With Benjamin Mendy expected to be sidelined until mid-April with the knee injury he suffered while playing against Crystal Palace in September, Fabian Delph has been filling in at left-back for Manchester City, while Pep Guardiola has also pointed out that Danilo, Fernandinho and “even Oleksandr Zinchenko can play there”.
Such a wealth of options hasn’t stopped City being linked with Southampton full-back Ryan Bertrand and tabloid reports suggest the player could swap clubs during the January transfer window. Already a Champions League winner with Chelsea, having made his debut in the 2012 final against Bayern Munich, Bertrand is also being linked with a return to Stamford Bridge and could join Cedric and Virgil van Dijk in a potential exodus of defenders from St Mary’s that is unlikely to please Southampton fans should it come to pass. Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is also reported to be keen on Cedric, who was also linked with a summer move to Tottenham Hotspur, while Van Dijk’s eagerness to leave Southampton for Liverpool, Chelsea or Barcelona has been well documented.
Cristiano Ronaldo has decided that Real Madrid need a new goalkeeper and has drawn up a three-man shortlist of potential replacements that he believes his employers should think about trying to sign. Quite what current Real stoppers Keylor Navas and Kiko Casilla will make of speculation that their team-mate would rather see David de Gea, Thibaut Courtois or Marc-André ter Stegen lining up between the sticks at the Bernabéu remains to be seen, but it ought to make for a frosty atmosphere at training this week. Should Real try to secure longtime target De Gea, they could offer Gareth Bale to Manchester United in some sort of exchange deal.
Fairly or unfairly, the much-maligned Mesut Özil is being scapegoated for yet another Arsenal defeat after spurning a glorious opportunity to put his side 2-0 up against Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday and the consensus now seems to be that he’ll be sold in January. Internazionale and Manchester United are both believed to be interested in the German international, but would rather wait until the summer when he will be available on a free transfer. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain may offer Arsenal up to £20m during the January window.
Ronald Koeman wants to add some much-needed backbone to his Everton side and has identified Sporting defensive midfielder William Carvalho as the man to do a job. Reports from Portugal suggest Everton will bid £31m for a player Sporting say is “untransferable”, while West Ham and Real Madrid are also interested in testing the Primeira Liga side’s resolve. Whether Carvalho rocks up at Goodison Park or not, Everton midfielder James McCarthy’s days at Everton look numbered and Newcastle, West Brom and Crystal Palace are reported to be interested in throwing the injury-prone Republic of Ireland international a career lifeline.
And finally, having failed in their pursuit of Philippe Coutinho during the summer, Barcelona could switch their attention to Thiago Alcântara instead. The elegant midfielder was among the goalscorers as Bayern Munich crushed Freiburg 5-0 at the weekend, to give Jupp Heynckes his fourth winning debut in as many spells in charge of the German champions.