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Who are the EPL Giants REALLY targetting in January?

Published by Ian John on December 3, 2009

In amongst all the nonsense spouted by the hysterical press about which club will be buying whom in January, there must, by the chances of probability alone, be a few stories in there that have more than a grain of truth to them. So let’s sort through the maze of rumour, hearsay and nonsense and cut to the chase. Which players may well be coming to the EPL in January?

The first rumour is regarding Edin Dzeko (pictured). Wolfsburg’s talented Bosnian striker has been a sensation in the Bundesliga and this has not gone unnoticed around Europe with Milan, Manchester United and Manchester City all reportedly interested at various points. However the rumour that makes sense to me is that Arsene Wenger has targetted him in a £15m deal. Wenger needs a powerful, goalscoring striker who can fit into the Arsenal scheme and start for the Gunners regularly and Dzeko fits the bill perfectly. The price seems right and the Arsenal manager himself has stated that he wants to buy a striker in the January window. Dzeko for the Emirates looks as strong a rumour as any I’ve seen since the transfer window closed.

Next up, Chelsea. Talk of a move for Alexandre Pato seems more in hope than in expectation if I’m honest. The Brazilian is on a long term deal at Milan and while I haved no doubt Ancelotti would like to get him, I cannot see Milan allowing him to leave at the moment, especially while they are still in the Scudetto race and the Champions League. Chelsea may well get him, but it may be two years or so before they manage it. A stronger rumour is Sergio Aguero. Atletico’s awful start to the season and Champions League elimination will do little to convince the Argentinian to stay and it seems his stance on a move to England has softened over the past few weeks. It may cost Chelsea a record English deal to land the striker, but I don’t think Roman Abramovich will shy away from paying it to land him.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that he doesn’t foresee doing any business in the transfer window. I think that may well be the case for now. However I think if Ferguson sees Chelsea make their move for Aguero, he may well be tempted to enquire about Valencia’s David Villa, in the knowledge that Chelsea are unlikely to want to spend £100m on two attacking players during January. I think whether United buy depend very much on who Chelsea and Manchester City target. If they don’t make a move for the players Sir Alex Ferguson wants, and thus push up the price ridiculously, I think Sir Alex may be tempted into landing a keeper (Neuer or Akinfeev seem probable) and a striker (Villa). However my money would be on him waiting until the summer before making any move.

Liverpool have been linked recently with Diego Forlan and while that seems sensible, I can’t see Atletico allowing Forlan and Aguero to leave and nor can I see Liverpool having the money to sign Forlan, whose value will have risen significantly due to his fine form in Spain. A loan move for a striker may be a more likely scenario and while Roman Pavlyuchenko looks, appropriately enough, Roma bound, I think Liverpool may well look at a loan deal possibly for Luca Toni of Bayern Munich, who seems desperate to leave the club. It would also tie up nicely with the rumours that Ryan Babel may well be Bayern Munich bound on loan in January. Ruud Van Nistelrooy is another linked with the club, but this move would smack to me of a reprisal for Michael Owen signing for United!

Everton want to land Newcasle defender Steven Taylor, but I think Taylor would want to remain at the club given their strong promotion push. Aston Villa have been linked with taking Real Zaragoza’s Jermaine Pennant back to England in a deal that makes sense given Villa’s surfeit of left sided players, but reliance on solely James Milner down the right. Tottenham have been linked with several names but it seems a defender is going to be top of Harry’s Xmas list, Gary Cahill, Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson probably being the ones he has his eye on most, along with Brazilian midfielder Sandro who could join from Internacionale.

If you have heard any whispers or rumours, let us know below and we can see if they had any basis in fact come January!

Image Courtesy of ***Nemir29*** at Flickr.com

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