Coral’s rumour reel: All four corners of London in hunt for talent
Published:
Good morning football fans, first up we’ll start in London and with Premier League champions Chelsea (13/8 title favourites), who are said to have agreed a £17.6m deal for Augsburg and Ghana left back Baba Rahman. The Blues recently let Filipe Luis return to Atletico Madrid, and need cover for Cesar Azpilicueta.
Up to the north of the capital, Tottenham are rumoured to have an interest in Borussia Dortmund defensive midfielder and Germany international Sven Bender. On top of that, they hope to prise away Cameroon attacker Clinton N’Jie from Lyon, but the French side want £14m for him.
Staying in the city, Crystal Palace look as though they could steal recent Inter Milan youth midfielder Alessandro Cannataro from under Leicester City’s noses. The 20-year-old, who is on trial with the Foxes, is also being tracked by Watford and Championship club Charlton Athletic.
Doing a full circle of London now as we head east to West Ham United, who could be in a five-way battle to sign Atleti’s Mexico frontman Raul Jimenez, selected by the Aztecs for the recent Copa America. Portuguese giants Porto and Benfica join La Liga duo Villareral and Real Betis in all being linked with the tall forward. Let’s hope attributes of Jimenez’s sacked national coach Miguel Herrera haven’t rubbed off onto him…
Moving up to the Midlands, Aston Villa (4/1 top 10 chances), who have been busy in recent weeks in the transfer market, snapping up the likes of strikers Jordan Ayew and Rudy Gestede, are still keen on bolstering their attack.
After gaining £32.5m from the sale of Christian Benteke, they now reportedly want former Manchester United and Spurs forward Dimitar Berbatov, who is a free agent after leaving Monaco. Could current Tottenham frontman Emmanuel Adebayor also link up with Tim Sherwood?
The Villans have also approached local rivals West Bromwich Albion with a £1m bid for the former England centre back Joleon Lescott, who has also previously played for Wolves, after Ron Vlaar left the club.
Further up north to Sunderland, it seems that the Black Cats are wanting to sign talented France bad boy midfielder Yann M’Vila from Rubin Kazan.
Meanwhile, Leeds United’s interest in Mackems wingers Will Buckley has seemingly attracted four other clubs too. However, it seems the Whites are the only side to have made a bid to sign him permanently.
