With Vincent Kompany’s run of rotten luck with injuries showing no sign of abating, Nicolás Otamendi looking a total liability and Jonnny Evans still playing for West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City will attempt to lure Toby Alderweireld to the Etihad Stadium from Tottenham in January.
The Belgian central defender is reported to be unhappy with his current weekly stipend of £50,000 and is refusing to sign a new contract. His agent, Stijn Francis, said last week that Alderweireld deserves “either a correct contract from Tottenham or a transfer”. Interestingly, the Mirror reports that City manager Pep Guardiola is angry with Kompany for exacerbating the calf injury that ruled him out of Saturday’s thrashing of Liverpool by playing a full 90 minutes on international duty with Belgium. How could anyone stay cross at the big friendly Belgian for long, eh?
With Arsenal having failed to wrap up the deadline day signing of Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar, who was inconsiderately playing a World Cup qualifier for France at the same time Emirates suits thought he should be undergoing a medical with them instead, the north London club will step up their efforts to sign the 21-year-old in the January window. British tabloid reports say that Arsenal have agreed a £100m deal in principle with Monaco, for a player who will earn £250,000 a week when he moves to London.
Reports in today’s papers also suggest Atlético Madrid have sent a “delegation” to Stamford Bridge to sort out the inevitable return to the Spanish capital of Diego Costa for once and for all. Unable to sign new players until January due to a well documented transfer embargo, these briefcase-toting representatives of the Spanish club will up their bid for the sulking, striking striker to £32m and are already reported to have agreed a deal worth £175,000-per-week with Costa, who is believed to have moved his family to Madrid in preparation for his return from his extended summer holidays in Brazil.
Having had their efforts to bring Antoine Griezmann to Old Trafford torpedoed by the aforementioned Fifa-imposed embargo, Manchester United will renew their efforts to sign the France international striker next summer, according to the Daily Star, but will have to fend off interest from Chelsea, who are also interested.
Despite sacking his former agent Donato di Campli to go into cahoots with Mino Raiola, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti failed to secure a move to Barcelona this summer. Verratti ended his association with Campli after his former advisor described him as “a prisoner” at Paris Saint-Germain but remains at the club despite feverish speculation he’d leave during the last window. As for the Italian’s next move? Nobody seems to know, not least his new representative. “Verratti will stay at PSG, at least for the moment,” said Raiola. “I can’t say about the future because I am not a magician,” he added, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.