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The Striker Gossip
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Wayne Rooney denies transfer request, Arsenal quoted £30m for Jovetic, City in talks on Cavani and Benitez to Stoke...
The Busy Gossip
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Arsenal bid £19m for Higuain, new deal for Bale, Moyes minded to keep Rooney, Atletico say Falcao can go...
REAL MADRID TARGET BALE
If you believe the Daily Mail, Gareth Bale's gradual transformation into Cristiano Ronaldo could take a significant step in the summer with Real Madrid set to launch a £55million bid for the winger.
Bale has been in fine form this season, notching 21 goals in 37 games so far for club and country, and Real sent director of football Zinedine Zidane to watch the 23-year-old in action in Spurs' 1-1 draw with Lyon on Thursday evening. That must have been the reason Zizou was there, right?
Apparently Bayern Munich and Barcelona also want Bale, but according to the Mail 'his price tag is prohibitive considering their self-imposed budget constraints'. These are the same self-imposed budget constraints that allowed Bayern to sign Javi Martinez for £35million last summer, and Barca to spend a similar amount on Cesc Fabregas the summer before.
The Mail continue: 'Madrid are wary that Cristiano Ronaldo may yet leave this summer with Paris St Germain and Manchester United monitoring developments and Bale's capture would help appease demand for a star name.
'They have monitored his progress for the past three seasons. Zidane's views are highly regarded and he has helped to recruit some of Madrid's brightest stars.'
MAN CITY EYE FALCAO AND/OR CAVANI
As well as criticising Samir Nasri for being a bit pants this year, Roberto Mancini touched on Manchester City's transfer targets in his fascinating interview with the Guardian.
It's clear City are struggling for goals, having scored 19 fewer than at this stage last season in the Premier League, and the acquisition of either Edinson Cavani (25 strikes in 29 matches for Napoli) or Falc-wow (24 in 24 for Atletico Madrid) would give the champions a huge boost in the next campaign, when it looks like we'll no longer be able to call them 'the champions'.
When asked about Edinson Cavani, Mancini said: "I like him but all the world wants him. There are big players.
"I don't know what can happen. Suarez plays for a top team like Liverpool. Cavani plays for Napoli. There's Falcao but, again, all the managers like him.
"Neymar is a good player, he's young, but I don't know if he's ready to play in England, because the football is totally different. I think he will go to Barcelona or Madrid where the football is more technical. But Cavani and Falcao would work in England.
"They have experience. Both players are 26, 27. They are good enough to play in England."
WENGER REVEALS HUGE TRANSFER KITTY
The Daily Mail have got themselves all excited over Arsene Wenger's annual claim that Arsenal have big money available to spend this summer.
According to the Mail: 'Arsene Wenger claims Arsenal can commit £80million to sign Radamel Falcao as they prepare for a radical change in their spending policy.
'He claims Arsenal could meet an expected £40m asking price, if Atletico Madrid agree to sell Colombia striker Falcao, and could also match the 27-year-old's £40m wage demands.'
When asked about players such as Falcao in his Friday press conference, Wenger said: "We can do it. If we find a player of top, top quality we will take him.
"We are in a stronger situation where we can spend some money. I'm not reluctant to do so. First of all, we only had money recently. We went out to spend money at Christmas but we didn't find the players."
We're sure we've heard this before.
ARSENAL LEAD THE RACE FOR OGBONNA
One player who could be on his way to the Emirates in the summer is Italy international Angelo Ogbonna.
The Torino defender has also been linked with Liverpool and Manchester United, but the Gunners hope to jump in first to shore up their increasingly leaky defence.
Ogbonna could cost as much as £17million, which would seemingly put him out of Arsenal's price range, but The Metro report:
'The Gunners have been scouting the 24-year-old for some time and are said to have sounded out the Turin club over the possibility of a move when the transfer window reopens in June.
'Their early expression of interest puts Arsene Wenger's side in pole position to land Ogbonna, who caught the eye with his accomplished performance during Italy's 2-1 friendly defeat to England in August last year.'
AND THE REST
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez will revive his bid to sign Aiden McGeady in the summer, but will face competition from Everton and Sunderland...Manchester United defender Reece Brown is poised to join Ipswich on loan...Bursaspor will renew their interest in Manchester City defender Kolo Toure at the end of the season...Paul Lambert believes striker Christian Benteke will remain at Aston Villa if they retain their Premier League status...Liverpool and West Ham could miss out on Vitesse striker Wilfried Bony.
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