Arsenal have been hogging the headlines this week, what with that high profile and very public palaver over banner-hoisting, the quality of shouty analysis on their Fan TV channel and yesterday’s request from Arsène Wenger for supporters of his team to behave more like Tottenham fans.
OK, he wasn’t actually suggesting that Gooners should buy Kyle Walker replica shirts and season tickets for White Hart Lane, but his comments are unlikely to go down too well among supporters who may or may not be interested to read tabloid reports that somewhere in the Emirates is a sheet of paper bearing the names of four potential replacements for the Frenchman should he decide to walk away from the club this summer.
With previous talk of Eddie Howe being the new Wenger-in-waiting having apparently been consigned to the dustbin of history now that the novelty of Plucky Little Bournemouth being in the Premier League has worn off, the name of Borussia Dortmund gaffer Thomas Tuchel can be found at the top of this list, where it is printed in slightly bigger and bolder font than that of Juventus manager Max Allegri, who has apparently agreed to leave Turin come season’s end. Their Bayer Leverkusen counterpart Roger Schmidt and Monaco’s Leonardo Jardim are also being touted as potential Future Arsenal Managers, at least until Hull City’s Marco Silva proves he’s no flash in the pan by getting a few more big scalps under his belt ... possibly starting tomorrow.
Chelsea midfielder Willian has responded to reports that José Mourinho has been pinning “wanted” posters bearing the image of the Brazilian’s face up around the Manchester United boardroom by making the astute observation that “there are always some things on the internet”, before adding that he’s “glad to hear that there are clubs that admire my work”.
If the day ends in ‘y’ then chances are David De Gea is being linked with a move away from Manchester United. This being Friday, the Spanish goalkeeper is wanted by Juventus. The Old Lady has also been suggestively hitching her skirts at Milan teenager Gianluigi Donnarumma as she looks for a worthy heir to fill the intimidatingly big boots of Gigi Buffon, in the unlikely event that the ageless Italian legend decides to retire before either of the men being tipped as his successor.
In other reports from Manchester, somebody somewhere has said that Antoine Griezmann will refuse to sign for Manchester United if they don’t qualify for the Champions League, even though it’s a fair bet that, like most footballers, he wouldn’t rule out inking a contract with Stockport County or Macclesfield Town if the price was right. Romelu Lukaku is another player we’re led to believe harbours a burning desire to play Champions League football, even if reports that he’s prepared to sign a new contract with Everton don’t necessarily tally with that particular state of affairs.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean Jürgen Klopp isn’t out to get you and if Leicester City winger Demarai Gray feels like he’s being watched it may be down to the fact that Liverpool are reported to be “monitoring” him. Currently playing for a team that’s only won two matches in seven attempts this year, Gray may well fancy the step up to one that’s only won one in 10.
Liverpool are also interested in signing Sporting midfielder William Carvalho, one of those players who has featured so often in this column without actually going anywhere that he’ll soon have his own star on the Rumour Mill Walk Of Fame. Manchester City also covet the 24-year-old, who is contracted to the Portuguese side until 2020 and valued at around £26m.
Elsewhere in Portugal, Benfica right-back Nelson Semedo is wanted by Bayern Munich, who’ll be needing somebody to slot into that particular position when Philipp Lahm retires at the end of the season. The Rumour Mill remains hopeful the German champions will give their No21 shirt to a certain right-back named Alan who plays for Aston Villa, if only because it would allow us to resurrect that hoary old gag with the punchline “... Hutton dressed as Lahm”.
