There may not be any World Cup today, but the press have gone and slopped lots of lovely transfer goop into the cavity to plug the gap.
Chelsea are at the epicentre of the rumblings, with reports that the currently manager-less Premier League side have rejected a £50million offer from Barcelona to take Willian off their hands.
Barca are keen to pair Willian with Brazil teammate Philippe Coutinho and reckon the 29-year-old winger would add an “extra dimension” to their attack, according to the Daily Mail.
However, the Blues are in no rush to sell early in the transfer window knowing full well that Manchester United are willing to pay even more for a player Jose Mourinho is hankering after.
On the incoming side of things, Chelsea are said to have opened talks with Aleksandr Golovin, who has been mightily impressive with Russia at the World Cup.
As per the Guardian, the Premier League side are making their move for the £27million-rated CSKA Moscow midfielder as doubts continue to linger over their future employ of both Willian and Pedro.
We are also assured that, assuming they manage to sign Golovin for vast amounts of money, Chelsea do not plan on sending him out on loan at their Dutch tributary.
Leonid Slutsky, formerly Russia’s national manager and a close friend of Roman Abramovich, had brought Golovin to CSKA from Metallurg Novokuznetsk and has championed his abilities in the period since.
Slutsky is currently in charge at Vitesse Arnhem, a club with whom Chelsea enjoy a close relationship, but, once secured, the midfielder will not be joining the Dutch side on loan.
Honestly, we hadn’t even considered that as an option – but thanks anyway.