Transfer Gossip #2

Welcome to the second installment of Transfer Gossip!

Tottenham want Ince.

It is being reported this week that Spurs are interested in 21 year old Blackpool winger, Tom Ince. Tottenham are supposedly preparing a £6.5 million bid for the young winger who has scored 18 Championship goals this season. Ince has been in impressive form an has attracted interest from many top flight clubs.

Arsenal to put in a shock bid for Schneiderlin?

It has been reported today that Arsenal may put a shock £10 million bid in for Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin. He would be brought into the squad to replace the forever injured Abou Diaby.

Galatasary look to strengthen squad.

The Turkish side are looking to strengthen their squad in the summer. They are supposedly lining up a bid for Manchester City’s Gael Clichy. They are also said to interested in Bayern’s Arjen Robben and will offer the German team £12 million.

West Ham to turn to Jelavic?

The hammers may try to buy Everton striker, Nikica Jelavic, this summer. They have decided that the £17 million price tag that Liverpool have set for Andy Carroll is extortionate. The London club reportedly offered £10 million for Carroll which Liverpool completely dismissed. Liverpool are sure to lose money on the £30 million that they paid for Carroll.

Cristiano Ronaldo set to leave Madrid.

There have been reports throughout this season that Ronaldo will leave the Galacticos. Manchester United are said to be interested in their ex-player. However they face stiff competition from Paris St.Germain who have made Real Madrid a “substantial offer” for the Portuguese star.

PSG want Wenger.

Paris St.Germain are said to be confident that they will be able to prize Arsene Wenger away from Arsenal to manage the French giants. This has come after news that Carlo Ancelotti is expected to become the new Real Madrid boss when Mourinho leaves at the end of the season.

Frieburg to hold onto young star.

Frieburg have said that starlet, Matthias Ginter will not be leaving the club during the summer transfer window. Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool are all said to be on the trail for German defender.

Danny Rose to snub Sunderland in favor of Spurs stay.

Andre Villas-Boas is trying to persuade England Under 21’s star, Danny Rose to snub a move to Sunderland to stay at Tottenham. The young left-back has been very impressive whilst out on a season long loan at Sunderland, who are reportedly looking to sign him on a permanent basis for around £8 million.

Arsenal looking to sign a Goalkeeper.

Arsenal are said to be interested in signing a new goalkeeper this summer. Lots of names have come up including QPR’s Julio Cesar who is set to leave after Rangers were relegated to the Championship. Another name that has come is Hamburg’s Rene Adler, however the German club are insisting that Arsenal have not approached them about a potential move for the German shot stopper.

Jovetic could snub Arsenal for a move to Milan.

It has been reported today that long term Arsenal target Stevan Jovetic may snub the North London club in favor for a move to AC Milan. It seems as though Arsenal will be facing some stiff competition as they look to try and sign their number 1 transfer target. It would be a huge disappointment for Arsenal if the young Montenegrin was snatched by AC Milan.

Transfer Gossip #1

Transfer Gossip is a new series of article which will be out once a week. In the articles I will talk about the latest transfer news and rumors from around the footballing world.

Stevan Jovetic to Arsenal?

There have been rumors of this transfer going on for a few months now. It has recently been reported that Arsenal have opened negotiations with Fiorentina over a move for the young Montenegrin. Jovetic is said to be valued at £25 million, however Arsenal are hoping to get this fee lowered. Although they must move quickly as Manchester City and Juventus are also monitoring the player.

Loic Remy to leave struggling QPR?

It looks as though Queens Park Rangers will be playing in the Championship next season. Loic Remy will surely leave QPR this summer as the former Marseille player will not want to play in Championship. It has been reported that there is a release clause in his contract of around £8 million. This has alerted a lot of Premier League Clubs including Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal. I am almost certain that Remy will not be at QPR next season, however I am not sure where he will be playing his club football.

Manchester City ready to splash the cash on Cavani.

It is being reported that Manchester City are ready to trigger Napoli’s Edinson Cavani’s buyout clause of £52 million. To try and secure the services of the Uruguayan striker City are ready to offer him £250,000 a week in order to beat PSG and Real Madrid to the signature of the highly rated forward.

Tottenham looking to sign a striker.

Tottenham failed to sign a striker in January and will now look to sign a front man in the summer transfer window. Spurs are still said to be interested in Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao but it is also being reported that they may make a move for Valencia captain, Roberto Soldado. Soldado’s impressive goal tally of 70 goals in 105 starts for Valencia over three seasons has attracted interest from the North London club.

