In our experience, putting an enormous price tag on your star player has never been much of a deterrent when it comes to Real Madrid.
In fact, it’s often more akin to putting a red rag in front of a bull, yet that is what Manchester United have chosen to do in the case of David de Gea. The Old Trafford club have placed a sticker reading ‘Yours for a mere £50million’ across De Gea’s windscreen in the hope that it puts off the Bernabeu buyers, yet we imagine their reaction is something more along the lines of… (Daily Express)
United, meanwhile, have had a near-£27million bid for Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi rejected by the La Liga club. The Spanish side confirmed the bid for the Argentina defender but are determined to keep the 26-year-old until the end of the current campaign. (Sky Sports)
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin looks poised to parlay his impressive performance in Sunday’s 2-0 win at Manchester City into a bumper new deal at the Emirates. The 23-year-old is out of contract this summer and the club will move quickly to extend his stay in north London (Guardian). And it seems like the young Frenchman’s emergence is just the excuse manager Arsene Wenger needs to avoid signing an established defensive midfielder for the 85th transfer window in a row. The Gunners boss has been linked with Germany’s Sami Khedira. (Daily Star).
However, it looks like Wenger will be happy to dip into his transfer kitty for the grand sum of no pennies to make Winston Reid’s summer move to Arsenal go ahead after the central defender told West Ham he would not be signing a new contract, although the Hammers could opt to cash in this month if the Gunners decide to move early. (Daily Mirror)
Spurs, meanwhile, could about to put sitter-misser Roberto Soldado out of his Premier League misery by allowing him to join Bayer Leverkusen. The £26million signing has scored just 15 goals in a year and a half at Tottenham and with the club eyeing up a January move for any one of Danny Ings, Christian Benteke or Saido Berahino, Soldado’s opportunities to redeem himself look numbered. (Daily Mirror)
Former Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa has denied he is set for a move back to the Premier League. The Spanish full-back is 32 and has another 18 months on his current contract at Real Madrid, and he told a Spanish radio station: ‘I am very lucky to be at Madrid, I have one and a half years left [on my contract] and hopefully I can continue as long as possible, that my last shirt in football is the white one.’ (Sky Sports)
