José Mourinho’s public demeanour regarding the new transfer window has been about managing expectations and generally not promising the moon on a stick, but that hasn’t prevented a whirl of speculation about Tottenham incomings and outgoings. First up is 2017-18’s Thomas Lemar. Out of favour at Atlético Madrid, the French midfielder could be heading to north London on a six-month loan deal with a £51m option to buy in the summer. The loan fee would be just over £5m, reports The Independent, and Lemar is keen on a move to the Premier League.
As for the Spurs exit door, by which Christian Eriksen has been seemingly hovering for months, the Denmark midfielder’s latest suitors are Internazionale, who are waving £20m in Tottenham’s direction, though Antonio Conte might prefer Barcelona’s Arturo Vidal, reckons the Mirror. Harry Winks meanwhile might be subject of an intra-Mancunian tussle, with both Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjær hinting at interest in the England international.
Solskjær is also still nagging away at Leicester over the possibility of prising James Maddison away from the Premier League’s second-placed team. The Foxes manager, Brendan Rodgers, maintains he is having none of it though.
As Atlético Madrid close in on a deal for Edinson Cavani, Chelsea and Manchester United have entered stage left like pantomime villains in a bid to hijack the move, reports L’Equipe. Chelsea want competition up front to keep Tammy Abraham on his toes, while United want to add attacking flair to that offered by Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood.
Newcastle, West Ham and Southampton have all had their defensive horror shows at various points this season, and each have alighted on the Sampdoria centre-back Omar Colley as a possible solution. The 27-year-old Gambia international has impressed in Serie A this season despite Sampdoria’s struggles at the wrong end of the table, and could be available for a mere £15m.
West Ham are also keen on Benfica’s Portugal midfielder Gedson Fernandes, though his current deal has a release clause worth a cool £102m. More modestly, David Moyes also has a mind to recall Grady Diangana from his loan at West Brom, which might please Leeds and other Championship promotion hopefuls. Everton are also keen on Fernandes, however, and Carlo Ancelotti could hoof out Oumar Niasse, Cuco Martina, 30 and Cenk Tosun to generate the necessary readies.
It’s getting testy at the top in Scotland, with Rangers mounting their strongest challenge to Celtic in a decade. Same goes for the transfer market too, with the Hoops’ interest in the Stoke forward Tyrese Campbell being matched by Rangers, according to the Daily Record. The 20-year-old forward, who has scored three goals in his past three Championship matches, is also on the radar of Crystal Palace and Wolves.
