Another day, another round of stories about Mario Balotelli leaving Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers has had enough of the Italian’s sluggish play and lack of movement up front. He wants Radamel Falcao there instead. Erm.
Chelsea want to turn themselves into Atlético Madrid and will continue that transformation by signing Diego Godín.
José Mourinho has also been very impressed with Enner Valencia’s astonishing haul of five goals for West Ham this season, so much so that he wants to buy him and sell Oscar to Juventus. Valencia will start six league games for Chelsea, scoring the fourth goal in a 4-1 win over Aston Villa in September, and will be loaned to Besiktas in January.
So Valencia might want to think twice about leaving West Ham, not least because they have identified their next manager: Swansea’s Garry Monk.
You thought it was going to be Jürgen Klopp, didn’t you? Well it’s not going to be Jürgen Klopp. He might be going to Manchester City, although they’re umming and aahing about whether they should hire him, not that it really matters given that the German is probably just going to end up at Real Madrid anyway.
Ilkay Gundogan could also be on his way out of Borussia Dortmund. City like the cut of his jib.
Manchester United also like the cut of Gundogan’s jib, but they have other priorities, namely Burnley’s Danny Ings and Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne, theirs for £17m. Southampton will make themselves feel better about losing Clyne by signing Matt Phillips from Queens Park Rangers.
Arsenal have been told that they will have to give James Milner, 29, a four-year deal if they want to sign him, so that should be the last we hear of that rumour.
