Aaaaaaarrrgggghhhh! The Mill’s dog ate its alarm clock, then the Mill’s dog fell on the train tracks*, caused signal failure, all after hiding the Mill’s keys down the back of the sofa – the rascal. Fear not however, for rushing is no longer en vogue among the modern day footballistas. Why? Because Gus Poyet says so. Want more proof, Pep Guardiola and Bastian Schweinsteiger also say so – neither is willing to break stride to sign a new deal at Bayern.
Nor is Raheem Sterling at Liverpool for that matter, which has pricked the ears of Chelsea suits who fancy bringing the 20-year-old back to west London. Sterling is stalling over a new Liverpool contract. Their opening gambit of £70,000 has caused offence. Sterling, who, we must not forget, gets tired, will not get out of bed for that (and after this morning, the Mill knows how he feels).
And Chelsea are ready to pounce. Once André Schürrle and Mohamed Salah have done one, the path is clear. Chelsea are no mugs though, they have back-up options. Fiorentina are refusing to budge on their £26.8m valuation of Juan Cuadrado but Douglas Costa appears more of a goer. The Brazilian is keeping his public guessing – reaffirming his commitment to the Skahktar Donetsk cause while also admitting of dreaming for playing for Chelsea – although the Blues will have to up their £16m offer.
That is small beer compared to the £75m Manchester United will need to stump up to have Paul Pogba back however. Juventus’s Massimiliano Allegri has conceded that everyone has a price and as Louis van Gaal loses patience in determining whether Kevin Strootman’s knee is in fact knacked for good, the Pog-igal** son will return. £75m seems about right for a place on United’s bench, right next to Adnan Januzaj. PSG want the serial bench warmer but Van Gaal says no.
United are also chasing Memphis Depay but face stiff competition from Tottenham. Van Gaal knows Depay well – they both speaka the same lingo – and Tottenham already have 18 wingers so Daniel Levy will need to look elsewhere for his transfer window fix.
It come could from Rome. The game is up for Emmanuel Adebayor, who spent a couple of months taking a leaf from the devil in convincing the world he did not exist but back he came, captained the side and picked up a few yellow cards. Alas no goals however and Spurs have decided that a non-goal scoring strikeforce of Adebayor and Roberto Soldado just will not do. So Mattia Destro is on his way, provided Tottenham are willing to let Vlad Chiriches go in the other direction. Levy is driving Chiriches there himself.
United meanwhile, will miss out on Aymeric Laporte who will move from Athletic Bilbao to Real Madrid for a few beans over £30m. We know this because Van Gaal does not do defenders. In other Real Madrid news, Iker Casillas says he wants to play in the MLS so expect him in goal for Barcelona in a few months’ time.
The biggest shock of the January transfer window emerged yesterday when QPR chairman Tony Fernandes said the Hoops will be investing in youth and are not interested in high-profile signings. In other, unrelated news, they were also heavily linked with Dimitar Berbatov, Dani Osvaldo and Michael Essien but it appears Harry Redknapp is keeping his powder dry.
On the other hand, Antonio Cassano has been cut loose by Serie A strugglers Parma and is a free agent …
* no dogs were harmed in the making of this Rumour Mill
** blame the dog, not the Mill
