On the verge of a return from a spell on the sidelines with injury, John Terry could see out his dotage in China, with the trio of Super League clubs Guangzhou Evergrande, Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai SIPG all reported to be forming an orderly queue to snap up the Chelsea defender. The London Evening Standard reports that the 35-year-old is considering taking the Shenhua yuan come season’s end.
Despite signing a contract handcuffing him to Barcelona until 2021 in October, Neymar is wanted by Manchester United, according to Scotland’s Daily Record. He’ll cost them a few bob– the Brazilian’s contract has an eye-watering buyout clause fixed at €200m (£178.2m) for its first year, €222m (£197.8m) for the second and €250m (£222.8m) for the remaining three years.
Italian daily the Corriere dello Sport says Manchester City target Kasper Dolberg is also on the radar of Napoli and Juventus. The callow 19-year-old Dane made headlines in the Netherlands with a hat-trick inside 37 minutes against NEC Nijmegen last month that catapulted him to joint top place of the Eredivisie scoring charts with eight goals in 12 matches. Elsewhere in the Low Countries, teenage Genk defender Wilfred Ndidi is wanted by Leicester City.
The Sun says Southampton are “resigned to losing” their impressive central defensive pairing of Virgil van Dijk and José Fonte over the next two transfer windows. Liverpool have been repeatedly linked with a move for the former, while Manchester United are reported to be after the latter. Reports from Scotland suggest Liverpool are also teeing up a bid for Celtic striker Moussa Dembélé, who has been banging them in for fun north of the border this season. Glasgow Live says Liverpool will offer £10m up front and the same amount in add-ons for the 20-year-old French striker who has already scored 17 goals for the Scottish champions since moving to Glasgow from Fulham in the summer.
Manchester United’s Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo could be off to Bayer Leverkusen, following in the footsteps of Mexican striker Javier Hernández, whose move from Old Trafford to the Bundesliga club was a great success. Rojo has made 13 appearances for United this season and started Wednesday night’s League Cup quarter-final win over West Ham.
Out of favour at Chelsea, Mikel John Obi could head for Valencia in January, although his agent says it’s “50-50” whether he’ll leave for a fee during the transfer window or see out the rest of his contract and move on for a free in the summer.
And finally, the ongoing saga of Barcelona’s search for a new right-back could end with the Spanish club signing Shakhtar Donetsk’s Darijo Srna. The veteran former Croatia captain will be available on a free transfer in January and has been in talks with Barça club secretary Robert Fernández. The Catalan side are desperate to add more strength in depth to a position they’ve struggled to fill since the departure of Brazil’s Dani Alves to Juventus after eight seasons, 21 goals and a staggering 71 assists.
