Arsenal want to raise at least £50m by offloading nine players in the next transfer window. Tottenham are more interested in Brendan Rodgers.
ARSE ABOUT FACE
After permanently offloading Emiliano Martinez, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Sokratis, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi over the past two transfer windows, Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have clearly developed a particular taste for saying goodbye. So much so that The Sun report a ‘summer clear-out’ at the Emirates.
They will ‘listen to offers’ for Alexandre Lacazette as his contract expires in 2022 and they ‘are in no mood to give him a pay rise,’ but also don’t want to lose him for free. David Luiz ‘will probably be released’ (or not) when his deal runs its course at the end of the season. Sead Kolasinac will leave ‘for a nominal fee’. The club ‘may consider offers’ when it comes to Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Eddie Nketiah and Reiss Nelson. And they expect to sell Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira for £25m each.
That is where the £50m comes from, although the actual figure if that nonet is sold would obviously be far greater. The plan is to reinvest it on permanent deals for Dani Ceballos, Mat Ryan and Martin Odegaard. Fair enough.
BRENDAN BUTTER
Across north London, Jose Mourinho is not said to be ‘in immediate danger’ at Tottenham, but Daniel Levy is understandably considering his options.
This comes from Eurosport, who say Brendan Rodgers is ‘very likely’ to be on such a shortlist. And, well, yeah. He has guided Leicester to third, beaten the champions, strolled past Tottenham in December and spent about £2 in the process. They would be stupid not to look at him.
LOONEY TOON
Perhaps Rodgers could bring Daniel Sturridge to his Champions League-winning Spurs squad, because the striker is having no luck finding any other suitors. It has reached the stage where even Newcastle have withdrawn their interest.
With Sturridge ‘keen to reignite his Premier League career’, a short-term spell on Tyneside was a possibility. But Football Insider have had their sources on the case, and they describe it as a ‘non-starter’.
Their argument is pretty compelling: Newcastle already have 25 players registered to their Premier League squad, thus have no room left. Fair enough.
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