Leading the transfer headlines today is the proposed swap deal that is allegedly in place between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. The deal, which was discussed at length earlier today, would see Thibaut Courtois and Diego Costa swap parent clubs next summer handing Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho the closest thing to a replacement of his beloved Didier Drogba.
At Old Trafford, David Moyes is finally reaping the benefits of managing a deep-pocketed club after shelling out £37.1M for Juan Mata and is supposedly poised to do the same thing for Borussia Dortmund striker Maro Reus. If you’re thinking such a deal is highly unlikely, I’m with you. The idea of selling Reus during the same year BVB sells Robert Lewandowski to Bayern Munich would be a crippling loss for Dortmund and one that their financial sharps are unlikely to take.
A player United have been linked to for a few weeks now is Southampton left-back, Luke Shaw. The 18-year old star has reportedly piqued the interest of Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who has lost so much faith in Ashley Cole that he’s using the right-footed Cesar Azpilicueta in his place. Still, ‘The Special One’ has hinted that their January business has come to a close meaning any move for Shaw wouldn’t likely happen until the summer.
One way a player can manufacture a transfer move for himself is by head-butting his teammate directly in the face. Such a decision generally pits the rest of the club, managers and fans against you in a rage thereby necessitating a change of venue. Enter Dani Osvaldo, who smashed teammate Jose Fonte in the face last week. And wouldn’t you know it? Rumors today have Osvaldo heading to West Ham on a loan move. This deal could happen simply because the Hammers have no more money for purchases and are still desperate for healthy strikers.
Over at Everton the double leg break suffered by Costa Rican defender-come-midfielder Bryan Oviedo means Bobby Martinez may take another stroll through the market, this time to buy Feyenoord defender Bruno Martins Indi. BMI, as we here at Pro Soccer Talk like to call him, would reportedly cost £8M which is about enough money to make chairman Bill Kenwright shed tears. Where’s the next £60K Seamus Coleman? That’s the real question.
The most annoying potential transfer in the cards involves Blackpool’s Tom Ince. Since Daddy got canned as manager last week, the young winger looks poised to finally make his move to the Prem. Everton had a fleeting interest but now it’s down to Swansea and Liverpool to see which side can overpay for what will undoubtedly be the biggest primadonna transfer of the winter.
Finally, the most likely deal to go down is Cardiff City’s imminent loan signings of Manchester United players Wilfried Zaha and Fabio da Silva. Bluebirds manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be thanking his lucky stars if this agreement is struck because Zaha and Fabio are the types of players who just might be able to have Cardiff from relegation.
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