By Alan Duffy
Transfer Balls: Rounding up the day’s football tittle-tattle so you don’t have to…
Man Utd Seal Schweini Deal
According to the Manchester Evening News, Bastian Schweinsteiger is on his way to Old Trafford. Manchester United have apparently agreed a deal with Bayern Munich for the 30-year-old World Champion, for a rather paltry fee of just £5.75million.
Red Devils’ boss Louis Van Gaal worked with Schweini at Bayern between 2009 and 2011 but the move for the German superstar surely means that Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, a long-term target for United, will go elsewhere.
Likelihood rating:
/5
Citizens Finalise Delph Deal
Fabian Delph finally looks set for a move to Manchester City, according to the Independent. The combative England man has been eyed by the Citizens for some time now, and in activating Delph’s £8million release clause, City look set to secure his services.
The 25-year-old was a star man for Tim Sherwood’s Villans last season, but the lure of Champions League football and a presumably hefty pay rise was always going to make it hard for Villa to keep the player. However, while a very decent player, is Delph really the kind of player who can help Manuel Pellegrini’s side regain the Premier League title in 2015/16?
Likelihood rating:/5
Canaries Keen On Brady
Eager to strengthen ahead of their Premier League return, Norwich are keen on a deal for Hull wideboy Robbie Brady. The Mirror tells is that Canaries have offered £6million for the Republic of Ireland star, but that is still some way short of the Tigers’ £9million evaluation of the 23-year-old.
This latest £6million bid is Norwich’s fourth attempt to prize Brady away from the Tigers and comes after Hull boss Steve Bruce labelled the three previous bids as “embarrassing and ridiculous”. Expect Norwich to make one final more realistic bid before the start of the new season.
Likelihood rating:/5
Stoke Set For Johnson
England full-back Glen Johnson looks set for a move to Stoke City, according to ‘Sky Sources’. The 30-year-old was demed to surplus to requirements by Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers and had been linked with a move to Turkish giants Besiktas. However, now a move to the Britannia Stadium on a free looks poised to happen.
Hardly a spent force, Johnson’s experience will no doubt add to Mark Hughes’ squad and with no transfer fee, this looks like very decent business for the Potters.
Likelihood rating:/5
Gunners Leaning Towards Lacazette
The Telegraph links Arsenal with a move for Alexandre Lacazette. The Ligue 1 top-scorer is one of the most sought-after talents in Europe, and is apparently in Arsene Wenger’s sights. The 24-year-old has said that he’ll only to move to a club who can offer him Champions League football, which ruled out a proposed move to Liverpool.
However, one wonders if Wenger is really that keen on adding another striker to his ranks, with Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck all fighting for the centre-forward role in 2015/16.
Likelihood rating:/5
The best/worst of the rest:
Man Utd ‘keeper Victor Valdes is in talks with Turkish side Antalyaspor, Galatasaray want Tottenham defender Vlad Chiriches while Stoke have pulled out of a move for Xherdan Shaqiri.