As the vultures circle the Tottenham misery hole, there’s talk that Liverpool want to pluck Micky van de Ven from Thomas Frank’s injury-ravaged and form-deficient squad. Weekend whispers had it that Liverpool were preparing a £78m bid for the Dutch defender, though a move would be likelier in the summer. By way of return, and more immediately, Spurs have shown interest in luring Curtis Jones from Anfield and Juventus could be in for Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa for a fee of around £13m-£17m.
Gabriel Jesus could be on the move from Arsenal back to Palmeiras, where the striker began his career. The Brazilian, though, says he wants a new deal with the Premier League leaders, after an injury-ravaged period, but a move could happen in the summer if not now. An Emirates Stadium arrival could be Federico Dimarco. The Italian outlet Tuttosport reports “genuine interest” from the Gunners in the Inter full-back, whose deal at San Siro ends in June next year.
Manchester United are sniffing around the Barcelona midfielder Marc Casadó, according to the Daily Star, and are also thought to want further midfield strengthening with Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki. The 20-year-old has impressed since signing from Union Saint-Gilloise in the summer and United could offer Manuel Ugarte to the Black Cats in a swap deal.
Leeds have been linked with a £20m bid for the Republic of Ireland hat-trick hero Troy Parrott, who has excelled in the Netherlands with AZ. The forward would apparently set them back £20m, but a deal would probably hasten the Elland Road exit of Joël Piroe, who has been linked with Celtic.
Talking of which Celtic face a battle to hold on to their Belgian midfielder Arne Engels, who is on RB Leipzig’s radar. The Scottish champions are under pressure to make signings and Martin O’Neill is thought to be sizing up a loan move for Lorient’s Ivorian forward Mohamed Bamba for starters. An option to buy could be part of the package. The Hoops are also tussling with Stoke for the Crystal Palace winger Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Rizespor.
Barcelona, having been beaten by Real Sociedad on Sunday despite a dominant performance, have apparently decided they could do with a goalkeeper such as La Real’s Álex Remiro. With Remiro entering the final year of his contract this summer, Barça could be able to snaffle him for around €10m. A goalkeeper on the way out of the Camp Nou is the long-serving Marc-André ter Stegen, who is set to join Girona on loan.
Barça, along with Juventus, have also shown interest in Marcos Senesi but Bournemouth, having already lost Antoine Semenyo this month, plan to dig in and retain the Argentinian defender, though his contract is up in the summer.
And in the Championship, Ipswich have been linked with the Bristol City attacking midfielder Anis Mehmeti. The Albanian international’s Ashton Gate deal runs out in the summer and City are keen to keep him but persistence from Ipswich, keen to bolster their promotion challenge, could prise him away in this window.
