Hello and welcome to the Premier League latest transfer news and rumours. Here are the biggest stories of the day!
#5 Guardiola has no intention of buying in January
It is very easy to point towards Manchester City when asked which team is the best in the Premier League. After all, the Citizens have the best bunch of players in their team and it would be very hard to point out a flaw in their team.
Indeed, they are one of the very few teams in the world – perhaps the only one – that don’t need any signings to cover their cracks. This is perhaps why Pep Guardiola has assured that the Citizens won’t make any signings in January.
“No. In January – no window. We are not going to spend anything. I am so happy with the squad, people are coming back, so no,” he said.
He stated that not buying in January is a sign that things worked out as planned in the summer transfer window. The other reason is that the Catalan has a deep squad at the Etihad.
“It’s much much, much better (not to buy in January). When we created the squad at the beginning of the season it was to not go to the January (window) except (if) we have problems.
“But I have a deep squad and a lot of players cannot play when I trust them a lot. They believe I don’t like them but that is not true! I trust a lot in all the players, all of them and it’s a joy to be with them.”
He also added that in case of injuries, academy players will be relied upon up as there is “no way” that the Manchester outfit are making January signings.
“When there are some injuries another one is going to play and, if not, you have a few players in the Academy that maybe are going to help us in a few moments or few minutes. We are not going to go to January in the market, no way.”
#4 Emiliano Sala and Gabigol
Emiliano Sala seems to have caught the eye of many midtable English clubs. According to L’Equipe, via Sports Witness, the Argentine is being tracked by the Premier League trio of Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham.
Apparently, the Nantes star “almost” left in the summer transfer window but ended up staying with the French outfit. However, that could change in January as the aforementioned trio of clubs have asked about him.
Meanwhile, Gabigol is getting his career back on track. Both him and Gabriel Jesus rose to stardom at about the same time and while the Manchester City has just improved leaps and bounds, the Inter youngster’s career took a nosedive.
However, he seems to have put his career back on track with Santos, where he is playing on loan, and is now attracting the interest of Everton. According to TMW, Inter are open to the idea of selling and hope to get at least €15 million for him.
#3 Sarri hopes Hazard will sign an extension
Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri will have been very happy that N’Golo Kante has put pen on paper to extend his deal with the Londoners. The French World Cup winner has extended his contract till 2023 and is reportedly set to earn £290,000-per-week.
The former Leicester City man has been an essential cog for Chelsea and is thriving under Sarri now. According to the Italian tactician itself, Kante is not only an important player in defense but is also improving as an attacker.
“He [Kante] is a very important player for us in the defensive phase and is improving in offensive movements,” he said.
He then added that he hopes for Eden Hazard to follow in Kante’s footsteps and sign a new deal with the Londoners.
“I don’t know about a new contract [for Eden]. I don’t know about the evolution of a new contract, I think we can do it. I hope so.”
#2 North London
One of the things that ardent followers of the transfer rumour mill would notice is that Arsenal and Tottenham almost always end up being linked to the same player.
Today is no different as Leandro Trossard of Genk has been linked to the London duo. His agent himself has revealed that while Tottenham don’t seem too keen on the forward, Arsenal are looking at him.
According to Josy Comhair, the agent of the player, Arsenal have been following the Genk superstar since August. However, the Gunners also informed him that it is better for Trossard to stay another year at Genk while they keep him on their radar.
“I contacted representatives from Arsenal and Tottenham. At Spurs, nobody wanted to confirm that Trossard is an option, but Arsenal did," said Comhair.
“They told me Leandro has a very interesting profile for them and that they’ve been following him since August.
“They also added it was a good choice to stay at Genk for another year. They ended the phone call with ‘They are keeping a close eye on him’.”
#1 Manchester madness
And Manchester madness is back to where they belong: the number one spot in this space. The Red Devils have a lot of voids to fill up and one of them is to bring a potent goal-scorer to the team.
As a result, the Old Trafford outfit have been linked with a move for Antoine Griezmann. According to Don Balon, the French World Cup winner was close to leaving the Rojiblancos last summer but ended up staying at the Wanda Metropolitano.
However, that could change in the future as Jose Mourinho wants the forward and is waiting for him with arms open. The report also adds that Manchester United will pay €200 million to bring the former Real Sociedad star to the Theatre of Dreams.
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