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Remy in but Masch out? EPL Transfer rumours…

Published by Ian John on July 16, 2010

It’s been a busy week on the transfer rumour front in the EPL, so let me bring you up to date with the latest transfer gossip and speculation.

Liverpool seem to be at the heart of most of the speculation, first up it is whether Fernando Torres will make a move to Chelsea (for £30, £50 or £70 million depending on who you choose to disbelieve), Javier Mascherano could be on his way to Inter Milan according to reports, with Rafa Benitez lining up a move for the player. Would any Liverpool fan mind awfully if Rafa gave Liverpool £20m plus Esteban Cambiasso in part-exchange?

Not satisfied with that Liverpool were once again hogging the headlines this morning after reportedly trying to steal in front of West Ham and Tottenham for the services of Nice’s French striker Loic Remy. Emiliano Insua seems set for a £5m move to Fiorentina, no I couldn’t believe the fee either and Lucas Leiva is wanted by Palermo. Christmas, it seems, comes early on Merseyside this year. If Roy sanctions their departure then expect him to go for Ghanaian star Andre Ayew, who is seemingly not Ryan Babel mark II, but Abedi Pele mark II.

In the biggest transfer that hasn’t yet happened but soon will, Barcelona have said that they will “wait” for Cesc Fabregas. This is, of course, a thinly veiled warning to Arsenal that they WILL sign Fabregas, even if they have to wait for his contract to expire and pick him up on a free. It remains to be seen what Arsene will do, but I’ll give you a clue, it begins with S and has the letters ELL also involved.

West Ham meanwhile have been busy. Avram Grant wanted Loic Remy, but is moving closer to signing Mexican subersub Pablo Barrera and Portsmouth’s Frederic Piquionne.

Manchester City’s summer spending looks set to increase a notch when Roberto Mancini makes Aleksandr Kolarov his first post-World Cup signing. The Lazio defender is expected to move for £17m as Mancini “isn’t convinced by Wayne Bridge”
although how and why yet to be disclosed.

City are also being strongly linked with Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko. Well, they are down to their last seventy-three strikers now that Valeri Bojinov has left the club and Robinho has officially been reported as a missing person for two thirds of the time he was at Maine Road. Shakhtar Donetsk it seems are the latest suitors for the Brazilian.

Fulham are thought to be lining up Martin Jol as their new manager and want to pair him with a new striker. That man is thought to be Robbie Keane. Harry Redknapp may use some of the money from Mohammed Al-Fayed’s generosity to make a move for Ipswich Town’s England wonderkid Conor Wickham, who is also wanted by Arsenal.

Cesc Fabregas has listed his favourite all time players as “Hristo Stoichkov, Johan Cruyff, Gary Lineker, Steve Archibald, Miguel Nadal, Romario, Ronaldo, Xavi, Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol” though Arsene Wenger is quick to deny any rumour of a potential deal with a big Spanish club is in the offing.

Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton is believed to be interested in deals for Aston Villa duo Steve Sidwell and Nigel Reo-Coker, though quite where this will leave Kevin Nolan at Newcastle is anybody’s guess.

Sunderland owner Niall Quinn is believed to be tracking two Manchester based midfielders. The first is the Manchester City star with an odd taste in car decoration, Stephen Ireland (if you don’t know what that refers to, google Stephen Ireland’s Girlfriend Car and be prepared for therapy) and Manchester United’s England water carrier Michael Carrick.

Cesc Fabregas was spotted in a London based sports shop buying a Barcelona home shirt with the number 6 and “CESC” written on the back. He headed off to a tattoo shop following his purchase and had the face of Josep Guardiola tattooed onto his left calf.

Chelsea are thought to be keen on Bastian Schweinsteiger. Well, since they lost their only stroppy Germanic midfielder with a chip on his shoulder, there has been a void in the team that needed to be filled. There’s no truth in the rumour either that Chelsea will be sending striker Nicolas Anelka to the clubs creche facility, unless he is a good boy and doesn’t have a tantrum when asked to play wide.

Joe Cole still hasn’t decided who he wants to play for, though his agent is sat by the phone with a long list of club names crossed out and and equally long list of large contract offers crossed out next to it, he’s sure that £120,000 a week offer from someone clinically insane, desperate, or both will be coming shortly.

Cesc Fabregas was spotted on the London ring road, hitching a lift with a paper sign with “Barcelona” written on it.

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