Most Wanted: Here's The Players Liverpool, Chelsea & Spurs Should Target
Rumour for rumours sake is easily the worst part about the summer transfer window. Papers fill their precious inches with tombola generated transfer speculation, beating one-another to the punch on ‘exclusive’ agent leaks on player plus cash exchange deals for Zlatan to Huddersfield Town - here at Sabotage Times, we do things a little bit differently. Here are three transfers that are more likely than not to gain some traction over the coming months, and why.
Name: Ben Davies
Age: 21
Position: Left-Back
Club: Swansea City
Interest: Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea
Price: £8-15m
Luke Shaw is going to cost somebody A LOT of money this summer. However, in Wales, there’s a young left-back plying his trade flying nicely under the radar, available for around a third of the price. Swansea’s own Ben Davies is starting to attract a lot of attention, deservedly so, and despite the fact he signed a contract extension less than 6months ago Swansea will be expecting bids.
Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea are all clearly in need of a new left-back this summer, and if they’re interested in a bargain with Premier League experience, Davies is their man. Mourinho may well go for a more attractive name having been linked with Felipe Luís from Atléti, but Rodgers and Pochettino are known for their admiration of youth.
Boasting better season statistics than Luke Shaw - better passing, scoring, tackling and intercepting - it won’t be long before scouts start catching on to not only how good Ben Davies is, but how good he may yet become.
Name: Ivan Rakitić
Age: 26
Position: Attacking Midfield
Club: Sevilla
Interest: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool
Price: €40m (Release Clause)
In a shocking turn of events, a player in La Liga has had an incredible season away from ‘the big two’, and is now being relentlessly linked to them. The financial mismanagement of Spanish football means that this is a trope that’ll continue for time immemorial.
However, as far as hype goes, Ivan Rakitić has more than lived up to it. With the ability to be deployed as a playmaker deeper in midfield in a similar manner to compatriot Luka Modrić, or successfully as either a forward or support striker, he has many multi-faceted strings to his bow.
His contractual situation though, is what you’d tactfully describe as ‘delicate’. Currently signed up until 2015, his release clause sits at a handsome €40m, which is still a lot of money, even in the current inflated market. Contract extension negotiations are underway, but the reduction in release clause to €15m from Rakitić is the sticking point, with Sevilla unwilling to drop under €25m. This one could run and run for the duration of the window.
Name: Loïc Remy
Age: 27
Position: Forward
Club: Queens Park Rangers
Interest: Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool
Price: £8-10m
If it wasn’t for Remy’s goals last season, Newcastle may well have been closer to the relegation zone than they ended up being. Now having shown his ability to score goals in the league across two separate seasons, coupled with a fairly low asking price, Remy is a man in demand this summer.
He’s been pictured inside the Emirates, called Chelsea a ‘dream’ move and been linked with Liverpool and Tottenham because, let’s face it, when are players not? Versatility is his biggest attribute, boasting the ability to both lead the line and operate as an effective inside forward, or inverted winger. His proneness to injury, however, is what will hold him back.
Newly promoted, QPR will probably do all in their power to keep him at the club if they can, but the player appears to have committed himself to leaving. £8-10m as quoted is a decent price for a proven top tier goalscorer, but that may well get pushed up if an old fashioned tabloid ‘bidding war’ gets underway.
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