Today’s rumours are getting out the paddling pool
Having been left behind like an unloved t-shirt by Enzo Maresca as Manchester City departed for their pre-season tour of Asia, Jack Grealish is attracting admiring glances from elsewhere. Eyeing up the England attacker’s shapely calves are Al-Hilal of the Saudi Pro League, who would certainly have the funds to fulfil City’s desire of slapping a big ‘SOLD’ sticker on Grealish and preparing him for international shipping.
The latest highly-touted prospect set to be whisked away after an impressive short stint at Bournemouth is Rayan. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Arsenal, and Liverpool all want the Brazilian winger. The link with Andoni Iraola at Anfield appears strong, but with the 19-year-old’s release clause not said to kick in until 2027, the fee required to move him from the south coast would be significant. Although probably still less than the price of a Bradley Barcola.
There’s been more outs than ins at Crystal Palace this summer and that looks set to continue after a move for Augsburg’s Chrislain Matsima stalled. The French defender, 24, had been lined up as the replacement for Maxence Lacroix, who is on the verge of being shown Jordan Henderson’s magic tricks at Chelsea.
Inter Milan’s remarkably coherent cohort of cast-offs could well be joined by Curtis Jones. The Liverpool midfielder has been consistently linked with the Serie A club this summer, but the sticking point appears to be price. The Reds rejected a £21.5m offer back in June and were said to be seeking closer to £35m for the 25-year-old. With Inter potentially saving some of their transfer kitty earmarked for Cristian Romero by instead moving for free agent John Stones, they may be able to find a little more cash down the back of the sofa to return to Liverpool with a revised bid.
Aston Villa have a few readies burning a hole in their pocket after trousering £117m for Morgan Rogers, and want to spend some of it on a Brazilian striker named after a Surrey golf club member, Allan of Palmeiras. Villa have gone in with a £26m offer for the 22-year-old but the São Paulo club think they can extract a bit more than that – at least £12m more, in fact.
Danny Welbeck’s impending arrival at Cobham looks likely to push Liam Delap down the pecking order at Chelsea and Everton are “ready to revive” their interest. The Toffees have been persistent in suggesting they would like to offer the 23-year-old a platform to reboot his career, and may now actually do something about it.
Another Englishman looking for an upturn in fortunes is Kalvin Phillips, who remarkably is still officially on the books at Manchester City. Last season the midfielder spent some time on loan at Sheffield United and it seems that worked well for everyone, as the Blades want to bring the Yorkshire-born metronome back to Bramall Lane.
