We can’t be too far away from football ceasing to exist. Games are clearly far too long, players are clearly uninterested, whilst there are some games where the groundsman’s pitch design is more interesting than anything taking place on it, has he mowed in a circular direction or gone for traditional squares?
The latest trend that football has to detract from the action on the pitch is the process of transferring clubs. No transfer has ever been done without ‘Arry Redknapp speaking from the front seat of his car, and speaking of cars, who can forget Peter Odemwingie. A player who’s renowned for waiting in stadium car parks waiting to not change teams. Here we look at 11 players who may or may not be switching clubs for a massively extravagant fee.
Theo Walcott
Once tipped as England’s next big thing and went to the 2006 World Cup aged just 16, Walcott has struggled with both injury and form at Arsenal. A move beckons this summer, West Ham are current favourites to sign him at 6/5, but a price tag in excess of £20 million might put a stopper to that one. Liverpool are priced at 9/2, but have already announced the signing of Sadio Mane. At 14/1, Leicester could see him as a potential replacement to Riyad Mahrez if he decides to move on this summer.
Paul Pogba
The French midfielder has long been touted as a future star. He’s flourished since moving for £800,000 from Manchester United to Juventus, and with talks underway between Juventus and Real Madrid, he could well be ending up as the latest Galactico. He looks likely to be the player who will eventually break the world transfer record and is priced at 20/21 to be playing at the Bernabeu next season.
Neymar
Rumours have been rife ever since it became known that Jonjo Shelvey earned more than the Barcelona superstar. Barcelona aren’t the wealthiest club in the world, and he looks the likeliest to be sacrificed out of their attacking trio if they find that they can no longer afford to have him. PSG are rumoured to be willing to trigger the €150 million release clause in the Brazilian’s contract and join the growing South American contingent in the French capital.
Riyad Mahrez
A relatively unheard of player at the beginning of last season, he became one of Leicester’s key players in their title winning season. Wenger described the Algerian as too small, but Arsenal are the favourites to sign him at 11/4. Barcelona are rumoured to be interested in him at 5/1, but there’s a sense that he’ll still be playing at the King Power next season.
Romelu Lukaku
He’s been pushing for a move, his father has been pushing for a move, and his agent has been pushing for a move. He looks likely to move. Where he’s going is another question. A return to Stamford Bridge is the most likely option at 20/21, but it’ll almost certainly be for double what Chelsea let him go for. He looked cumbersome against Italy in the Euros, but then looked fantastic against Ireland. Will Chelsea see a cheaper alternative elsewhere? Quite possibly.
Christian Benteke
His move to Liverpool has been nothing short of disastrous. He’s struggled for form, whilst Jurgen Klopp doesn’t seem convinced by the Belgian. West Ham have publicly announced their interest in a top class striker his summer. Benteke is a striker, but whether he’s what they’re looking for is another question. At 3/1, don’t rule out a possible loan move to the Olympic Stadium.
Juan Mata
Mata’s heart will have sunk after hearing that Jose Mourinho would be taking over at Old Trafford. The Portuguese manager sold him to United from Chelsea and it looks almost inevitable that he’ll be shown the “Adios” door this summer. Barcelona are the favourites to sign him at 3/1, but don’t expect to see him there. A return to a Valencia team looking for rejuvenation is priced at 5/1, whilst a move to Atletico Madrid at 7/1 shouldn’t be ruled out if they sell some of their stars.
Mario Gotze
Bayern are desperate to get rid of him, unfortunately no one seems interested in buying him. Liverpool are the favourites to sign him at 6/4, but Klopp has cooled his interest in him. He showed exceptional promise as a youngster, but he’s failed to build on that so far in his fledgling career. He looks unlikely to build on it from the Bayern Munich bench. A return to Dortmund is possible at 4/1.
Yaya Toure
Toure is in a similar position to Mata, but older. He looked particularly lethargic at times last season and is renowned for throwing his toys out of the pram, just remember cake-gate. A reunion with Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan, priced at 20/21, seems the likeliest scenario for the Ivorian next season, but whether they’ll be able to match his wage demands is something else. A move to China is another option at 5/2, where the quality will be much lower, but the money will be right for him.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
The Gabonese striker was superb last season and could be a part of the Guardiola revolution at Manchester City. Priced at 2/1 to move to the Etihad next season, it’ll be interesting to see how he’d fit in. Pep is unlikely to be a fan of Bony and a strike partnership of Aguero and Aubameyang next season looks very tasty.
John Stones
Stones was the subject of failed transfer bids by Mourinho at Chelsea last season. Mourinho looks likely to try again at Manchester United this summer at 15/2, but he’ll face competition from Guardiola at Manchester City. City are favourites to sign him at 4/9 and he’ll massively improve under the Spaniard’s management.