With 6 weeks to go until the new Premier League campaign begins, the transfer rumour mill is, typically, in full swing. In traditional fashion, it seems one signing kick-starts a chain reaction.
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An example would be Raheem Sterling’s impending move from Liverpool to Manchester City. Manuel Pellegrini will add the talented attacker to his squad – for anything between £40m-£50m – come the end of the transfer window; it enables Brendan Rodgers to start his recruitment at Anfield. Nathaniel Clyne (£12.5m) is set to follow Roberto Firmino (£28m), James Milner (free) and co to the club – you could compare it to Gareth Bale’s protracted departure from Tottenham in 2013, when the north Londoners went on a £100m+ spending spree.
Talking of north London, it seems Arsenal’s summer business is alive and kicking. Petr Čech will finally complete his £10.9m move to Arsène Wenger’s side next week, subject to a medical, whilst it wouldn’t be an Arsenal transfer window without the signing of a little-known teenager from Europe. Step forward Vlad Dragomir. Romania’s under-16 captain has agreed to join Wenger’s men; a fee of £71,000 has been paid to ACS Poli Timisoara. It is links to the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin and Karim Benzema, though, that will most interest Gunners fans. Whether the French duo will be at the Emirates for the 2015/16 season remains to be seen, but both are certainly high up on Wenger’s shortlist, if not at the top of it.
One player who might have also been on that shortlist is Geoffrey Kondogbia. His name will now have been erased following the powerful midfielder’s decision to link up with Roberto Mancini at Inter Milan. The £25m fee the Italians paid Monaco for his services is, coincidentally, the same amount Southampton require to release Schneiderlin. With the emergence of Francis Coquelin, perhaps Wenger is unwilling to splash such a fee out on a midfielder; maybe, in Wenger-style, he’ll wait until closer to September 1st at 6pm to drag the fee down. Andrey Arshavin, Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck and, less spectacularly, Kim Källström, have all signed for The Gunners on deadline day in previous years. It wouldn’t surprise many if that was the case again this summer.
Laurent Koscielny’s name popped up in the press against The Channel this week, linked with the mighty Real Madrid. A £21m fee is set to be incoming to London Colney this week for the centre-back. With no reason to sell and Koscielny under contract for a few more years yet, it’s difficult to imagine Wenger accepting any bids – particularly ones that low. A couple of members of the squad who are off, however, are Carl Jenkinson and Yaya Sanogo. Both have yet to fully convince in their limited chances and further loan moves away from Islington are seemingly on the cards. West Ham, again (Jenkinson) and Lille (Sanogo) will take the pair for the season, if reports are to be believed. Elsewhere, Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell have probably played their last games for the club, as Wenger shapes up his squad ahead of, hopefully, a strong title challenge and improved Champions League campaign.
Of course, it’s 5 weeks until Wenger will see his side in competitive action again, against champions Chelsea at Wembley in the Community Shield. Before that comes a visit to Malaysia and the ninth edition of Emirates Cup. The fixture against the Stamford Bridge outfit won’t necessarily define the season, but defeating José Mourinho for the first time – especially with one of his ‘untouchables’, Cech, in goal – would be a fabulous way to prepare for another 10-month slog.