José Mourinho’s plan to take control of Manchester United’s transfer-botching negotiating department has faltered, after a summit meeting with Ed Woodward at which he planned to propose it was cancelled at the last minute. According to the Mirror, Mourinho “revealed to close advisors it left him angry and frustrated”, but he will be heartened by news – as reported by the Guardian – that he will be handed a “potentially more than £100m” winter war chest. This won’t be enough for them to buy Jordi Alba, however, with Barcelona determined to hold on to their 29-year-old full-back, linked with United by someone somewhere at some point, unless someone stumps up his £133m release fee in full.
Still in Spain, Mauricio Pochettino has emerged as Real Madrid’s No 1 choice to be their new manager, and they want the deal done “by the end of next month”, according to the Mirror, which is not as long as it sounds given there is only one day left of this one.
And back to Barcelona where, according to the Spanish newspaper Sport, top club suits met last Thursday to discuss the future of Ousmane Dembélé, in the doghouse after turning up late for the recent match against Sevilla, and decided they should probably sell him in January. “Barça,” they report, “have decided to act strongly on the issue.” Though the fact that he since came off the bench to perform well in Sunday’s clásico muddies these transfer waters somewhat. Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal would all be keen to bring the Frenchman to England, given the chance.
Chelsea’s path to successfully signing Brescia’s 18-year-old midfield tyro Sandro Tonali is increasingly scattered with obstacles, with the Sun reporting that several Italian clubs have realised he is quite good and that he may want to join one of them instead. Roma, Milan and Juventus are known to be following his progress and now Internazionale have got involved as well, sending club legend Giuseppe Baresi to watch his latest match.
Rafa Benítez is, says the Express, “confident that Newcastle owner Mike Ashley will give the spending go-ahead and hand over a substantial transfer kitty” so the club can spend their way out of relegation trouble in January. Although it also warns that “no specific figure has been mentioned”, so it’s probably best not to get too excited.
Also planning to surf their chequebook through the Premier League’s choppy waters are Fulham, who spent £105.3m in the summer and still find themselves in the bottom three after 10 games, the only possible conclusion being that they should spend much more. “There remains funds available to add additions in the winter window,” trumpets the Mail, “and Fulham are prepared to spend again to give themselves the best chance of staying up”. The main question now is which coach will supervise the spending, with Slavisa Jokanovic “frustrated at his lack of input in regards to transfer policy”, and the club frustrated at his lack of input in regards to making his team play reasonably successful football.
Aston Villa have identified the man who can make their midfield tick, and it’s someone they wisely snapped up when he was just 14, showing the intelligence and foresight with which their transfer dealings have not always been synonymous. Sadly they let him leave for a song when he was 23, and five years later they will have to pay £8m to get Barry Bannan back from Sheffield Wednesday, where he is just two months into a new three-year contract.
