Morning all. Throughout January Soccerlens is going to be bringing you a daily round-up of the morning’s various goings-on. Be it juicy morsels of spurious transfer gossip or real, actual bona fide news, rest assured, we’ll have it covered.
Here’s this morning’s batch.
West Ham need Bendtner…like a hole in the head…
In a bid to steady the particularly tumultuous ship at Upton Park, it looks like the West Ham board are keen on bringing in a few level-headed, calming influences in the next few weeks, namely Arsenal’s ego-drenched, donkey-in-residence Nicklas Bendtner.
The Telegraph are reporting that the Hammers have enquired as to the stroppy Danish forward’s availability, only to find that he is indeed for sale, but only for 15 million of your English pounds.
Avoid, avoid, for God’s sake, avoid!
Samba football…
Chiefly due to Thomas Vermaelen‘s shimmering mirage of an Achilles injury, Arsenal have no defence. That is an indisputable fact, and a fact that is obviously not lost on the rumour-mongers of this fair isle.
With every new dawn comes a fresh wave of potential candidates that manager Arsene Wenger is apparently mulling over, with the express intent of plugging the gaping holes in his back-line, and this shrill winter’s morn is no different – though a little more prosaic.
According to the Daily Mirror, the ever prudent Wenger is lining up a cut-price deal for Blackburn’s towering man-mountain Chris Samba, after shirking at Bolton’s £16+ million valuation of Gary Cahill.
Samba is known to have been unsettled by Sam Allardyce‘s unceremonious dismissal at Ewood Park, and is thought to be looking to walk out on the club at the first available opportunity – though the Mirror seem to think that it may still cost Arsenal upwards of £10 million to successfully land the towering Frenchman.
Liverpool still on Suarez’s tail…
There are several conflicting reports in this morning’s press concerning Ajax forward Luis Suarez‘s prospective move to Liverpool, with suggestions of a ‘obscenely’ large offer being requested by the Dutch side sitting happily alongside talk of a cut-price deal being just around the corner.
TalkSPORT seem certain that the Reds have been put off by Ajax’s astronomical asking price and will now explore the possibility of signing Anderlecht starlet Romelu Lukaku, whilst several of the bigger papers think that Ryan Babel will duck a transfer to Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim (Liverpool formally accepted a bid yesterday afternoon) in the hope that he will be used as a makeweight in a swap deal for Suarez.
The short answer? No-one’s got a friggin’ clue what’s going on!
Prem pair in for Camoranesi…
Both Newcastle and Birmingham are thought to be vying for the signature of former Juventus midfielder, Mauro Camoranesi, after the World Cup-winner was informed that he is now deemed as ‘surplus to requirements’ at current club Stuttgart.
Stuttgart director Fredi Bobic has vowed to ‘not put anything in Camoranesi’s way’ in the be-ponytailed veteran’s bid to secure new employers, after the 34-year-old failed to settle convincingly during his short spell in Germany.
New contract for Giggs?…
Manchester United chief exec David Gill has revealed that he is planning to open contract renewal talks with 37-year-old Ryan Giggs at some point over the next few weeks.
Giggs, who is within spitting distance of completing a 20-year run in the first-team at Old Trafford, is approaching the end of his current deal at United, but Gill is keen to keep him at the club for another season:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he extends his contract for another season.
“That will be addressed in the next month or so. He has been playing well, keeps himself in great shape and is a wonderful advert for the modern footballer.”
The Welshman made his 600th league appearance for the United against Tottenham on Sunday, leading manager Sir Alex Ferguson to brand him an ‘incredible human being’.
The best of the rest…
- There were three transfers officially completed before the close of play yesterday. South African winger Steven Pienaar opted for Tottenham over Chelsea (£3 million), Aston Villa obliterated their transfer record to sign Darren Bent from Sunderland (£18 million, rising to £24 million), and Blackburn signed American midfielder Jermaine Jones on loan from Schalke.
- Middlesbrough defender (and supposed Liverpool and Arsenal target) David Wheater is expected to complete a £4 million switch to Bolton later today…
- From deep within their evil underground lair, Real Madrid have apparently targeted Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez and/or Robin van Persie as the three men they want to solve their current striking deficit.
- Fulham are hoping to announce the loan capture of minuscule Man City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips later this week.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
