Today’s fluff is giving the steamed up window a rub
Liverpool are the subject of that familiar football mantra that you should buy from a position of strength, with the Premier League leaders being linked with a move for Teun Koopmeiners. The Dutch midfield man with a name that should please retro gamers has been racking up the points with Atalanta this season, his box-to-box bursts helping him contribute eight goals and four assists for the Serie A outfit. A fee of €45m has been mooted according to reports in Italy and, not surprisingly, others are keeping a beady eye on him too, especially teams in black and white stripes: Juventus and Newcastle.
It doesn’t stop there for the Reds with Jürgen Klopp keen to fill both his starting XI and bench full of attackers who can smash the ball into the back of the net. Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan is one such player, the Korean currently joint-sixth in the Premier League scoring charts with 10 goals. Klopp has been a long-time admirer of the 27-year-old, who once put Virgil van Dijk on his backside before slotting home in Red Bull Salzburg’s 4-3 Champions League loss at Anfield in 2019. Hwang scored again at Anfield in an FA Cup tie last year and opened the scoring for Wolves in Liverpool’s 3-1 win at Molineux earlier in the current campaign. In short, Klopp has every reason to be a fan although a summer move could be more likely given that Hwang recently signed a new contract.
Arsenal hit five at the weekend against Crystal Palace but none were scored by strikers. So how about a move for former Real Madrid frontman Karim Benzema, who was left out of a trip to Dubai after missing several training sessions with his Saudi club Ittihad? That’s fuelled speculation of the Frenchman “doing a Jordan Henderson” and heading back to Europe and Arsenal would surely welcome the 36-year-old’s mastery of sticking that round thing between the two posts. Less welcome are financial restraints. There’s always Chelsea of course and rumours continue to swirl about Benzema heading to Stamford Bridge, especially with summer signing Christoper Nkunku still troubled by injury.
Chelsea must surely be itching to get the transfer door revolving having failed to sign anyone 22 days into this current window. It’s all gone a little quiet over moves for Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres, Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Brentford’s sleight-of-hand free-kick taker Ivan Toney but there’s a new frontman causing some buzz: Girona’s Artem Dovbyk. Girona are the surprise leaders of La Liga and the Ukrainian has played a big part. With 14 goals, he’s the league’s joint-top scorer alongside Jude Bellingham and to make himself look even sexier, the 26-year-old fired in a six-minute hat-trick at the weekend in Girona’s 5-1 home win over Sevilla.
If Dovbyk does arrive, that could prompt a move away from Stamford Bridge for Chelsea striker Armando Broja. And, distance-wise, it could be a short one with London rivals West Ham believed to be at the front of the queue. The Hammers seem to have given up on a bid for Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran given Unai Emery’s insistence that he doesn’t want to sell so Broja is the next cab off the rank for David Moyes. Chelsea want £50m for the Albanian, who has two goals in 17 appearances for the Blues this season. Good luck getting that.
West Ham are also one of the many clubs being linked with a move for Kalvin Phillips. The England midfielder’s case remains a curious one; Pep Guardiola has absolutely no room for him but there seem to be no shortage of leading clubs who do – including Barcelona. Possibly. Our transfer man Fabrizio Romano says Barca are yet to make an approach as a loan deal is “considered too expensive at current conditions”. Romano adds that West Ham are working on a loan move but are waiting for Phillips to make a decision.
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Newcastle transfer talk is more concerned with the Magpies keeping their current players rather than signing new ones. Both Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson are being linked with moves abroad, Trippier to Bayern Munich and Wilson on a loan move to Atlético Madrid. Reports suggest that Newcastle would entertain a permanent switch for Wilson, who has 18 months left on his contract. That tallies with the idea that Eddie Howe’s men have to sell before they can buy to comply with Financial Fair Play.
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