Arsenal
Having already splashed out £1.8 million on the signing of Konstantinos Mavropanos from PAS Giannina, Stubborn Old Man may be getting in the mood to scour the market for more bargain buys.
He will send the Greek defender out on loan and thereby hand the problem of coming up with a terrace chant incorporating his name to the supporters of some other club, probably in Germany.
The only other player thought to be on Arsenal’s radar is Thomas Lemar but, having turned them down once due to the lack of Champion’s League involvement, he is unlikely to change his mind having noted, no doubt, the continued lack of ambition at the club.
What Arsenal really need to do this window is sell. They should get whatever they can for Mesut Özil and Alexis Sánchez rather than lose them for free in five or six months.
Chelsea
Once again Ross Barkley is signing for Chelsea, this time for £15 million. Some publications also report that the Blues are interested in taking Andy Carroll on loan from West Ham United to play second fiddle, one would assume, to Álvaro Morata.
Whether this would be seen as an improvement on his situation at the London Stadium is debatable. He would, possibly, be involved in two Champion’s League games which is a plus but, in reality it is more likely that he wouldn’t play at all, which is a definite minus.
Also, David Moyes is unaware of any potential deal which, although not unusual for the dopey Scot, makes it unlikely. So we think this one is dead in the water.
In other news Chelsea are lining up Diego Simeone to rant and rave on the touchline next season in place of Antonio Conte who will be invited to do one.
Liverpool
Liverpool’s spending is already done. Virgil van Dijk has posed with the shirt and even trained at his new club and now all that remains is for Philippe Coutinho to check whether easyJet or Ryanair are his best bet from John Lennon airport to El Prat.
Despite their outlay of £75 million on the Dutchman they will expect to recoup almost double that by selling Coutinho to Barcelona and everything in the red half of Liverpool will be rosy until they remember that their goalkeeper is rubbish!
Even when that realisation returns, Klopp will do nothing about it as he appears to like having a goalkeeper who keeps the defence on their toes.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola doesn’t need to buy anybody. The title is virtually sewn up and only Gabriel Jesus is injured, unless we count Vincent Kompany for whom injury is an almost permanent state of affairs!
He may, however, be tempted to put in a little offer for Alexis Sánchez just to test the resolve of Stubborn Old Man and to give himself another option in attack.
An added advantage is that Sánchez would be available to play in the Champion’s League thanks to Wenger’s most recent failure in the Premier League.
The player would welcome the move and so, probably, would the majority of City fans. Even Gunners fans may be glad to see the end of this saga.
So Arsenal would be pretty stupid to turn down a decent offer for their “star” player but, then again, this IS Arsenal.
Manchester United
Now that José Mourinho has explained why he lives in a hotel and why he isn’t leaving United, maybe the club can get down to some football business.
Their need for a left back is no longer urgent with Luke Shaw proving that he can actually fill the role for which he was bought, so attention will turn to midfield even though they do actually need a right back!
Thomas Lemar’s name has been mentioned once again but with no real conviction and Antoine Griezmann seems to have gone off the radar. Fabinho is still a possibility but reports from Monaco suggest that they will not be selling anybody this January.
So this transfer window could be another frustrating one for United fans and José Mourinho even though he wants three players.
Watch this space, he’ll be leaving again in February if he doesn’t get what he wants!
Tottenham Hotspur
Spurs don’t really need anybody if their ambition is just to make it into the top four by the end of the season. They may miss out however because, the way we see it on current form, the top four will be City, United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
Also, Daniel Levy doesn’t pay enough to attract the best players so Spurs will continually have to make do with second best until they move into their new stadium and he stops paying extortionate rent to White Hart Wembley.
Then, maybe, he will look at his pay policy and dedicate a little more to buying and paying players. That way he could actually build a team deserving of the new stadium and 61,000 fans!
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 