Gossip: Sanchez, Depay, Van Dijk, Schneiderlin
CONFLICTING RUMOURS ON VAN DIJK
Virgil van Dijk’s £25m release clause has obviously put plenty of clubs on alert, and you can understand why. Van Dijk is close to, if not the best, Premier League central defender on current form.
However, there are conflicting reports over Van Dijk. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf are very keen to claim Liverpool interest in the Southampton defender, continuing that fine modern tradition of signing all their best players. They also mention Manchester City interest, but it’s Liverpool the paper are strongest on.
However, English journalists have clearly been briefed by someone that Liverpool do not in fact have any interest in him.
Reliably told that Liverpool have no interest in trying to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton. A non-starter.
— Stuart James (@StuartJamesGNM) December 6, 2016
I'm told tonight that Liverpool have no interest in Virgil Van Dijk despite what Dutch papers say #lfc
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) December 6, 2016
Make up your own minds.
WENGER’S CHINA CRISIS
Well, well. At some point Arsenal will surely persuade Alexis Sanchez to sign a new contract, but the whole thing is dragging on a lot longer than supporters or Arsene Wenger would like.
The latest fly in the ointment or p*ss on the chips comes from Sami Mokbel in the Daily Mail. He writes that Arsenal are stunned by Sanchez’s high wage demands, with the Chilean and his agent using a prospective offer from China of £400,000 a week to drive up Arsenal’s offer.
Another interesting line is that Arsenal are already eyeing up replacements for Sanchez, including Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus.
Surely Sanchez wouldn’t leave for China just yet? He’ll end up signing for £200,000 a week or somewhere very close, won’t he?
EVERTON IN TALKS OVER DEPAY AND SCHNEIDERLIN
The stories linking Everton with moves for Manchester United’s most unwanted and expensive pair just won’t go away. January doesn’t typically provoke much investment from Premier League clubs, but Everton might well be an exception to that rule this season.
The Sun say that ‘fresh talks were held in the boardroom before Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Goodison Park over a January swap’. The idea is that Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay are so out of favour at Old Trafford that Jose Mourinho is keen to move them as soon as possible, and Ronald Koeman is damn keen.
The paper mention that Depay is likely to move on loan, while Schneiderlin could be a permanent signing. West Brom, Leicester and Milan are also credited with interest, which is an eclectic mix of clubs.
AND THE REST
Manchester City and Chelsea are hoping to tie up a deal to bring Celtic wonderkid Karamoko Dembele to the Premier League… Ben Gibson has been told he is going nowhere in January, with Middlesbrough slapping a £35m price-tag on him to try to scare off Chelsea… Everton are open to offloading midfielder Tom Cleverley in the upcoming January transfer window… Frank Lampard is expected to become part of England’s backroom team under new boss Gareth Southgate… Aidy Boothroyd is set to be confirmed as head coach of England’s under-21s on a permanent basis.