Will Lewandowski get his dream move to Manchester United?

Sir Alex Ferguson has refused to rule out a move for Polish striker, Robert Lewandowski, even though he already has Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. The 24 year old Borussia Dortmund striker has also reveled that it is his dream to play for Manchester United, he may even snub a move from Real Madrid to join the Red Devils.

Bayern Munich ready to make a move for Suarez.

Bayern Munich are starting to feel that they may miss out on the highly rated Robert Lewandowski. They are now reportedly preparing a bid for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez who has recently been given a 10 match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic, this means he would miss Liverpool’s first 6 Premier League games next season (4 this season). Suarez may leave Anfield to play Champions League football with Bayern Munich.

Gonalons to the Gunners?

It is being reported that Arsenal have opened preliminary talks with Lyon over the transfer of the young French defensive midfielder. Arsenal have a £70 million pound transfer fund and Gonalons would probably cost the gunners around £10 million, as they look to fill the void that was left by Alex Song last season.

Gotze to Munich is a done deal!

Mario Gotze will become a Bayern Munich player on the 1st July 2013. Bayern Munich activated Gotze’s release clause which will see him leave Borussia Dortmund for £31.5 million. Gotze is in an uneasy position as it looks as though he may be facing his future club in the Champions League Final for Borussia Dortmund.

Casillas set to leave Madrid.

Iker Casillas is reportedly contemplating a move away from the Bernabeu after a huge falling out with Madrid manager Jose Mourinho. The Spanish shot stopper is yet to feature for Real Madrid in 2013 as Mourinho has opted to play Diego Lopez. It is understood that the falling out between player and coach has alerted lots of top teams. Arsenal are looking to sign a new goalkeeper and they see Casillas as the perfect player.

Mourinho and Falcao to Chelsea?

It has been reported this week the Jose Mourinho will make a sensational return to Chelsea after leaving the club to manage Real Madrid. It is also being reported that Chelsea are leading the race for the highly rated Colombian striker, Radamel Falcao. Roman Abramovich looks set to splash the cash again this summer. Mourinho and Falcao will not come cheap. Chelsea are also believed to be wrapping up the £20 million transfer of Andre Schurrle from Leverkusen.

What do Arsenal need to be Premier League Contenders?

It is safe to say that Arsenal haven’t been real Premier League title contenders since the end of August 2012. After two 0-0 draws against Stoke and Sunderland it looked as though Arsenal were missing a lot, not just Robin Van Persie. This has been the trend this season as Arsenal have been extremely inconsistent. Most Arsenal fans put Arsenal’s poor season down to the lack of a world class striker and the departure of Van Persie, who subsequently won the title with Manchester United. However I personally believe that they are missing a lot more than just one player, but I do feel that Wenger is the man to take Arsenal forward, for next season at least.

It has been a very frustrating season for all Arsenal fans. They could only sit back and watch as Robin Van Persie left for United during the summer transfer window for £24 million. However I do feel that a lot of Arsenal fans have been dueling on the departure of RVP for too long, he is my no means the only world class striker out there. This brings me to the first area where I feel that Arsenal need to improve this season. Arsenal have scored 65 goals in the Premier League so far this season, the third highest, however if you compare this to United’s 78 goals so far, you can see that Arsenal need more goals in order to challenge for the title. Arsenal’s top scorer in the Premier League so far this season is Santi Cazorla, having scored 12 goals who has played practically all of the season in an attacking midfield position. This clearly shows and issue as Arsenal’s highest Premier League goalscorer is a midfielder, I think that this should not be the case and that we need to sign a more prolific striker. Olivier Giroud has been very inconsistent in an Arsenal shirt this season. He started of very slowly, had a good spell and now seems to have petered out again. In total Giroud has made 46 appearances this season and has scored 17 goals, with only 11 coming in the Premier League. This is simply not good enough to be Arsenal’s leading man! Arsenal fans have always been blessed with quality strikers including Thierry Henry and Ian Wright. It has become an expectation for Arsenal fans that they will have a striker who will score the team 20+ Premier League goals a season. I feel that Arsenal must sign a world class striker in the summer, however I’m not sure who would be available or who we could afford. There has been a lot of talk of Arsenal signing Jovetic, however I’m not 100% sure that he is the prolific striker that we need. Taking all of this in to account, I would be very disappointed if Wenger didn’t bolster our attacking options in the summer.

