EPL Gossip for Saturday May 24th
Tottenham will make a straight £15m cash offer for Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka and £10m for right-winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. (Daily Express)
Both figures sound about right. Now I don’t think Chelsea will pull the trigger on any transfer deals in the near future since they haven’t decided what to do with Avram Grant. If they let him go the new coach may decide to keep both Anelka and Wright-Phillips. If the coaching situation stays with the status quo then I could see Chelsea getting rid of Anelka at the same fee they purchased him from Bolton for. While I don’t think Shaun Wright-Phillips is worth 10 million pounds, that is the going rate in England for a player with his talent.
If Spurs fail to land Anelka they will concentrate their efforts on Real Zaragoza’s Diego Milito. (Daily Express)
For the life of me I can not understand why Tottenham appears so focused on signing a striker.
Newcastle have tried to offload striker Obafemi Martens to Liverpool, alerting Arsenal and Chelsea to the Nigerian’s availability. (The Sun)
I doubt they are trying to offload Martens. It’s simply really, Newcastle have depth in striker and lack quality everywhere else except for goal. To fund other transfers they are willing to sound out other teams on Martens and I’m sure Owen as well.
Arsenal have clinched an £11m deal for Marseille’s Samir Nasri, clearing the way for Alexander Hleb to join Inter Milan. (Daily Mirror)
Nasri has all the tools to be a world class player. Nasri is twice the player of a Shaun Wright-Phillips in what appears to be the same price range.
Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate hopes to agree terms with Dutch club Heerenveen for USA midfielder Michael Bradley. (Daily Mirror)
Michael Bradley’s game would fit hand in glove within the EPL. Perfect player for that league.
Manchester United defender Gerard Pique is set to rejoin Barcelona after he claimed talks with the Catalonian club were “at an advanced stage”.
Look for this to happen any day now.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and former coach Jose Mourinho have shared three “cosy chats” in the last six weeks, but Frank Rijkaard remains favourite to replace Avram Grant. (The Sun)
It makes a good story but that is all. Mourinho shouldn’t go back to Chelsea. Besides the sequel is rarely as good as the original.