Gossip: Fellaini to Milan, Lukaku in?

Matt Stead

CLEAR THE SHELVES

Everyone is a winner. Shelvey has been pretty much frozen out at Swansea, Palace could do with options in central midfield, and Alan Pardew gets to help the 23-year-old realise his potential of the ‘next Steven Gerrard’. And we get to watch it all.

 

FELLAINI TO MILAN
Oh hey there rumour we really didn’t see coming. Italian outlets Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica both say that AC Milan are interested in taking Marouane Fellaini on loan from Manchester United.

That’s all very well, but would United really bother loaning him out? If they’re going to get rid of Fellaini then they will at least want some money for him, rather than freezing him out of the first-team picture before getting him back in the summer.

In fact, the stories say that loan bids have indeed been rejected, but that the club do not have the money (or want?) to pay an asking price of close to £20m. Nor us.

 

REMY TO NEWCASTLE
The Newcastle Chronicle says that Chelsea have offered Newcastle the chance to take striker Loic Remy on loan. It’s a move that does make some sense, given that Remy was pretty successful at Newcastle, and has been a load of old toss at Chelsea.

The Chronicle say that Chelsea have made the first move regarding the deal, but that the player would be keen.

In relaying the story, the Daily Express give us this line: ‘Remy is keen for games in an effort to force his way into Didier Deschamps’ squad for Euro 2016.’

Talk about walking before you can run.

 

LUKAKU TO UNITED
Oh, transfer window, how we’ve missed you. It’s set to be a fun month, folks.

We start Monday morning with news from foreign lands. According to Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf, Louis van Gaal has identified the striker he wants to cure Manchester United’s goalscoring problems.

‘Manchester United is ready to pull the purse strings open for an extra striker,’ claims the outlet. They add that United scouts are constantly watching Everton striker Romelu Lukaku. And so they should. Lukaku has 18 goals and five assists in 24 starts for the Toffees this season; he’s quite good.

The Dutch paper, typically reliable on their Van Gaal information, also say Lukaku will cost ‘at least 50million euros’, or £37m. Everton signed him for a club-record £28million in the summer of 2014. The 22-year-old has scored 38 goals in 71 appearances since. His price has probably gone up more than ‘at least’ £9m.

 

LIVERPOOL AND SPURS WANT WONDERKID
‘Liverpool and Tottenham are battling it out to sign record-breaking Venezuelan wonderkid Adalberto Penaranda,’ reads the headline on The Sun’s website on Monday morning. Big news, that. Can’t say we’ve heard of the kid, but a record-breaker? A wonderkid? Consider our interest piqued.

For those who know not of the vast wonders of Football Manager, Penaranda is a striker for La Liga side Granada, on loan from Udinese, and surely soon to be on loan at Watford. The 18-year-old has scored four goals in seven league games this season, becoming the youngest player in Granada’s history, and the youngest foreigner to score a double. Sounds decent. He only scored four goals in two years at Deportivo La Guaira, mind.

The Sun also cover an incident which occurred with regards to Penaranda in early 2015. ‘Penaranda’s meteoric rise is even more remarkable considering he was incredibly SHOT last year,’ they say. How can you be ‘incredibly shot?’

Interesting to note is that The Sun attribute this to ‘reports in Spain’. That would be the infamous Fichajes.net. Unreliable and untrustworthy enough to not name, but reliable and trustworthy enough to take transfer rumours from? Weird.

 

MANCHESTER CITY ‘HOT HOT’ ON SANE
Another transfer rumour from faraway lands here; Manchester City want Leroy Sane.

City have been previously linked with the Schalke forward, and German newspaper Bild are back for more. They claim that the winger will be the subject of an ‘imminent formal offer’. 55million euros, or £40million, will be the initial offer.

Bild add that City’s interest in Sane is ‘hot hot’, but that Schalke are unlikely to part with one of their ‘crown jewels’. The 19-year-old has become a regular fixture in the German club’s first team this season, scoring four and assisting four in 17 Bundesliga games. Considering City are the top scorers in the Premier League, and are hardly lacking attacking options, an offer looks doubtful.

 

AND THE REST
Arsenal will recall winger Serge Gnabry from his loan at West Brom, and send him out to the Championship… Manchester United scouts have been watching Benfica starlet Renato Sanches – and have given Louis van Gaal a glowing report…AC Milan want to sign Branislav Ivanovic from Chelsea this month…Marko Grujic has arrived on Merseyside to undergo a medical examination before completing a £5.1million move to Liverpool from Red Star Belgrade…Arsenal will complete the £5million capture of Basel midfielder Mohamed Elneny next week…Manchester United have been wholly unconvinced for the past three months that Southampton would sell them Sadio Mane, whom they are still interested in adding to their strike force, in the January transfer window…Ronald Koeman will hold talks with Mane today with Southampton insistent that the midfielder will not be sold this month…Mane expects to stay at Southampton this month but is likely to leave at the end of the season…Andros Townsend looks set to leave Tottenham after being left out of their squad at Everton.

Manchester United will let Nick Powell go out on loan for the rest of the season…Norwich City have made a £7.3million bid for Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia…Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has Angers midfielder Cheikh N’Doye in his sights…Watford want Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni to battle for the No.1 spot at Vicarage Road. The 31-year-old has a £1million release clause…West Ham forward Mauro Zarate has been targeted by Spanish club Malaga…Charlton are closing on a double deal for West Ham midfielder Diego Poyet and free agent Roger Johnson…Sam Allardyce plans a mini-clearout of his Sunderland fringe players this month. Will Buckley, Danny Graham and Charis Mavris have been told they can leave, while Liam Bridcutt and Valentin Roberge are also available…Swansea City will soon find out whether Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli wants to be their new boss as he enters crunch talks with his current employees.

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