Been outta the loop for a week or so, so I thought I'd give my thoughts on some things I found interesting:
- Hazard. What can be said? It might've been the worst-kept secret in football the last 6-8 months. Interested to see what he can do there.
- Eriksen. Tough blow for Spurs. I'm sure Levy will get a great fee as he normally does, but replacing that quality will be difficult. For me, I'd bite the bullet short-term and buy a younger player (or two) and develop. It's almost impossible to replace Eriksen immediately, and I think believing you can, will lead you to make bad decisions.
- Lukaku to Inter won't go away. Inter seems very close to adding Dzeko, though. My assumption is Conte wants to play a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3. Right now, if I had to guess, I wouldn't expect Lukaku at Inter unless Icardi leaves. Conte does want Lukaku, though. Make no mistake about it.
- Griezmann continues to be one of the biggest wanks in football. Is this the second or third consecutive summer he's done this? I can't remember.
- Bruno Fernandes will almost certainly be in the Prem next season. Which club remains to be seen. First City seemed a lock, then United, and now even Spurs are apparently kicking the tires. We shall find out. For me, he'll be in Manchester one way or another.
- Pogba returning to Juve has picked up serious wind in the last week or so. Based on everything I've read, Juventus are doing whatever they can to bring the fee down by offering players in exchange. It's also rumored they'd have to sell the likes of Joao Cancelo, Douglas Costa, Juan Cuadrado, Mario Mandzukic and Mattia Perin to generate enough funds. For me, the only one I'd really care about is Cancelo. No, he's not a prototypical Juve FB, but he'd be a monster under Sarri, I'm sure of it, and finding a quality RB isn't easy.
- If the wanker known as Griezmann ends up at PSG, it seems Cavani will be sacrificed. Truly one of my favorites, and I think PSG would be losing a lot of character moving on from him. But business is business. Atletico seems to be the front-runners at the moment.
- Kovacic is rumored to be available at 45m. Tough one for me. Inter are rumored to want him to return, and they've certainly spent worse money over the years. Dunno though, something tells me to stay away from that valuation.
- Frank Kessie is rumored to be available from Milan for around 30m. I think his destination would almost certainly have to be England if they hope to get that kind of return. He's a tank and has a bit of quality as well. Think of a more b2b version of Wanyama.
- And finally, for once, I don't hate the names United are linked with. Stay patient, stick with your philosophy of building a young core, and for heaven's sake don't start bringing in people like Bale.
I see PSG only one willing to pay that money from the teams left in the "race". And Raiola's track record indicates he would want to cash more with the player by not having him go to either Barca or Real yet.
