There is always one transfer saga that looks to drag on for months as deadline day inches slowly towards closure.
Well, there are about nine such sagas going on around Old Trafford as murmurs of departures and arrivals echo through the red side of Manchester.
The David de Gea rigmarole continues to roll on after reports in French newspaper L’Equipe this morning claim that the Red Devils have approached Hugo Lloris in relation to a potential summer move.
The Spurs ‘keeper is seen as a readymade replacement for de Gea if United’s Spanish stopper completes his long-discussed return to Spain with Real Madrid.
The article reveals that the story has been announced by Hugo Lloris’ camp so it’s not known whether this is simply a ploy from the Frenchman’s agent to squeeze more money from Tottenham.
Another United transfer saga that shows no signs of stopping is the much-publicised pursuit of Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels.
While it initially looked like Manchester United were going to be able to nab both of their Dortmund targets, Ilkay Gundogan and Mats Hummels, a deal for the latter looks more likely to fail.
The Manchester Evening News report that, with Gundogan almost certainly moving on and Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp also set to leave the club, that the Bundesliga side may do everything in their power to hang on to Hummels in a bid to maintain some element of stability.
In somewhat surprising transfer gossip, Chelsea are reportedly eyeing up a move for Liverpool’s Rickie Lambert.
Jose Mourinho is rather fond of having a big man on the bench to throw on when chasing a goal with long ball tactics and, with the contract of Blues legend Didier Drogba running up in the summer, he has identified some old fashioned centre-forwards as possible replacements.
Lambert has failed to set the world on fire since signing from Southampton last year but The Mirror report that Chelsea sent scouts to watch the 33-year-old feature for the full 90 minutes during the Reds’ 2-1 victory over QPR on Saturday.
In terms of Anfield arrivals, it looks like Brendan Rodgers has finally gotten his man in the form of Fiorentina goalkeeper Norberto Neto.
Metro report that Liverpool are set to offload current deputy stopper Brad Jones and bring in the Brazilian as more serious competition for Simon Mignolet.
Neto, 25, is out of contract in the summer and, if Liverpool can get him on a free transfer, it will be considered a serious coup for the Merseysiders.
And in even longer running transfer news, Yohann Cabaye (remember him?) could be finally set to make his move to Arsenal.
It seems like we’ve been hearing about this deal for about three years now because we’ve been hearing about this deal for exactly three years now.
Arsene Wenger has been a massive fan of the Frenchman’s since the midfielders time at Newcastle and, after a lacklustre 18 months at Paris Saint-Germain, the Gunners boss could get his man for a cut-price fee €13 million according to The Telegraph.
