With its sandy beaches, fresh air and Gala Bingo Halls, Bournemouth is renowned as a very pleasant place for the elderly to live out their dotage once they’ve withdrawn from the rat race. It’s no great surprise, then, that Jermain Defoe (34) and John Terry (36) are being touted as potential new recruits for the local football team next season, now that both players are looking for alternative employment. Terry announced that he’ll be parting company with Chelsea at the end of the season, while Defoe is expected to leave relegated Sunderland once they’ve completed their final four fixtures. The striker is already something of a hero at the south coast club, having fired in 18 goals in 29 appearances during a spell on loan from Tottenham many moons ago. Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe believes his side will benefit from the pair’s combined 40-odd years of professional experience.
Diego Costa has long been linked with a summer move to China and reports from Spain suggest he may already have inked a deal with Tianjin Quanjian that would earn him £650,000 per week after tax. The Chinese Super League club say no deal has been done yet, but owner Shu Yuhui says he has pre-contract agreements in place with three big names currently plying their trade in Europe. Shu has been working with agent Jorge Mendes, who looks after Costa, and was on the verge of signing Monaco striker Radamel Falcao earlier this year when Fabio Cannavaro, who manages Tianjin Quanjian, nixed the deal saying he didn’t want the Colombian.
In the wake of news that Manchester United had a £72m offer for his team-mate Kylian Mbappé rejected, Falcao has been telling anyone who’ll listen the teenage striking sensation could sign for Real Madrid at some point in the future, but should stay put in the cauldron of indifference that is Stade Louis II for the time being. “He is a very good player, very young and he is proving himself in every game,” said Falcao, as Manchester City are rumoured to be preparing a bid of almost £100m for the youngster.
It seems Demarai Gray is getting tired of life at Leicester City and is angling for a move to a club that will offer him more time on the field of play, while his team-mate and last season’s Player of the Year Riyad Mahrez is also expected to leave the club in search of Champions League football elsewhere. Of course the departure of the latter would almost certainly mean more game time for the former, so watch this space.
Having helped Brighton to promotion with performances that earned him a place between the sticks in the EFL Championship team of the season, David Stockdale is out of contract next month and is believed to be wanted at Stamford Bridge as back-up to Thibaut Courtois if, as expected, Asmir Begovic moves to Bournemouth in his quest for regular first team football. In other goalkeeping news, Joe Hart’s faint hopes of securing a move to Manchester United in the event of David De Gea leaving for Real Madrid are set to be dashed by the news that the club are more interested in bringing in Milan stopper Gianluigi Donnarumma or his Atlético Madrid counterpart Jan Oblak.
Manchester United may have to call time on their pursuit of Benfica’s Swedish centre-back Victor Lindelöf as Inter are understood to have offered the Portuguese club €60m for the 22-year-old, a whopping €15m more than the Premier League side are prepared to pay for him. Lindelöf was heavily linked with a move to United in January, but chose instead to remain remain where he was and sign a contract extension. “I have a long contract at Benfica and I’m thriving here,” he said at the time. “It’s a big club and I’m developing every day. I’m only 22 years old and there is no stress.”
Bayern Munich full-back Rafinha has told FourFourTwo that he “has a few offers” from various Premier League clubs, but would not reveal which clubs those might be. Liverpool and Arsenal are believed to be interested in getting the Brazilian on board. And finally, Ryan Giggs is being mentioned in conjunction with the vacant manager’s position at Middlesbrough, whose stay in the Premier League could come to a rather abrupt end this weekend.