HERE ARE THE good, the bad, and the unlikely football moves being talked about today…
Burnley are closing in on Norwich and Ireland player Robbie Brady, who is valued at around (£13 million) €15 million.
Leicester’s out-of-favour striker Leonardo Ulloa is being targeted by Sunderland, with David Moyes’ side preparing an £11m (€13m) bid.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis has ruled out a move for Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic ahead of Tuesday’s transfer deadline. Ivanovic has been widely linked with Russian side Zenit but reports over the weekend suggested Pulis was eager to hijack that switch and take the Serbia captain to The Hawthorns.
Crystal Palace have confirmed the signing of defender Patrick van Aanholt from Sunderland. The Dutch left-back has agreed a four-and-a-half year deal with Palace, having signed for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £12m (€14m).
Sam Allardyce’s side are also rumoured to be arranging a swap deal that would see Andros Townsend going back to Newcastle in exchange for 22-year-old DR Congo defender Chancel Mbemba.
Arsene Wenger believes Karim Benzema has been linked with Arsenal “because he’s French” and insists his side do not need another striker. Reports have suggested the forward has been offered to the Gunners and Premier League rivals Chelsea by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who is said to have grown frustrated with the 29-year-old’s performances this season. Arsenal have been put forward as potential suitors for Benzema on a number of occasions, but while Wenger says the latest rumours come as little surprise, he does not believe his forward line needs reinforcing.
Liverpool are unlikely to make any signings before the January window closes, despite Roma midfielder Leandro Paredes being a rumoured target.
Southampton are close to signing Napoli striker Manolo Gabbiadini for £17m (€20m) in a deal that could reduce Ireland star Shane Long’s first-team opportunities, while the Saints also want Spartak Moscow’s German defender Serdar Tasci on loan.
Retro Deal of the Day: Mark Hughes to Chelsea
Mark Hughes had already established himself as a British footballing legend by the time he moved to Chelsea, having picked up numerous honours in two spells at Man United in between brief, ill-fated stints at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
By then a veteran, Hughes would prove to be a relative success in three years with the Stamford Bridge outfit, scoring 25 goals in 95 appearances, helping them win the FA Cup, League Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup in the process.
He later had short spells at Southampton, Everton and Blackburn, winning the 2002 League Cup with the latter, before retiring from playing at the age of 38.
Since then, Hughes has managed the Welsh national team along with a number of English clubs, and he is currently the boss at Stoke.
Additional reporting by Goal
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I was thinking the same yesterday. Can you imagine a player like Aidan O’Shea was left on the bench for a whole game. There would be a mutiny the day after their championship campaign ended.
@Ned Flanders: cheap shot. O’Shea showed he is the ultimate team player by switching to a totally new position over the last 2 games to help the team get over the line. I guess haters are always gonna hate though
@Pepper Brooks: ultimate team player? That particular tactic nearly blew up in mayos face. In the replay he was soloing around his 21 half way through second half and trying 40 yard outside of boot passes that ran out over the line. If kerry hadnt panicked and had taken points earlier rather than going for goals when 7 down it could have been a very different
@Pepper Brooks: O’Shea wouldn’t make the Dublin bench.
Juniors maybe
@johnnyA the game is also about opinions,for you it’s bitter and twisted against Dublin,while us Dublin fan’s are enjoying every minute of this great Team,so happy days for us Ha Ha ha
@alan dodrill: *fans
It’s a great achievement to show humility when you’re strolling through the championship. Fair play to the Dublin/AIG players for being such good winners. If Gavin exerts such control he must endorse or at least turn a blind eye to the playacting. Cooper at it again yesterday. McCarthy and McCaffrey at it the last day – good footballers but while their fans have brought the worst aspects of UK terrace culture to Gaelic Games the players have brought Neymar type playacting into our national sport. Great lads all the same.
@Johnny A: Why not just enjoy the football instead of always having a bitch , life is too short
@Tony Talbot: the football championship used to mean something. Now it’s completely hollow. Very few meaningful contests – certainly none when Dublin/AIG are involved. Instead of mitigating their natural advantages – population, money, home advantage – the GAA have bolstered these and set them in stone. Teams like Tyrone and Monaghan now come up to Croker with ridiculous defensive systems just to keep the score down. The GAA have to look at the population and reconsider a split – for example Dublin North/AIG & Dublin South/HSBC. There should be an equalisation process with the corporate loot – they should be allowed keep 20-30% with the rest being redistributed. And they should be kept out of Croker a lot more – why not make them play an away semi final for example. I’ll enjoy it then.
@Johnny A: have to hand it to you mate you have bitterness to a new level. Short memories like most non dubs. This golden era has more to do wirh jim gavin than anything else.Maybe he should only be allowed manage smaller counties?
@Johnny A: explain 1995 – 2011??
If you split Dublin now you’d risk an all Dublin All Ireland final and that would be worse! Did you see the bench. Dublin A Vs Dublin B would be some game!
Other counties need to stop making excuses… Kerry has the same population as Wicklow as is the most successful football county by far
Also, let’s split Kilkenny into North & South and actually while we’re at what about the most successful football county, Kerry…well over due a split!!
@Brendan Farrell: if you think a 2 way split isn’t enough and they’d still be too strong then a 4 way split would be ideal. Could be 4 Dublin zones – AIG1, AIG2, AIG3, AIG4. Have their own provincial championship. The metropolitan cup or something like that.
@paddy: I wouldn’t call it bitterness – more like constructive hate.