By Rumour Monger
Good rumours are a little thin on the ground this morning, but one juicy morsel doing the rounds is that, after having a £22 million bid rebuffed a couple of days ago, Chelsea have returned with a £29 million offer for in-demand Valencia winger Juan Mata.
According to the Daily Mail, the bid breaks down as £27 million up-front with an added £2 million to be paid in ‘top-up’ payments over the next couple of years – a bid that is likely, in as many words, to have Arsene Wenger sitting back in his wicker chair out in the rose garden, sipping fruity cocktails from under a parasol and glibly ruminating over the philosophical implications of the spiralling transfer market rather than actually trying to outbid anybody.
Oh, and it’s not gone quiet on the Luka Modric front either, with the Mail also adding that Roman Abramovich is prepared to keep pushing to land the Croatian before the end of August, with a new £33 million offer ready to be rolled out.
Any thoughts?