Welcome to our daily transfer news roundup from across Europe. The big news today is Barcelona’s willingness to sacrifice one of their top stars to keep hold of Lionel Messi.
Here are all the transfer news and rumours from 27th January 2017:
Serie A
AC Milan looking at Gianluigi Donnarumma’s replacement
According to Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo, AC Milan are looking at David de Gea, Joe Hart and Keylor Navas after contract talks with current shot-stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma stalled. The Italian giants are preparing for the worst should the 17-year-old decide to leave the club.
Trending
Roma want Gregoire Defrel and Franck Kessie
Serie A giants Roma want to complete the signing of Sassuolo striker Gregoire Defrel and Atalanta wonder-kid Franck Kessie before the end of the transfer window, if reports in Gazzetta dello Sport are to be believed.
Bundesliga
Leon Bailey completes Bayer Leverkusen medical
According to German daily Bild, Genk winger Leon Bailey has completed his medical with Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen ahead of completing his move from Belgium to Germany. The Jamaican teenager was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United.
Luis Gustavo could still leave Wolfsburg
Juventus had their loan offer for Luis Gustavo rejected by Wolfsburg but the Serie A giants have not given up on their pursuit of the Brazilian midfielder. The Old Lady wanted the 29-year-old on loan until the end of the season with an option to buy for €13m and according to the report, the Turin outfit will increase their offer to complete the transfer.
Premier League
Frank Lampard open to Premier League return
Chelsea legend Frank Lampard has revealed that he is open to a return to the Premier League but does not want to be involved in a relegation dogfight.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Mail, Lampard said: "There is a part of me that wants to stay in the game, sometimes I don't know why, it just feels this is what I do.
"I don't want to leave and think to myself, 'Maybe I should have stayed a bit longer', I'm dwelling on it, I have turned down a few Premier League offers.
"But the fact is, after being at Chelsea for so long and a year with Manchester City, I don't want to get involved in a relegation dogfight.
"I just want to make sure I make the right decision. I've appreciated getting options at 38. If something comes along that floats my boat, who knows? But nothing has, so we will see."
West Ham and Marseille still ‘miles away’ in negotiation over Dimitri Payet
According to Sky Sports, West Ham United and Marseille are still ‘miles away’ in their negotiation over the potential transfer of Dimitri Payet. The Hammers are not ready to budge on their £30m valuation of the Frenchman while the Stade Velodrome outfit are unwilling to offer more than £25m for the 25-year-old.
La Liga
Barcelona superstars to be sacrificed for Lionel Messi
Premier League giants Manchester City are closely monitoring the situation of Ivan Rakitic at Barcelona after it emerged that the Croatian is one of the few players to be sacrificed by the Catalan giants as they look to free up funds to keep talisman Lionel Messi at Camp Nou.
According to Manchester Evening News, the Etihad outfit have been encouraged in their pursuit of the Croatian, who has struggled to establish himself in Luis Enrique’s first-team this season. Messi only has 18 months left on his contract with the Camp Nou outfit and the Blaugrana are desperate to extend his contract at the earliest.
However, the Blaugrana cannot spend more than 70% of their budget on wages and any new contract for the diminutive Argentine would unbalance their books and thus they need to ship out a few players so that they can offer Messi a bumper new contract. It is expected that 3 players will leave Camp Nou to free up funds for the contract extension of Messi.
Alvaro Morata wants Real Madrid to choose between him and Zinedine Zidane
According to Spanish radio station Cadena SER, Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata will leave the Santiago Bernabeu outfit in the summer if manager Zinedine Zidane continues to be at the helm of the club.
The Spaniard returned to Madrid in the summer from Juventus but has struggled to establish himself in Madrid's starting line-up and has only managed six La Liga starts so far in the season Arsenal, Chelsea and Juventus are rumored to be monitoring his situation.
Rest of the World
Tianjin Quanjian in talks with Alexandre Pato
Former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato is currently in talks with Chinese Super League outfit Tianjin Quanjian as he looks to complete a move to China from current employers Villarreal. Fabio Cannavaro is the manager of the cash-rich Chinese side.
Odion Ighalo edges closer to China move
Watford manager Walter Mazzarri has confirmed that the club have received a significant offer for striker Odion Ighalo and that it could be from China. The Mirror reported that Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua are willing to offer up to £27m for the services of the 27-year-old.
Mazzarri said: "I have just heard now that there is a very important offer which we are evaluating. I don't like to say all the details, but there is more than one offer, this one might also be from China."
