Today’s fluff is playing 5D chess
With rumour constituting nine tenths of the news in this slow-moving transfer window, the Mill has had to up its game. And where better to start than with the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Nassr are looking to tempt Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to form a Manchester United old boys club with league propagandist Cristiano Ronaldo. As a 32-year-old on £375,000 a week, Casemiro fits the profile of the sort of player United want to offload and the Saudi league has tended to snap up, so perhaps it’s a goer? The Daily Mail reports that United’s director of football, John Murtough, has flown to Riyadh to run various sales up SPL clubs’ flagpoles. Wan-Bissaka is also in the mix after Al-Nassr had a £20m bid for Tottenham’s Emerson Royal rebuffed.
As for possible incomings at Old Trafford, United’s current targets reportedly include the Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who at 34 is even older than Casemiro, and Sporting’s English winger Marcus Edwards, 25. United are also in pole position to sign the Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna but Arsenal are sniffing around as well.
Nottingham Forest may be under pressure to belt-tighten in the light of their recent Premier League charges but old habits die hard and the Athletic reports that the Tricky Trees are in talks over a loan deal for Borussia Dortmund’s Gio Reyna. The USA star has appeared only sporadically for BVB this season, and Forest are keen on giving the 21-year-old winger more game-time, with a view to a possible permanent deal in the summer. But there are of course a lot of imponderables surrounding Forest’s current predicament.
One player possibly heading out of the City Ground is Joe Worrall, with Forest’s relegation rivals Sheffield United batting eyelids at the 27-year-old defender. The Blades are also keen on Everton’s Mason Holgate, who has struggled for regular first-team action during his loan spell at Southampton. Sheffield United are also reportedly closing in on a £2m swoop for the Atlético Madrid and Croatia goalkeeper Ivo Grbic.
West Ham, feeling bullish about the impending capture of Kalvin Phillips, now want Nordsjaelland’s Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman. The Danish club value him at £15m and Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Everton and Wolves have also been linked with Osman, so we might expect a bit of a scramble over the coming week.
There’s been a lot of talk but not so much action all month about outgoing and incomings at Newcastle. The latest concerns an attempt to gazump Tottenham in the race for Club Brugge’s 18-year-old forward Antonio Nusa. The Norwegian is thought to offer useful attacking reinforcement should Miguel Almirón depart to Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia. A “huge” offer has apparently been made for Newcastle’s Paraguayan attacking midfielder.
Leander Dendoncker looks set to join Bertrand Traoré and Calum Chambers in the Aston Villa departure lounge, as Napoli move closer to sealing a loan deal for the Belgian defender. The ailing Serie A champions are seeking an initial loan with an option to buy of about €9m (£7.7m).
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And finally Chelsea’s Jessie Fleming could be leaving the Women’s Super League champions and heading Stateside with Portland Thorns set to shell out a record £250,000 for the Canada midfielder.
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