Thibaut Courtois is no stranger to Madrid, having spent his first three years at Chelsea on loan at Atlético and made considerably more appearances for them than he has for the Premier League leaders. The accomplished Belgian goalkeeper could be on his way back to the Spanish capital, if tabloid reports linking him with a big-money move to their city rivals are to be believed. Real Madrid are rumoured to be interested in offering him a whopping great contract and his ties to the city – his girlfriend hails from there, don’t you know – mean he’s open to offers.
Despite his habit of underwhelming from time to time in an Everton shirt, midfielder Ross Barkley is wanted by Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea, while West Ham are hoping to relegate Sunderland by bringing Jermain Defoe back to London. Slaven Bilic has admitted that quite a few of his players have implored him to sign up the striker and bring him back to his former club. “He’s a very good player,” said Bilic. “Defoe is scoring goals and that is important. I have a few midfielders from different countries telling me his movement is the best of strikers they have played with. But he’s someone else’s player so I don’t want to talk about it.” We can only imagine what he’d say if he did want to talk about it.
Spanish sports daily AS reckons Antonio Conte wants Swansea striker Fernando Llorente at Chelsea, in news that may prompt Michy Batshuayi to wonder what exactly he has to do to get a game. Despite having signed for £33m from Marseille during the summer, Batshuayi has yet to start a Premier League game under Conte but has been told he won’t be going out on loan because his Italian manager thinks such a move would constitute “a defeat for Chelsea and me”.
Along with Manchester City, Chelsea are also believed to be waving fists of tenners Southampton’s way in the hope of securing the services of central defender Virgil van Dijk, who seems a certainty to leave Southampton sooner rather than later. £55m is the fee being mentioned for a player who moved from Celtic to Saints for £13m or so in September 2015.
Claudio Ranieri says Kasper Schmeichel is going nowhere, despite speculation suggesting Liverpool are plotting to lure the Danish goalkeeper to Anfield from Leicester City. With Genk’s Nigerian midfielder Wilfried Ndidi about to be pictured posing in a Leicester jersey and scarf any day now, La Gazzetto dello Sport claim Ranieri is hoping that Sassuolo central defender Francesco Acerbi is also on his way to the King Power Stadium to help halt the Premier League champions’ alarming slide down the table they topped last season.
Aston Villa striker Rudy Gestede is still wanted by Middlesbrough, who have offered £6.5m or Jordan Rhodes for the 28-year-old from Benin in what sounds like a done(ish) deal, while the Stoke Sentinel say Mark Hughes has made enquiries about bringing strikers Manolo Gabbiadini and Davie Selke in from Napoli and RB Leipzig, respectively. Meanwhile in Manchester, Pep Guardiola is hitching his skirt at young Atlético Madrid duo Theo Hernández and Lucas, while rumours linking Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fàbregas with a move to Milan refuse to go away.
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