Gossip: Sturridge to leave? For £28m? To Stoke? Ha

Matt Stead

WAVY ARMS
There we go. Considering he is yet to score a Premier League goal and has fallen down the pecking order of strikers at Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge was bound to get itchy feet. Lo and behold, the 27-year-old is here to rescue international week with some juicy gossip.

According to the Daily Mirror, the England forward ‘is ready to quit Liverpool’. He has publicly stated his intentions to stay at Anfield and fight for his place, but privately accepts it is time to move on.

To the important factors. The fee, which is reported to be £28million. Not only does that seem criminally low for a striker with proven Premier League pedigree, but it is not included in the Mirror’s online story, only on their back page on Tuesday morning. Which seems weird.

And where will he go to? Well, here’s the best bit. Two clubs are named in the report. And no offence to West Ham or Stoke (all of the disrespect to them, obviously), but he can surely command interest from much more illustrious sides than those sitting in 12th and 17th in the Premier League table?

So yeah, aside from the low fee, the dearth of elite-level clubs supposedly interested in his signing, and the fact that he has publicly stated he wishes to stay, this seems pretty concrete.

 

SILVA LINING
If Duncan Castles is reporting Manchester United news, you listen. Why? Because Duncan Castles is Jose Mourinho’s internet alias.

And Duncan Castles has some news for us regarding the January transfer window. In short, United want a £51m-rated striker. Obviously.

Andre Silva has scored seven goals in ten league appearances for Porto this season, has scored a further two in the Champions League, and recently made his international debut for European champions Portugal. So that’s something.

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City also want him, but his release clause of £59.1million could prove a stumbling block.

The story opens with peak Castles, by the way. Sit back, read this and smile.

‘Manchester United have joined the pursuit of young Portugal international Andre Silva, as the English Premier League club moves to further overhaul a squad that has proved itself unfit for purpose.’

Beautiful.

 

MESUT AND TIE
Let’s end with a contract update, for they are sexy. This one, in all fairness, actually is. The Mesut Ozil saga is edging towards its finale.

‘Mesut Ozil is closing in on a £200,000-a-week deal to stay at Arsenal,’ reports the Daily Mirror, with Gooner John Cross the man on the scene. The £60,000-a-week increase would make him the club’s highest-paid player.

The news on Alexis Sanchez is not quite so promising. There is ‘less certainty’ over him extending his deal, apparently. Natch.

 

AND THE REST
Gareth Southgate will be offered a £1.5m-a-year contract until 2020 to manage England…Chelsea will offer Frank Lampard a job at Stamford Bridge following his exit from New York City…Lionel Messi will sign a new deal with Barcelona and overtake Cristiano Ronaldo as the world’s best-paid player…Juan Mata’s father has revealed the Manchester United midfielder will not decide on his future until the end of the season…West Ham are lining up a shock January move for Watford’s Troy Deeney…Memphis Depay will become a target for Juventus if the Italians fail in their bid to sign James Rodriguez from Real Madrid…Chelsea will go head to head with Tottenham for Napoli’s teenage sensation Amadou Diawara…Wayne Rooney could leave Manchester United for a new MLS franchise in Los Angeles in 2018…Barcelona are interested in signing Chelsea target Joao Cancelo – but won’t be able to sign the right-back in January…David Sullivan insists Dimitri Payet is staying at West Ham despite the player hinting at a January exit…Liverpool’s hopes of signing Mahmoud Dahoud have taken a hit with Borussia Dortmund offering a player-plus-cash deal for the midfielder.