HERE ARE THE good, the bad, and the unlikely football moves being talked about today.
After being left out of Fenerbahce’s Champions League squad, rumours are circulating that former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie could be on the move again, this time to either Rangers or Stoke.
Glasgow rivals Celtic are also on the lookout for a new striker, with Patrick Bamford top of the list from the Bank of Chelsea, who offer more loans than most financial institutions.
Shane Duffy’s move to Parkhead looks to be off after Brendan Rodgers opted to go for the more experienced Kolo Toure, but Chris Hughton hopes that the possibility of another promotion push with his Brighton side could entice the Derry man to the stay in the Championship, with the south coast club.
Here’s your daily Paul Pogba update:
He teased his Instagram followers with this picture yesterday, which got some Manchester United fans all excited. On top of that, United sponsor Chevrolet is now following the French international on the social media platform. Make of that what you will.
Although, it must be noted that ESPN are now reporting that Real Madrid will make a dramatic late bid for the 23-year-old. You get the feeling he’s hating all of this attention, don’t you?
If Zinedine Zidane fails to land the Juventus player, he may turn to another French midfielder that plays his club football in black and white, Newcastle’s Moussa Sissoko.
Premier League transfers are really starting to gather momentum with the start of the new season just over two weeks away. And Pep Guardiola wants to sign a central defender before their game against Sunderland, with John Stones’ move to the Etihad for £50 million now looking like a distinct possibility, with Juventus centre-back Leonardo Bonucci a more-than-attractive back-up option.
While an injury to Per Mertesacker has encouraged Arsene Wenger to dust down his wallet, and prepare a bid for Valencia’s German defender Shkodran Mustafi.
Southampton have money to spend following the sales of Victor Wanyama, Sadio Mane and Graziano Pelle, and they are eyeing up Barcelona forward Cristian Tello to fill the void at St Mary’s. With Newcastle striker Ayoze Perez possibly heading to the Nou Camp to warm Barcelona’s bench.
Retro deal of the day: Robbie Keane to Inter Milan (2000)
At the turn of the millennium, Robbie Keane made the surprise move to Serie A giants Inter Milan and at the time, become the best paid Irish footballer ever, with the Dubliner earning approximately €70,000 per week. It’s 16 years ago today.
The then 20-year-old had only joined Coventry the previous year when the Sky Blues made the Irish striker the most expensive teenager in English football history after they paid Wolves £6 million for the Tallaght man.
But his 12 goals in an injury-disrupted Premier League season proved enough for Inter to make a bid of £13 million for the Irish striker.
It was legendary Italian manager Marcello Lippi that brought Keane to the San Siro, but he found first-team opportunities limited after Lippi was sacked by the Nerazzurri at the start of the season.
Lippi’s replacement was Marco Tardelli, who would later become Ireland’s assistant manager alongside Giovanni Trapattoni, and he didn’t rate Keane as highly as Lippi, preferring Christian Vieri, Alvaro Recoba and Hakan Sukur.
Keane would fail to score in six Serie A appearances, but did manage to notch one against Lazio in the Supercoppa Italiana final, against Lecce in the Coppa Italia and against Ruch Chorzow in the UEFA Cup (see video below).
He moved back to England with Leeds that December, before making the move permanent in the summer of 2001.
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