Another on the field issue for Arsenal this season has been that we have had no real defensive midfielder. Alex Song was sold to Barcelona for £15 million and no real defensive replacement was brought in. This season Wenger has played a various number of players in the defensive midfield role, including Ramsey and Arteta, however I would say that nether player looked comfortable defensively in this position. I have noticed that there is often a big gap between Arsenal’s defense and midfield, which many teams have exploited this season. This pace must be filled by a high quality natural defensive midfielder next season in order to challenge for the title. Arsenal have missed out on lots of defensive midfielders in the past including Yann M’Vila and Scott Parker, and it appears that there is a lack of defensive midfielders readily on the market this season. However I can name a couple of players who Arsenal could make a move for this summer, they are Celtic’s Victor Wanyama and Bayer’s Lars Bender. Personally I would prefer to see Bender at the Emirates as I feel he is technically a better player, and would suit Arsenal’s play more. The German international has made a big impact on the Bayer Leverkusen set-up since his introduction to the first team in 2009. The last two seasons have seen him play 78 times for the club and he was even included in Germany’s Euro 2012 squad where he made 4 appearances. Bender possesses similar versatility to what Mathieu Flamini offered in his Arsenal days, but has a bigger frame and is a physically stronger presence in midfield, something that is a must for the Gunners.

However there are issues of the field that I feel need to be addressed for Arsenal to become title challengers. The biggest of these being the atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium. The Emirates can hold just over 60,000 spectators however this capacity has rarely been filled this season. Matches that are contested against big teams like Spurs and United usually create a good atmosphere inside the stadium, however it is against the lesser teams that the atmosphere struggles to get going. Arsenal have only won 10 of 17 home games at the Emirates in the Premier League this season. This tally is simply not good enough for a team like Arsenal and I believe that it could be down to the atmosphere. The ticket prices at the Emirates are the highest in the Premier League, the prices of tickets at the Emirates is absolutely ludicrous. I think the ticket prices have a part to play in the poor atmosphere, when I go to watch Arsenal I see a lot of business men in suite’s who aren’t really the type of fans to get the atmosphere going. I feel if they made the tickets cheaper, more “real” fans could go afford to watch the team week in week out and create a better atmosphere at the Emirates, which in turn may make the players play better with the added support.

Arsenal have obviously not had the best of seasons and have once again failed to win a trophy, that Arsenal fans are craving for. I fully expect Arsenal to strengthen this summer. I think with a world class striker and solid defensive midfielder and maybe even another centre back could see unless challenge for the Premier League title. I think that Arsenal really do need to win a trophy next season as to attract better players to the club as I feel they have missed out on some world class players in recent years due to the 9 trophy less seasons. I hope that Arsenal can fulfill their target of Champions League football this season, then they can push on for a trophy next year!

Who is Stevan Jovetic?

Stevan Jovetic is a footballer who has become one of the most desired players in the upcoming summer transfer window. Jovetic’s current pursuers are said to include Arsenal, Manchester City and Juventus. However Jovetic is a rather unknown player to your average football fan.

Stevan Jovetic currently plays his football in Italy, he plays for Fiorentina who are in the Serie A (the Italian equivalent to the Premier League). Jovetic also plays for his country, Montenegro, where he is one of the best players. Jovetic, who captains Fiorentina, plays predominantly as a trequartista (the number 10 role) but can also adapt to play as a striker.

Jovetic was one of the most sort after young players in Europe two years ago, until an injury struck. Jovetic had to come back and prove that he was still one of the best young players in Europe in the 2011-12 season after he had suffered from a horrific cruciate ligament injury that kept him out for a year.

This season (2012/13) Jovetic has played 29 times for Fiorentina and has netted an average 12 goals. However Jovetic brings more to the team than just his goal scoring ability. Jovetic’s main strength is that he is a technically astute and two-footed footballer. Jovetic is a very skillful forward and often supplies passes of a high quality to assist his team mates. Another one of Jovetic strengths is that he isn’t afraid to get stuck in. Jovetic stands at 6ft weighing just under 80kg, he is by no means the biggest player in world but can hold his own in any physical battle, this may be the key attribute which has attracted many Premier League clubs. There is some areas of Jovetic’s game that could be improved. He is not very fast for a forward player and for someone who is 6ft tall you would expect him to perform better in the air.

It will be very interesting to see which club can secure the services of this very talented young player during the coming months. Personally I feel that Jovetic is very well suited to play in the Premier League and this is where I believe he will end up.

“He is utterly fearless and I don’t see a limit to his potential. Is he the new Savicevic? No, he can be even better. He reminds me of johan Cruyff” Former Montenegro boss Dejan Savicevic on comparisons between himself and Jovetic in 2009.