Having played two, won two and scored one since his arrival on loan at Watford from Milan 10 days ago, M’Baye Niang is already being linked with a permanent move to Vicarage Road in the summer. Already on his third loan spell, after time at Montpelier and Genoa, the 22-year-old Frenchman is well on the way to becoming a firm fan favourite after playing a starring role in the Hornets’ weekend win over Burnley. Niang provided the assist for Troy Deeney’s opener before scoring Watford’s second to earn plaudits from his manager, Walter Mazzarri, who likened him to “my son” and said Niang “is a player with great qualities and can get even better”.
Watford have an option to buy the striker from Milan for £13.5m at the end of the season and look certain to do exactly that if he continues his run of good form. Niang does not come without baggage, having been one of the famous five French under-21 internationals to be banned by their federation for breaking a curfew in 2012. The disco-dancing quintet were punished after being caught travelling nearly 200km to a Parisienne nightclub in a taxi from Le Havre when they should have been tucked up in bed. Readers with long memories may recall that Niang’s fellow French striker Antoine Griezmann was alongside him for that particular ride and also seems to have put the troubles of that eventful evening behind him.
Having failed with a January move for Aymeric Laporte, Manchester City are ready to resurrect their interest in the Athletic Bilbao defender in the summer. The kind of elegant player Pep Guardiola hopes John Stones might one day become, the Frenchman has a £55m buy-out clause in his contract but is understood to be in no particular rush to leave the Basque region, where he has close family ties.
Despite undergoing and passing a fitness test, Uruguayan free agent Martín Cáceres has rejected an offer from Milan for unspecified “economic” reasons and could sign for Southampton, who need somebody to help plug the gaps left by the departure of José Fonte for West Ham and the absence of Virgil van Dijk through injury. The 29-year-old veteran had attracted interest from Crystal Palace, but Sam Allardyce decided against signing a player who has barely trained this season and brought Mamadou Sakho in from Liverpool instead.
The Rumour Mill’s man in the Reni hat on the Manchester beat reports that Sergio Agüero’s future at Manchester City remains up in the air after he was left out for once again for the second coming of Gabriel Jesus in a Manchester City shirt. Speaking after City’s win over Swansea yesterday, the Argentinian said he had no wish to leave the club but will see what happens at the end of this season. “In three years, my contract is up – that’s why I say I’m happy at the club,” he said. “In these last three months that are left I have to help the club and, as I say, the club will decide if I have a place here or not.”
And finally, Aston Villa’s owner Dr Tony Xia has responded to speculation that manager Steve Bruce might be facing the sack by asking people to stop speculating that manager Steve Bruce might be facing the sack.
No more S*** rumors. https://t.co/7pGMWyDsRu
— Dr. Tony Xia (@Dr_TonyXia) February 5, 2017
We're still on our 5-10 years' plan no matter how hard it'll be. The beginning always the most difficult. Be positive but work steadfastly.
— Dr. Tony Xia (@Dr_TonyXia) February 5, 2017
