On a day when football’s pathologists devote much of their available space and vocabulary to post-mortem reports on the defeats of Arsenal and Chelsea, the Rumour Mill finds itself sifting through the bags of biohazard waste in search of any odds and ends that can be sewn together, Dr Frankenstein style, to create a presentable column’s worth of transfer tittle-tattle. Well, a column’s worth of tittle-tattle.
Having rung the personnel changes against Porto but still watched his team lose in his old stomping ground of the Estádio do Dragão, an increasingly dishevelled and haunted looking José Mourinho is being linked with a move for the former Milan goalkeeper Marco Amelia, who has been training with the club and is expected to sign as short-term cover for Asmir Begovic while Thibaut Courtois recovers from his knee injury.
Dropped for Chelsea’s defeat on Tuesday night, John Terry may have spent time pondering what the future holds for him after his contract expires next summer. The Mirror report that he could get to play out his twilight years in China or Turkey. Possibly not everyone’s first choice as a cultural ambassador, Chelsea’s skipper is believed to made a lot of friends when travelling to Guangzhou on club business in the summer and is now a target for several Chinese Super League clubs, as well as Fenerbahce. The Istanbul side, for whom Nani and Robin van Persie signed last summer, have long had an interest in getting Terry on the payroll and he’ll be free to negotiate a lucrative final payday with them and other suitors in January under the Bosman rule.
Despite signing for Porto in July for €20m, Giannelli Imbula is understood to be unhappy with his lot and already agitating for a move elsewhere. A powerful midfielder who made his name at Marseille, the 23-year-old featured in his club’s win over Chelsea and was the subject of failed bids from Southampton and Tottenham during the summer months. TalkSport report that both clubs could renew their pursuit of the France Under-21 international in January if Porto decide to move him on.
Elsewhere in Portugal, highly-regarded Sporting midfielder William Carvalho is attracting admiring glances from Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, with all three clubs in need of a bit of defensive steel in midfield. Having long been linked with an array of English clubs, Carvalho returned from a three-month lay-off last weekend, having returned from last summer’s European U-21 championships, where he was voted player of the tournament, with a stress fracture of the tibia.
Having been training with Celtic in the hope of being offered a contract, Carlton Cole has suffered a setback in the form of an unspecified calf tweak. The former West Ham striker is believed to have impressed Celtic’s backroom staff, but was holding out on inking a deal in the hope of a receiving a more lucrative offer to play in the warmer climate of the Qatar.
Former Gremio, Milan, Mallorca and Espanyol right-back Felipe Mattioni is another unemployed footballer in search of a gig and the Liverpool Echo reports that the 26-year-old lined up for Everton’s U-21s when they faced Norwich City on Tuesday night. Aged 26, the Brazilian has endured a career punctuated by injury and has notched up less than 50 league appearances for his four previous clubs.
And finally, Juventus goalkeeper Gigi Buffon has hinted that he might draw the curtain on his stellar career in the Premier League, having told reporters that he reckons he has another two years in the tank after this season and has always wanted to play in England. “I would have loved to have played in the Premier League,” he said. “I have spent 10 years at Parma, 15 at Juventus and I think I still have around two-and-a-half years left at the top. There may still be an opportunity.” Perhaps a certain Arsenal manager can buy him and inexplicably leave him on the bench.
