Do you love the international break? All that free time to tend to the garden, watch a box set or spend the week reading Don DeLillo’s Underworld only to realise that the prologue is by far the best bit and the remaining 800 pages are a confusing muddle but regardless spend a long time getting increasingly irritated by how long it is, much like this sentence. Or, like the Mill, maybe you hate the break and spend every waking moment furiously refreshing news aggregator sites to see if Fleetwood Town will really complete that move for Grimsby’s second-choice goalkeeper.
Sadly, and predictably, there are slim pickings and 48 hours remaining before the first World Cup qualifier even begins. Indeed so slim that the hottest bit of tittle-tattle emanating from France is how Chelsea striker and social media banter merchant Michy Batshuayi could be sent back on loan to Marseille because Diego Costa is in such good form. Forget the fact that Batshuayi was signed because a long-standing problem was the shortage of a genuine Plan B for the Spain striker. If he does move to the south of France, Antonio Conte may splash some cash upon realising he really needs a back-up for his tempestuous first-choice player. All the while one of their loan players Tammy Abraham continues to set the Championship alight.
Meanwhile, Conte spent Sunday watching Torino beat Fiorentina 2-1, which obviously means he is interested in signing Joe Hart because Thibaut Courtois said something about wanting to move to Spain due to his partner being Spanish. Staying with the Chelsea and Italy theme, Cesc Fàbregas has been linked with Milan again – this time as part of a deal that would see the defender Mattia de Sciglio swap San Siro for Stamford Bridge.
Across London, Arsenal are seeking attacking reinforcements of their own with one eye on Celtic’s Moussa Dembélé, though they may be better off keeping an eye on team-mate and namesake Karamoko Dembélé, the 13-year-old who came off the bench in last night’s under-20s game against Hearts. (In a nice piece of symmetry, he replaced the club’s youngest ever scorer, 16-year-old Jack Aitchison.)
Elsewhere, Manchester United might be tempted to sell Matteo Darmian to Internazionale because scouts were impressed by the performance of Benfica’s 21-year-old left-back Álex Grimaldo against Feirense at the weekend. Finally and inevitably, Swansea City will be linked with the best of MLS now Bob Bradley is manager – even though the last time he has worked Stateside was five years ago.
