Everton have agreed a £25m fee with Zenit for Axel Witsel but the midfielder has yet to agree terms. [Mail]
Mahrez isn't going and we won't feel the effects of Walsh's departure for a couple of seasons, plus it's not like we have to look at the Iranian 3rd division to find talent any more now that we can actually afford it. Kante will, obviously, be a massive miss and I would say that Chelsea's odds of winning the title have dramatically shortened as a result of him signing. We lost Ben Wrigglesworth last season who is now "First Team Video Scout" for Arsenal. He's 25 I think.
Are you sure about Mahrez, the rumours are gathering some pace that he is off to Arsenal, hope he doesn`t tbh cos he`ll get lost in their team, be beneficial for him to stay at yours for the time being.
There were rumours about on Friday that he'd asked to leave and Arsenal had bid 50m, but I think that anyone who watched our game against Celtic yesterday could see that he very much wants to be here. If we were about to get 50m for him then we definitely wouldn't have played him in a friendly the day after,.
There is an alternate view, which suggests that players will up their game if they know a large club is after them, just speculation of course.
Damn! Wishful thinking for the first game of the season!! If you read some of the poodles on here we'll be playing our under 12s. I thought Arsenal had put in a bid for Mahrez? According to OLM they had in the general transfer thread, but then it is OLM Was Wrigglesworth responsible for identifying a lot of your current players?
OLM posted a link from Eurosport (I haven't heard of them either) who claimed Arsenal had bid 50m. Wrigglesworth was one of Walsh's drones who, after the scouts had identified the player, collated video evidence of the player. I'm pretty sure he joined us straight out of University and was with us for one year.
Norwich City boss Alex Neil is set to make a £15m bid for Fulham striker Ross McCormack. [Daily Record] Southampton are plotting a £5m move for Tottenham defender Kieran Trippier. [Daily Star]
Stoke sign Ramadan Sobhi from Al Ahly in a deal that could rise to £5 million. Great player. Seems like he'll get a work permit as a special talent in the next 48 hours as well. Gutted and excited to see him in the Prem at the same time. If we still had a manager and competent owners I would have hoped we'd be all over that like a tramp on chips.
Not a transfer but could lead to one, just read that Martial has stopped following Man Utd on social media because Ibrahimovic has been given the No9 shirt.
