Transfer Chewing Gum - August 26
A familiar face in the crowd at the Etihad this morning...
Sometimes these transfer sagas last for months of bartering and negotiation. Sometimes it only takes a week or so to work out the specifics. And sometimes they emerge like a bolt from the blue.
Mario Balotelli to Liverpool was one of the latter. After Arsenal’s initial interest was scuppered and nobody else seemed much to care, it looked like he was staying with AC Milan for another season despite the club actively shopping him about. But then a news flash that Liverpool have taken them up on their offer and Mario was soon saying his goodbyes.
The completed transfer is for £16m – a ridiculously cheap deal for one of the most talented forwards in the world, yet understandable given the risks. Balotelli’s a notoriously controversial fella. From the time he threw darts at Man City academy players, to his fireworks escapades to his shotgun Instagram, he sure knows how to make a headline. Plus he’s one of the worst trainers going around. Yet on his day he can do things on a footy pitch that nobody else can. Liverpool clearly need another striker – they’re not replacing Suarez’s 30-odd goals a season with Rickie Lambert – and it’s not like players that good become available at a friendly phone call. It’s a massive gamble but a gamble worth taking. Super Mario will get his share of red cards (something Suarez never did for LFC, surprisingly), but at least he’s not a biter so the bans should be kinder.
And then there’s Angel Di Maria. With PSG officially out of the running this week, Manchester United are left as the only option and they seem keen as beans. Unfortunately it’ll cost them a British record £59.7m to get a deal done, despite Di Maria having requested a transfer. United are desperate to make a statement signing and they can’t offer Champions League this season, so Real Madrid are happy to pump the price up. I guess if you can afford it, why not? Di Maria isn’t easy to squeeze into their current formation but he brings pace and the ability to beat a player one-on-one… something that the current crop of wingers (Januzaj excluded) almost completely lack. He’s a world class talent and that club needs some of that. He had a medical this morning and the transfer should be completed tonight or tomorrow, though it’s been the worst kept secret in football for a while now. Xabi Alonso even spilled the beans on twitter.
Translation: Thanks for everything Fideo*! I wish you all the best, even at Man Utd :) I will never forget the zigzag in extra time in Lisbon
*Fideo means noodle, it’s ADM’s nickname apparently.
Meanwhile Louis Van Gaal name dropped Arturo Vidal twice in a press conference if that floats your boat. He also mentioned Lionel Messi. It’s pretty clear they need a new midfielder or three, and probably another defender too. Hence more rumours over Daley Blind, Kevin Strootman and even Nigel De Jong (given his City and Netherlands affiliations, quite an oxymoron that one). The Man Utd squad will actually look a lot better once players like Michael Carrick, Rafael, Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera are fit again, though there are a bunch of guys on the fringe right now. Danny Welbeck has surprisingly been told he can leave (so say reports) and Spurs, Hull and Everton have all been mentioned, though the club has refused to sell to a rival. Galatasaray perhaps? Players like Tom Cleverley and Shinji Kagawa appear on their last legs, while Javier Hernandez and Anderson are surely already half out the door. Those fringe lads will probably get a final chance to impress tomorrow morning in the league cup. While Nani, now on loan at Sporting Lisbon, missed a penalty on debut. Guts. Man U were so desperate to get rid of him that they’re paying his entire seasons wages.
Arsenal are in borderline crisis mode. They declined to sign a new striker earlier, sticking with the very decent Olivier Giroud, only he’s now ruled out for up to 3 months and there are only 5 days left to sign a replacement. Loic Remy could be the lad they pounce for. QPR can’t exactly stand in their way. Aside from that the Gunners are still looking at defensive midfielders and centre backs. Luis Gustavo of Brazilian World Cup fame (looked like Iceberg Slim…) is a name recently bandied about, as is William Carvahlo and as is Mehdi Benatia (also a Man Utd target).
Samuel Eto’o is probably the big loser of the Balotelli Deal. He was in talks with the Reds but has now been cast to the wind. He hasn’t had far to look for another offer though… Everton have come knocking. They’re ready to give him a 2 year contract and are hoping to have him in time to play his former team Chelsea on the weekend. If it goes through, Eto’o will be the third player Everton have picked up from Chelsea this window, with Romelu Lukaku and the on-loan Christian Atsu preceding him.
AC Milan also wanted Eto’o, and will instead move for Fernando Torres on loan. It seems like they aren’t the only Italian giants are after strikers either. Juventus are the favourites for Lukas Podolski – who Arsene Wenger is ready to offload from Arsenal – and they also like Javier Hernandez and Man Utd are hoping that he can be the final piece of the puzzle in getting Arturo Vidal. ‘Hoping’ being the key word. Xherdan Shaqiri is another (much more expensive) Juve option.
Spurs and Southampton continue to argue over Morgan Schneiderlin, though if the Saints do decide to sell, it’s likely that Andros Townsend will go the other way. Southampton are also nearing a deal for Belgian defender Toby Alderweireld of Atletico, and Spurs are expected to sign Federico Fazio of Sevilla sometime soon. However Michael Dawson is on the verge of joining Hull… so long as Newcastle don’t hijack the transfer.
Hull City haven’t given up hope yet of getting Jordan Rhodes in to replace Shane Long, despite Blackburn telling them to eff off with their bid. Rhodes may just force their hand with a transfer request.
Remember when Greece scored that late penalty to sneak out of their group in the World Cup? Well Georgios Samaras took that spot kick, and he’s just signed for West Brom on a free from Celtic, who have in turn agreed a fee for Serbian striker Stefan Scepovic to replace the Greek man.