Gossip: Coutinho, Zlatan, Sigurdsson, Suso
BARCA WANT COUTINHO…AGAIN
‘Barcelona are lining up Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho and PSG man Marco Verratti to replace Andres Iniesta,’ is the opening line in the Mirror, to which we can all reply in unison: But Philippe Coutinho is absolutely nothing like Marco Verratti.
Shush. Do not let that spoil such a lovely piece of gossip. Nor should we allow the Brazilian’s utterly rotten recent form to cloud such sentiments as these: ‘Coutinho, 24, has been placed top of the list to take over the midfield mantel after his stand-out performances at Anfield this season.’
It’s basically nonsense.
ZLATAN TO STAY
Let’s face it, we all knew this was happening. There’s no bloody way that Zlatan is ready to slink off to the US or China while he is still capable of hogging the limelight in a proper football country. According to reports in his native Sweden (Expressen), he is ready to sign an extension, with The Sun claiming: ‘ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC is ready to commit himself to a second year at Manchester United – because he wants to win the Premier League before retiring.’
And that may well happen because Jose Mourinho is planning to spend a gazillion pounds this summer on new players.
GYLFI LOVES SWANSEA
‘Everton will face a fight to prise Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea City should the Swans avoid the drop this season,’ according to the Liverpool Echo. Although the Icelander is punching below his weight, he is enjoying working with Paul Clement and is apparently wary of leaving Swansea a second time after a difficult spell with Tottenham.
The Echo add: ‘A £35m bid from China was rejected by the Swans in January and the club’s American owners would be wary of cashing in on another one of their star names, especially after the reaction to losing Ashley Williams to Everton in August.’
AND THE REST
Chelsea believe they are in a strong position to sign Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko…Tottenham are targeting AC Milan midfielder Suso as a potential summer signing…Crystal Palace boss Sam Allardyce says it is the “chairman’s responsibility” to keep Wilfried Zaha at the club…Spurs and Liverpool will battle to sign Porto forward Moussa Marega, currently on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes…Bournemouth want Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere beyond this season.