What were you doing when you were 15? The Mill, of course, was busy beating its high scores on Double Dragon, worrying about troublesome new hairs and studying for GCSEs in Gossip, Advanced Speculation and double Tittle-Tattle.
Nishan Burkart, on the other hand, is at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war between Arsenal and Chelsea. The 15-year-old FC Zurich wunderkind turns 16 in January and will be up for grabs in the winter transfer window and the two Premier League sides are at the front of the queue for his signature. The Gunners are also keeping tabs on Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder and Rumour Mill mainstay Hakan Calhanoglu.
New manager syndrome may not have helped Liverpool to an immediate return to winning ways but it has upped their game in the speculation stakes. Jürgen Klopp’s January shopping list includes Ajax wingman Anwar El Ghazi – the Reds will face competition from Atlético Madrid for the 20-year-old Dutch international.
Klopp is also keen on the Paris Saint-Germain striker Odsonne Edouard. The 17-year-old has been watched by the club, who also have several scouts hoping to win their Unearthing A Hidden Gem badge at the Under-17 World Cup in Chile. Edouard is at the tournament with France.
Sunderland will let Jermain Defoe leave in January in order to create a bit of wriggle room in the Black Cats’ budget. Bournemouth would be interested. Very interested. Sam Allardyce wants QPR’s Charlie Austin as his spearhead instead.
And in Next Summer’s Big Transfer Battle news, PSG’s Ezequiel Lavezzi is either definitely off to Barcelona, or part of a three-way clash between the Catalan club, Manchester United and Liverpool.
