New Manchester United Manager David Moyes may have a battle on his hands if he seriously considers reinforcements to the United squad particularly in the midfield area which is in serious need of overhaul after the retirement of maestro Paul Sholes, pending return of Darren Fletcher and an uncertainty about the future of Anderson Oliveira.
Amid all this, Manchester United continue to be linked with Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas but it looks like they will need some help from Premier League rivals Arsenal to land him. DavidMoyes would love to make the Spanish midfielder his first big signing but according to leading English newspapers, Arsenal have the first buy-back option on their former captain.
As part of the deal that brought Fabregas to the Camp Nou in 2011, Arsenal inserted a clause which says they must be notified of any offer for him and then be given the first option of buying him back for £20-£25m if Barcelona decide to sell. Things get even more complicated because if Barcelona end up selling him to another club then Arsenal are entitled to a 50 per cent sell-on clause according to the newspapers.
That would mean the La Liga champions would have to receive a bid of £70m for the player from United just to break even on the £35m they paid for him.
According to these newspaper sources, Should any club make a concrete offer for the 26-year-old, Barca would be obliged to inform Arsenal, who would then be given first-refusal on the midfielder. If the scenario arises, then manager Arsene Wenger would be left with a difficult situation on his hands. While a new central midfielder is on the club's shopping list, Wenger is looking for a more defensive-minded player. And with Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla all vying for central midfield slots, Wenger may view the signing of another creative player as unnecessary, leaving him with the dilemma of turning Fabregas down. Nevertheless, both clauses will provide major stumbling blocks towards United's quest to land Fabregas, who is also interesting Manchester City.
The former Gunner will resolve his future with Barca officials once the Spanish season is over. The Catalan club wants to keep hold of Fabregas, but the midfielder has grown frustrated of late as he has been overlooked for big games. And should the midfielder decide he wants to move on, an emotional return to north London may not be beyond the realms of possibility as it was Arsene Wenger who nurtured Fabregas's rise through the academy to first-team captain.
In some other transfer gossip, Real Madrid have offered Luis Suarez a four-year contract worth £140,000-a-week. Real believe there is a £40m buy-out clause in the controversial 26-year-old's contract, but will only go to £25m as a straight-cash fee. Instead, they are prepared to offer Liverpool a player-plus-cash deal of £20m plus their Spain Under-21 forward Jose Callejon. (Source via Daily Mail)
The first test of Jose Mourinho’s second spell as Chelsea manager is likely to surround the future of David Luiz after it emerged that the Portuguese has earmarked the Brazil defender as his most saleable asset as he seeks to raise the funds required to reshape his new side. Mourinho is also thought to be unconvinced by Branislav Ivanovic, John Obi-Mikel and Fernando Torres and would like to bring in Sami Khedira from Real Madrid. But, given the immense popularity of Luiz among Chelsea fan-base, Mourinho might find it hard to sell the versatile defender.
Tottenham are ready to dump David Bentley, William Gallas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Jake Livermore, Tom Huddlestone and Heurelho Gomes off the wage bill to help finance a new deal for Gareth Bale.
Manuel Pellegrini will raid the Spanish market to add more foreign flavour to his Manchester City squad. The Chilean has given the go-ahead for City to bring in Shakhtar Donetsk’s Brazilian defensive midfielder Fernandinho and he has asked the club’s hierarchy to work on deals for Real Madrid defender Pepe, Malaga’s attacking midfielder Isco, Sevilla winger Jesus Navas and Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara. It is a potential outlay of £86million. (Source via Daily Mail)
And finally, Fulham are closing in on a £3million deal for Roma goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg. Manager Martin Jol narrowly failed to sign the Holland keeper on the final day of the January transfer window but has revived the move to replace the ageing Mark Schwarzer.
(Source via Daily Mail)
Source: DSG
