Gossip: Mbappe, Barkley, Sanchez, Tuchel
MBAPPE, BA DUBA DOP, BA DU BOP, BA DUBA DOP, BA DU BOP, BA DUBA DOP, BA DU
Yeah.
To say that there is scant transfer gossip in Monday’s newspapers is an understatement. The headline story – that Tottenham will challenge Arsenal for striker Kylian Mbappe – is comprised of 15 words in the Daily Mirror. Impressive.
The online version goes into a little more detail. It states that Mauricio Pochettino ‘has joined the chase’ for the Monaco forward, who scored a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Metz on Saturday.
Mbappe, of course, has been compared to Thierry Henry by Arsene Wenger recently, and so this is a north London battle for the ages.
The 18-year-old has 11 goals in 24 games this season. They got £36.7million for Anthony Martial…
BARKLEY UP THE WRONG TREE
‘EXCLUSIVE: Everton star ready to spark transfer frenzy by delaying contract decision’
That is the rather eye-catching headline on the Daily Star website on Monday morning. Said ‘Everton star’ is Ross Barkley, and said ‘transfer frenzy’ will involve Arsenal, Chelsea, both Manchester clubs and Tottenham, as well as ‘big clubs around Europe’. Sure.
The claim is that Barkley, whose contract expires in summer 2018, ‘is in no rush to extend his deal’.
The article attempts to stoke the fire, adding that the midfielder has not ‘had the smoothest relationship’ with manager Ronald Koeman, who ‘has been critical’ of the player this season. It means that Barkley will ‘weigh up his options’.
Sure, Koeman criticised Barkley publicly. In September. And the 23-year-old has quietly improved over the following months, and is now an integral part of the Everton first team. Perhaps he hasn’t extended his contract yet because he doesn’t want that to be a distraction during the season?
Oh, sorry. We meant TRANSFER FRENZY EXCLUSIVE EVERTON STAR BIG CLUBS AROUND EUROPE.
ALEXIS ‘UPDATE’
The Alexis Sanchez stuff is getting a bit weird now. John Cross of the Daily Mirror is the man with the constant updates from the Emirates Stadium, but all of his scoops sound ever so familiar.
Late last week, Cross claimed that Juventus had ‘joined the race’ to sign the Arsenal forward, despite the Italian club literally stating they tried to sign the player last summer.
By Monday, that becomes ‘Alexis Sanchez is involved in a transfer tug-of-war between Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.’
Again, it sounds like the same old story hastily repackaged into a new one. We have been told for months that PSG want to sign Sanchez, and simple deduction suggests that they would be one of the few who a) could afford him, and b) could offer him Champions League football were he to leave the Gunners. The same stands for Juventus.
It’s just a bit boring now, and you know Wenger, Sanchez and many more share that sentiment.
AND THE REST
Reports claiming Arsenal have identified Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel as Arsene Wenger’s replacement are “completely fictional”, says the German club’s chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke.