UPDATE: Carroll has completed his medical, and a deal has been finalized.
In the category of “almost a done deal”, soon-to-be former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll looks to be on the move to West Ham United. The London-based club will pay in the neighbourhood of £15million for his services. The move comes much to the satisfaction of many Reds fans who just want this chapter to close – fast. His move to Liverpool was at one time a heralded one, but it proved to be a catastrophic flop. The current £15million would have been a much more suitable purchase price for Liverpool way back when.
Liverpool also have Luis Suarez to deal with. My thinking is that this guy needs a one-way ticket anywhere as far away from the UK as possible. He’s an incredibly talented player, but I think he needs a fresh start in a different league. Many around Liverpool are saying that the club is pushing him to formally make a request for a transfer. My gut is telling me he’ll be gone by, umm, let’s say mid-July.
Some good news for Liverpool is that there is a strong link to Armenian Henrikh Mkhitaryan, which is estimated to be for around £20-23m from Shakhtar Donetsk. This would be a nice addition, but I think they need to concentrate on the two mentioned above before they go splashing their cash.
Almost every player in the world has been linked to or from Arsenal over the past week, and making the rounds today we have the incumbent Gonzalo Higuain. There is wide speculation that there is a deal set to be handed to Real Madrid sooner than later. Actually, I can kinda see this one developing. Whether it happens I’m not so sure, but I do believe there is interest from Arsenal’s point of view. This week we’ve heard quite a bit on Marouane Fellaini and Wayne Rooney, while the once very hot Stevan Jovetic rumour has lessened. For me, Fellaini makes some sense – he’s quality and within Arsene’s budget. Rooney? Nah… can’t see that at all.
Oh, while we’re on Arsenal, there is about a 0.01% chance Laurent Koscielny will move to PSG. I get that he’s French, but I believe firmly that he is committed to the club. And while I’m at it, you can pretty much assume the same thing about the rumours of Arsene Wenger jumping ship to the Paris-based club after this season – will not happen.
To say Nani has fallen out of favour at Manchester United would be a gross understatement. What remains to be seen, if it comes to that, is whether David Moyes will use him differently (or at least more often) than Sir Alex Ferguson did. Reports are flying around the boot country that Italian giant Juventus are interested in his services. My original thought is that it’s just smoke-blowing. I think he’s a nice fit for several clubs, but not on a massive team where he is a primary option. Don’t get me wrong, he’s capable of a lot under the right management, I just don’t see it as a great fit. Perhaps the best option is to keep him and perhaps Moyes can bring back some magic?
Some are suggesting the Andres Villa Boas’ Spurs are prepared to make three signings – David Villa, Leandro Damiao and Paulinho. While if that actually came to fruition it would be fantastic, at this point it’s a long-shot – a very long shot. I think a better use of time and money would be better spent doing whatever it takes to retain Gareth Bale’s services. Whatever. It. Takes. Speaking of which, an odd rumour hit Twitter full force yesterday that Real Madrid have purposely reserved the #11 jersey for Bale. Probably means nothing.
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Photo Credit: Alejandro Ramos, Wiki Commonss, CC
