With the World Cup around the corner most of the best players on the planet will be in the shop window over the next four weeks. While national pride drives them on, there could be personal gain too for those looking to move, by catching the eye of a major European club.
Pre season betting advice is often affected by the big money moves, and so are the bookies odds. So while we all enjoy the World Cup 2018 the money men will be hard at work, doing all they can to get their targets over the line.
So what’s the hot news this week on the European ‘ins’ and ‘outs’?
La Liga
Well, at this time of year we can always look to the Bernabeu for the summer soap opera. Sir Alex Ferguson once famously said he wouldn’t sell Real Madrid a virus, when Los Blancos made public their pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo, shortly before Sir Alex sold his star to them!
The Beautiful One will surely be one of the top performers of the World Cup, but where he will be playing his football next season is a little less certain. The shock departure of boss Zinedine Zidane has left Real in a period of some instability. But hey, this is Real Madrid, Champions of Europe, so they’ll come out fighting.
Real is widely rumoured to be preparing a whopping £300m bid for PSG’s Neymar after the most expensive footballer in the world came back from injury to score a belter in a friendly against Croatia last week. And the annual rumour that Los Blancos are after Manchester United’s keeper, David de Gea, have surfaced again, whether the Old Trafford faithful will need to stomach losing their best player once more, in a repeat of history, remains to be seen.
If Spain’s Number One stays in Manchester, Real Madrid may well turn their attention to Roma stopper Alisson Becker.
Elsewhere in Spain, Villarreal look likely to land Arsenal’s attacking midfielder Santi Cazorla, and he’ll be perfect to sharpen up the Yellow Submarine’s offensive play.
Serie A
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina looks set to be moving from Napoli to Milan over the summer, but the big news in Italy concerns a current Anfield favourite.
Emre Can is to be released by the Reds and Juventus are favourites to land the German midfielder. The Bianconeri would be getting a vastly improved player after Can has benefitted greatly from the guidance of Jurgen Klopp.
The most controversial move in Serie A still looks on as Stefan de Vrij is set to complete his switch from Lazio to Inter. In the final game of the season between the two, Lazio looked set to grab the final Champions League spot, until de Vrij gave away a crucial penalty. I bet he’ll get a warm reception from the Lazio Ultras next season!
Bundesliga
FC Bayern has already made a move, following another comprehensive league winning season, signing Leon Goretzka from Schalke. And fans at the Allianz Arena will be pleased to hear that Austrian full-back David Alaba has said he’s happy to stay put to see out his contract.
Borussia Dortmund looks to be taking steps to challenge again, with the signing of Thomas Delaney, from Werder Bremen, in a four year deal. The Denmark midfielder could be one to watch in Russia.
Meanwhile, on his way out from Dortmund is Greek midfielder Sokratis Papastathopoulos, who is expected to switch to Arsenal in a £16m move.
Ligue 1
While PSG prepares to get into protracted negotiations over the future of Brazilian star Neymar, two big Ligue 1 rivals are struggling to hold on to their best players.
The reported £53m move of Lyon’s Nabil Fekir to Liverpool may just have stalled for a day or so though. The French striker hopes to feature in the World Cup, but apparently there are concerns on Merseyside over his fitness. The EPL is a little more strenuous than Ligue 1, or so they say!
Nevertheless, Spurs are taking a close look at Olympique Marseille’s 23 year old star Morgan Sanson, according to rumours in the French press. That would be a blow to the Europa League finalists. But the passionate Marseille fans are still hoping their hero, Zinedine Zidane, could one day be their head coach.
ZZ has said he won’t be pushing Didier Deschamps out of the national team coach job any time soon. That’s nice!
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