Gossip: Pickford, Manolas, Honda, Debuchy

Daniel Storey

A new goalkeeper at United, Debuchy to Roma, Chelsea want Manolas, Honda to England…

 

UNITED WANT ANOTHER GOALKEEPER?
Louis van Gaal only has David De Gea, Sergio Romero, Victor Valdes and Sam Johnstone at his disposal, so it’s only natural that he should be trying to sign another goalkeeper.

That’s the claim in the Daily Star, who report that Manchester United will battle Tottenham for the services of Sunderland and England Under-21 goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Pickford is widely considered to be the brightest of England’s young keepers, and has impressed on loan at Preston this season. He’s still Sunderland’s third choice, but the club already face a fight to hold on to him with bigger clubs circling.

With De Gea’s future still far from secure, Valdes out in the cold (though Newcastle are said to be interested) and Johnstone prepared to leave to find first-team football, could Pickford become United’s long-term No. 1?

 

HONDA: THE POWER OF PREMIER LEAGUE DREAMS
To the Daily Express now, and their claim that Tottenham and Everton will both try to sign Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda from Milan in January.

Honda’s name comes up every now and then, with the Express themselves reporting a possible bid from Everton in August. That never materialised, but they’re going in again.

In fairness, Honda will surely leave Milan soon. He has started only three matches this season under new coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, and has also spoken out against the quality of the club’s players.

Now 29, we can’t see Mauricio Pochettino taking the plunge, but Everton might be a possible shout.

 

DEBUCHY OFF TO ROMA
Things really haven’t gone well for Mathieu Debuchy at Arsenal. Having been signed for £12m, the Frenchman has suffered a number of injuries and lost his first-team place to Hector Bellerin.

Italian publication Corriere dello Sport reports that Roma will try to sign Debuchy in January. The initial thought is that a loan move makes sense, with a view to a permanent deal. That would allow Debuchy to gain vital first-team football ahead of Euro 2016.

“It is difficult,” Debuchy told L’Equipe last month. “Even if I had not played a lot last season, in my head I would return to starting after my recovery. But in the Community Shield Wenger chose Bellerin.”

 

CHELSEA WANT MANOLAS
There were widespread reports when the summer transfer window closed that Chelsea had a last-minute bid for Roma defender Kostas Manolas rejected. Instead they plumped for Michael Hector and Papy Djilobodji, which still makes us frown and giggle in equal measure.

It seems that Manolas firmly remains on Chelsea’s radar, with plenty of outlets reporting that they will step up their efforts to sign the Greece international in January.

Manolas will cost Chelsea a pretty penny, but could be the latest long-term answer to replace John Terry. A reminder of the defenders currently on Chelsea’s books: Terry, Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic, Baba Rahman, Cesar Azpilicueta, Jordan Clarke-Salter, Djibodji, Hector, Kurt Zouma, Temitayo Aina, Andreas Christensen, Tomas Kalas, Kenneth Omeruo, Wallace, Todd Kane, Alex Davey, Nathan Ake and Cristian Manea.