Manchester United could continue their policy of spending vast amounts of money on players they previously had on their books as youngsters, if the Sun’s speculation that Danny Drinkwater might be on his way back to Old Trafford is to be believed.
Having been released by United after failing to cut the mustard as a whey-faced whelp, the Premier League-winning midfielder is apparently being touted as a potential enabler for Paul Pogba in January, despite having recently signed a new five-year deal that would jack his price up as high as £30m.
In news that may come as a surprise to those of us who had kind of forgotten that Mikel John Obi is still at Chelsea, Mikel John Obi has announced his intention to dance lasciviously for potential new suitors in January if Chelsea don’t offer him a new deal. Having failed to play his way into Antonio Conte’s plans since returning from the Olympics, where he was busy winning a bronze medal with Nigeria, the midfielder is free to talk to foreign clubs about a Bosman from January, now that he’s in the final year of his current deal.
“When you have a year left, in January, you are allowed to talk to other clubs and sign a pre-contract or have an agreement so, yes, I will talk to other clubs because you never know what is going to happen,” said Mikel, who has spent 10 years at Stamford Bridge and was linked with summer moves to Inter and Besiktas.
Despite scoring a quickfire brace at the beginning of extra time in his side’s EFL Cup win over Leicester on Tuesday, Cesc Fàbregas will head for pastures new unless he can nail down a place in Conte’s first team. On the final whistle last night,the midfielder expressed his delight at having got to play some football, criticised unnamed journalists for talking “rubbish” and made all the right noises about being there to help his team when required, but he continues to be linked with a January move away from Stamford Bridge. Should he campaign to leave he is unlikely to have a shortage of possible destinations, with Milan, Juventus, Valencia and Atlético Madrid all rumoured to be interested.
Thibaut Courtois is another player who might be headed for the Chelsea door marked “Do One” after dropping sledgehammer-subtle hints he’d like to return to Spain, where he spent several happy and successful years keeping goal for Atlético while serving his time out on loan from Stamford Bridge.
“I feel half Spanish,” said the Belgian in an interview with Spanish daily Marca. “When I said goodbye I had a bad time. I had cold blood, it was not easy. I cried.” Courtois will enter the final year of his contract in the summer of 2018 and has said he will wait until then to decide whether to stay put or leave. No rush there, then.
A host of English clubs sent scouts to Vila do Conde in northern Portugal on Monday to watch Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins play in his team’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Rio Ave, with representatives from both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and West Ham all having signed in at reception before kick-off.
And finally, having been training with Blackburn since his release from Sunderland, Wes Brown could be on the verge of sealing his move from the Premier League frying pan into the Championship fire by putting pen to paper with the Lancashire club, who currently sit second from bottom.
