Pato joining Liverpool? Reports suggest that ex-AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato is set for a switch to England, with the Reds agreeing a deal worth £11m (€14m) with Corinthians for the 26-year-old nicknamed ‘The Duck’.
Chelsea close in on striker: The Blues have been targeting Shakhtar Donetsk attacker Alex Teixeira for some time and the Brazilian could be set to arrive if his current club are willing to accept an offer of £30m (€40m).
Toffees want Ukrainian winger: With Steven Naismith set to leave for Norwich and Irish pair Aiden McGeady and Darron Gibson both likely to go out on loan, Everton are weighing up an offer of £21m (€28m) for Dynamo Kiev’s Andriy Yarmolenko.
New transfer record for Cherries: After signing Juan Iturbe on loan from Roma, Bournemouth have shelled out £10m (€13m) for Wolves striker Benik Afobe.
Lazio give update on Felipe Anderson transfer: Igli Tare, director at the Serie A club, says Manchester United are yet to bid for their star player this month, before adding that they will have to up their offer from the £37.6m (€50m) mentioned back in August.
Darmien happy at United: Meanwhile, Italian full-back Matteo Darmien has laughed off speculation linking him with moves to Bayern Munich and Juventus, insisting that is enjoying life at Old Trafford since joining from Torino last summer.
Magpies after Shelvey: Newcastle are believed to be preparing a bid of around £10m (€13m) for Swansea and England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey.
Retro Deal of the Day
The first (and only) African to win Fifa World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or for his exploits at AC Milan during Serie A’s glory days, legendary Liberian striker George Weah left Italy for the Premier League and a loan spell with Gianluca Vialli’s Chelsea in January 2000.
That summer, the 34-year-old was offered £25,000-a-week to join newly-promoted Manchester City on a free transfer but lasted just 10 weeks after falling out with manager Joe Royle – making seven league appearances and scoring one goal.
“I’m not willing to subject myself to feeling small in front of the younger players that I hope to be an example and an inspiration to,” Weah said at the time.
I will not accept being at a club where the manager names me in the team and then calls me five hours later to tell me that I am not in the team. In my opinion that is unprofessional and disrespectful and shows a lack of confidence in me.”
These days, he’s a senator in his native Liberia.
We’ll just leave this here…
