Delicious gossip, the ambrosia of football fans, is always in its richest supply during the January transfer window, and this year is proving no different.
The internet is absolutely awash with rumours, speculation, innuendo and suggestions that this player will be the one to help turn that club’s season around, and it is FourFourTwo’s aim to bring you as much of it as you can possibly stomach.
Here’s all the latest from around and about the way from the past 24 hours, handily presented in an easily-digestible round-up format. Yum yum.
Daily transfer deal wrap-up
Reports in Germany claim that Bayern Munich’s out-of-favour Matthijs de Ligt is the subject of interest from Manchester United, where he would be reunited with his former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag. Once regarded as one of the most promising defenders as his generation, de Ligt’s career has recently stalled at the Allianz Arena, where he found himself out of favour at the start of the season and has not been helped by injury problems. (Sky Sports Germany)
There could be a bit of a domino effect at play there, though, with United and Bayern reported to be bidding rivals for Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo. A £69m price tag has been reported, so the suggestion is that the two clubs might leave it till summer; but just to put the pieces together ourselves, if Bayern can earn a fee for de Ligt, might that allow them to strike sooner? Hmmm. (The Sun)
Taking a flying leap over Warrington for our next story: Liverpool have been linked with a move for 18-year-old Lille defender Leny Yoro, who has reportedly also caught the eye of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. A whopping £52m fee has been hypothesised for that one. Absolutely nailed on that Liverpool would announce that with the slogan ‘You’re Only Red Once’. (Telefoot)
Sticking with defenders – what’s more glamorous? – there have been intimations that interest from Serie A may allow Bournemouth to leverage Tottenham into paying a transfer fee for Lloyd Kelly, despite his being out of contract this summer. Juventus and Milan are said to be circling and have the advantage over Spurs because they can offer a pre-contract agreement – an option not available to clubs within the same country. (The Express)
And speaking of leverage… Arsenal are reportedly looking to cash in on Everton’s woes by lining up a move for midfielder Amadou Onana. The idea in principle is that the Toffees’ financial issues may force them to cave on their reported £50-60m price tag later in the window. We’ll see. (Football.London)
Ajax are meanwhile keen to capitalise on Jordan Henderson’s unhappiness out in Saudi Arabia. Manager John van’t Schip confirmed they are in talks about extracting the former Liverpool skipper, though his current club Al-Ettifaq apparently aren’t keen to let him go. Juventus have also been touted as a possible destination. (ESPN Netherlands)
Coventry City fans will be able to confirm that Viktor Gyokeres is a bit good, and he’s only gone and doubled down on that since moving to Portuguese giant Sporting in the summer, with his 20 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions helping his new side to top the league table and ease through to the knockout stages of the Europa League. Lisbon outlet Record have claimed that Chelsea have had a £73m bid knocked back – but their reporting has been staunchly poo-pooed by the local London media, who say the Blues aren’t actually interested. You’re always welcome back at the Ricoh, Viktor. (Football.London)
Chelsea are also said to be looking at Aston Villa’s out-of-favour New Wave tribute act Jhon Duran as a stopgap solution to cover for Nicolas Jackson while he’s at the Africa Cup of Nations. (Nathan Gissing)
Meanwhile, Villa have reportedly agreed a £7.8m deal to sign Red Star’s 18-year-old right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic. One for the future in every regard: it’s said he’ll be loaned straight back to the Serbian club for the rest of the season. (Sky Sports)
