After being handsomely turned over by Hull City on Thursday night, it was back to the drawing board for Manchester United and José Mourinho. The whiteboard already has one name, in capital letters, virtually engraved in permanent marker. That of Antoine Griezmann, with Manchester United hopeful that Paul Pogba’s hearty relationship with a man he spent the whole of July with last summer, can persuade the Atlético Madrid forward to join Mourinho’s galácticos. United do not exactly need to balance the books but Matteo Darmianhas been searching high and low for a new pad in Milan, it says here, with a move to Internazionale on the cards.
One Frenchman Mourinho has passed up on is Dimitri Payet, the West Ham United winger who downed tools in search of a move to Marseille, but West Ham’s John Smith’s approach is softening and the London club might just accept the next whopping £30m bid that comes their way. How else will Slaven Bilic get his hands on Brentford’s Scott Hogan before Jim White’s transfer totaliser is at capacity? Brentford’s manager, Dean Smith, admits all that is standing between Hogan and a move to the Hammers are David Sullivan and David Gold, the West Ham owners, refusing, so far, to stump up his £15m asking price.
Desperate to fill the right-back void, West Ham are also keen snapping upFenerbahce’s Turkey full-back Ali Kaldirim but may face competition from Celtic.Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic is available, though, and talks are underway for the Serbian to join Russian side Zenit St Petersburg, after owner Roman Abramovich stepped in to sanction the move. And Arsenal’s Mathieu Debuchy has been told he can leave the club, but West Ham are not in for him just yet, with Debuchy keen on heading back to his homeland.
Liverpool are tired of playing James Milner at left-back, so much so, they have been scouting Real Betis’s Riza Durmisi, ready for a big-money move to Anfield. The defender has a £17m buyout clause and Jürgen Klopp is ready to trigger it. Klopp fancies a slice of Spartak Moscow winger Quincy Promes, too, after hearing the 25-year-old is a little like one-time Arsenal prospect Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, now plying his trade with Dutch outfit NEC Nijmegen. Promes says he has “never thought about other clubs” but Liverpool are in his ear.
Already fed up this transfer window is Aitor Karanka, the Middlesbrough manager essentially enduring a very bad four weeks or so. He’s had a pop at supporters,lost the race to sign Robert Snodgrass and his best player, Gastón Ramírez, wants out. And Karanka’s pretty upset about it too. “It’s not easy for one player to knock on the door and ask for a contract and then ask to leave six months later,” said Karanka.
Karanka has the eyes for Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, with lowly Leicester Cityexpected to wrap up Ramirez’s signature for £12m by the close of the window. The north-east is a hot-spot for transfer activity at the moment, with David Moyes eventually kickstarting the Sunderland revolution. Joleon Lescott is already in the bag, while Bordeaux defender Diego Contento is understood to be content on swapping the Nouvelle-Aquitane for Wearside. The QPR skipper Nedum Onuohacould yet join the party.
Meanwhile, Crystal Palace want more. If Big Sam wants more, he usually gets it, and the former Newcastle United winger Gabriel Obertan has been given the green light to flee the Anzhi Makhachkala nest and move to Palace. Norway wantFleetwood Town’s Uwe Rösler to be their new leader, plus, the Rangers midfielderJosh Windass is being sized up by Hull, home to his father Dean for a year or two.
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