m.
Kicking his heels far more is Mario Mandzukic, who has been left out of Juventus’s Champions League squad altogether. Where next for him? The Croatian is mulling over a move to play in Qatari league, where he would earn €6m a year and tax-free, too. Juve, meanwhile, may be looking to swell their midfield options further with the addition of the Manchester United anchorman, Nemanja Matic.
Tottenham’s desire to stop Leicester crashing into the top four extends as far as making a treble and no doubt costly swoop for all three of James Maddison, Harvey Barnes and Demarai Gray.
