It’s that time of the season, ladies and gentlemen, when rumors begin flying as to what players may be Premier League bound come this January.
So let’s get to it.
Andrea Pirlo has put Premier League clubs on high alert after refusing to rule out a move away from Juventus when his contract expires at the end of this season.
When asked about his future the 34-year-old playmaker remained coy: “I don’t know if [I] will be at Juventus or another team [next season],” Pirlo said. “My future? There is the rest of the season to talk about it. We’ll see. . . . I am optimistic. I want to keep playing because I’m good and enjoy it.”
“Good” is one way to describe the midfield maestro who many still consider to be one of the best in the world. Arsenal and Chelsea are believed to be interested but Manchester United is the club in greatest swoon over Pirlo. The Italian may not possess the fitness to be an everyday starter but there’s no question he could bring a much-needed settling and creative presence to David Moyes’ midfield.
United may also be interested in Holland midfielder Kevin Strootman, believes his former manager at PSV Eindhoven, Dick Advocaat. Strootman, who now plays for Roma, was long rumored to be in line with a move to Old Trafford but it never transpired. And now, despite Strootman’s strong form in the Serie A, Advocaat has hinted that the midfielder could be moving somewhere bigger. “I do not think he will stay at Roma that long. If Kevin is at this level, he will be plucked away,” said Advocaat. “And then it will be a team of the calibre of Manchester United.”
One man Manchester United (as well as Manchester City and Tottenham) can cross of their list is 23-year-old Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic. The Bosnian star has been receiving high praise for this performances this season but when asked about his future, ruled out any immediate move away from the Italian capital. “I won’t exclude the possibility of one day playing elsewhere, but I doubt this will happen soon,” he said. “It certainly won’t be in January, which is what some people have said, and certainly not in the next year and a half either.”
Right then. Time to give Chelsea some love and there’s perhaps no bigger striker love out there to be bought than Radamel Falcao. Oh, you had to know this one was coming! With Fernando Torres injured, Samuel Eto’o adjusting and Demba Ba likely on his way out, rumor at the Daily Mail is that Jose Mourinho is looking for a new striker. And who else would he turn to than the man who currently earns around £12million-a-year tax free at Monaco? File this one under ‘unlikely.’
Moving along to Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele, who raised flags this past weekend when he noted his discontent over his reduced role in the Spurs midfield. Sandro and Paulinho have made playing time tough to come by and with the emergence of Christian Eriksen and the return to health of Etienne Capoue, Aston Villa and Newcastle are rumored to be interested in taking Dembele away from his troubles. Dembele would add some additional brawn to Paul Lambert’s three man midfield while a move to Newcastle would mean the likely displacement of either Moossa Sissoko or Cheick Tiote from the starting XI.
In the ‘laugh of the day’ rumor, the Metro has Nicklas Bendtner tipping himself to a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona. The article fails to explain under what circumstances this deal would go through but one has to assume that the Spanish giants are in need of stadium workers or that Nicky has another Paddy Power trick up his sleeve.
Finally, up in Sunderland Gustavo Poyet is rumored to be eyeing up his first major transfer at the Stadium of Light and it’s for none other than Valmir Berisha. Not familiar with Berisha? We’ll let you off hook as he’s a 17-year-old Swedish striker playing in his domestic league with Halmstads. He caught the interest of Sunderland – along with Liverpool, Tottenham and Newcastle – last month when he scored a hat-trick in Sweden’s 4-1 victory over Argentina in the Under-17 World Cup.
