HERE ARE THE good, the bad and unlikely football moves being talked about today.
New Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is to make an audacious bid to lure Toni Kroos from Real Madrid to the blue side of Manchester. The pair did work together for a time at Bayern Munich.
And the former Barcelona manager is reportedly hoping to add another Germany international to his side at the Etihad Stadium, with Leroy Sane close to joining from Schalke.
Alvaro Morata could also leave the Bernabéu for the Premier League, with new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte preparing a third offer for the Spain forward – although a move for their former striker Romelu Lukaku also remains a possibility.
Paul Pogba‘s world record transfer to Manchester United is closer than ever, with a fee of £100 million agreed between United and Juventus, according to French newspaper L’Equipe. The five-year deal would earn the 23-year-old approximately £220,000 per week.
Arsenal have only added Granit Xhaka to their first-team squad so far in this window, but Newcastle midfielder Moussa Sissoko could be about to become Arsene Wenger’s second signing of the close season.
Dutch international Georginio Wijnaldum could also be heading for the Newcastle exit door, with Liverpool ready to finalise the £25 million transfer – a profit of over £10 million in 12 months for the Magpies.
Stoke chairman Peter Coates has revealed he is not prepared to break the bank to bring wantaway West Brom striker Saido Berahino to the bet365 stadium.
Finally, now that Big Sam has his big job with England, there is a managerial vacancy at Sunderland, with less than a month to the start of the new Premier League season.
It is believed that the Black Cats are lining up former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes as Allardyce’s replacement. Moyes would become Sunderland’s seventh manager in five years.
Retro deal of the day: Damien Duff to Chelsea
It was Claudio Ranieri that brought Duff to Stamford Bridge for £17 million on this day in 2003.
It is still the second-highest transfer fee for an Irish player, bettered only by Robbie Keane’s move to Liverpool from Tottenham for an estimated £19 million.
Duff was the star of the Blackburn Rovers side that earned promotion to the Premier League in 2001, and then won the League Cup the following year.
His performances for the Lancashire-based club over that period, as well as for Ireland in the 2002 World Cup, resulted in all of the Premier League’s top clubs chasing the Ballyboden man’s signature.
It was under Jose Mourinho that Duff enjoyed the most successful part of his career, winning back-to-back Premier League titles in 2005 and 2006.
Competition for places was fierce, but Duff, who came through the St Kevin’s Boys system, was more than capable of competing with Joe Cole, Arjen Robben and Shaun Wright-Phillips for a place in the starting XI.
Duff however, was left frustrated with Mourinho’s rotation at Chelsea, and decided to join Newcastle in 2006 after turning down Tottenham and Liverpool, but suffered relegation from the Premier League with the North East club.
He enjoyed a better time back in London with Fulham, and reached the Europa League final with the Cottagers in 2010, before joining A-League side Melbourne City and then League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers.
The 37-year-old now helps coach the schoolboys at Rovers, and is regular contributor on RTÉ’s football coverage.
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