January’s barely more than two months away, which means we’re creeping closer and closer to the madness that is an open transfer window and its associated rumor mill.
The Metro is reporting that Liverpool is the frontrunner for Borussia Dortmund wizard Marco Reus, who has seen contract talks with his current club come to a close. The numbers for the Reds to snare Reus, who has 7 goals in 23 caps for Germany: $51 million in transfer money and about $288,000 in wages per week.
But Bayern Munich wants him -- as do myriad teams, but can the others afford him? Sky Sports reports that Bayern chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge publicly claimed the following to draw the ire of Dortmund: “A young, Germany international with such quality is probably interesting for us, but I don’t want to cause any ill-feeling with Dortmund.”
Riiiiiiiiight.
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Believe it or not, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger may’ve seen the error of his transfer ways, and may bring in a defender into his squad this January. Jokes aside, the rumors of Wenger signing 30-year-old Juventus back Stephan Lichtsteiner don’t exactly fit his modus operandi. But there’s no debate over whether the Gunners need back line help, and the Swiss star certainly would do the trick.
Not content with dominating parts of the summer transfer window and not switching sides, Sami Khedira now is drawing the interest of Manchester City in addition to Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United. We’ll believe it once the move is complete and he’s holding up a jersey.
The Daily Express says that Manchester United are already sold when it comes to keeping on-loan Radamel Falcao around, and will pay AS Monaco close to $71 million to secure his services full-time. The Daily Star also claims that the Red Devils will land Julian Draxler from Schalke, foiling Arsenal’s long-term desires.
Not a rumor: Always in-demand English attacker Thomas Ince is going on loan from Hull City to Nottingham Forest.