There is only one possible conclusion to be drawn from the way that Manchester City have excelled over the first 17 games of a Premier League season in which their outstanding midfielder, Kevin De Bruyne, has been unable to start a single match and missed all but four entirely. And that conclusion, it seems, is that they need to buy even more midfielders. According to AS, they have already made contact with the currently-disgruntled Real Madrid and Spain star Isco to see if he might be interested in a move. Apparently Madrid “will not consider selling for anything under €100m”, and it may take a sum in excess of the €117m they banked for selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus, but given the player’s current unhappiness and the fact that the crowd have turned on him of late, “it would be no surprise to see Isco lining up at the Etihad next season”.
Juventus have put aside £125m, says the Star, after their desire to sign Paul Pogba in January led them to ask Manchester United: how much is that Poggy in the window? They won’t like the answer, though, as “despite the player being at war with José Mourinho”, even though “Pogba is desperate to quit United”, and despite the fact that “he has been axed from United’s starting line-up in recent weeks and been publicly criticised by his manager”, his club “are not prepared to let him leave”.
Neil Henderson (@hendopolis)
STAR SPORT: Juve want Poggy in the window #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/lYqMLcKfSv
Juventus representatives supposedly met with Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, although the Frenchman wasn’t the only player under discussion – they also wanted to arrange a contract extension for their Raiola-represented 18-year-old forward Moise Kean, and to find out their chances of signing the widely coveted Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt (not bad, apparently, but not as good as Barcelona’s).
United’s search for fresh defensive talent whose careers they have not yet ruined has taken them to Turkey, where the 18-year-old Galatasaray centre-back Ozan Kabak is attracting scouts from around Europe – Manchester City, Internazionale and Roma are also tracking the player, says the Mail. Apparently he is worth £20m, which explains why his club are currently engaged in a desperate bid to convince him to sign a new contract, without the trifling £6.7m release clause in his current one.
Apparently Lille have softened their previously hardline stance on not allowing the prolific winger Nicolas Pépé to leave in January, news which has got Arsenal all aquiver. According to the Star the club’s owner, Gérard López, who was recently insisting that “he will not leave this winter – we want him to stay, he wants to stay”, is now open to offers in excess of €50m for the 23-year-old. But elsewhere in France Lyon are not expected to let go of 21-year-old midfielder Tanguy Ndombélé any time soon. According to Sky, who have checked with “sources close to the player”, he “would prefer to stay for the rest of the campaign” despite interest from Tottenham and both Manchester giants.