Perusing the Turkish papers this morning as it invariably does in the interests of thoroughness, the Rumour Mill couldn’t help but notice speculation linking Arsenal outcast Mesut Özil with a potentially lucrative move to Saudi Arabia, where Al-Nassr are reported to have offered him a contract worth £15m per annum. Despite being frozen out by Mikel Arteta, Özil has already made it abundantly clear he has no intention of leaving Arsenal before his £350,000-per-week contract expires next summer, which suggests the Riyadh-based club are whistling in the wind.
While Özil does not feature in Arteta’s future plans, Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos is wanted by the Arsenal manager, who is prepared to negotiate another loan deal for the Spanish midfielder. Arsenal have had three bids to re-sign Ceballos turned down already but Real are expected to wave the mooted deal through sooner rather than later. “Dani knows really well what I think about him,” said Arteta following the FA Cup final victory. “He was pretty clear with me as well that his intention was to remain with us. Obviously, Real Madrid is involved there and I don’t know yet what they want to do with the player. He is a player we are interested in because we really saw in the last few months of the season what he is capable of bringing to us.”
Despite signing German international Robin Koch from Freiberg, Leeds remain in the market for another central defender, but seem to have been priced out of a move for Arsenal’s Rob Holding. Following his excellent performance in the Community Shield against Liverpool, Holding looks on the verge of a loan move to Newcastle that should be completed this week.
Everton are raiding the Spanish market for high profile hand-me-downs, with much of the bank holiday transfer speculation suggesting James Rodríguez is on his way to Goodison Park. The Niko Kranjcar to Carlo Ancelotti’s Harry Redknapp, the Colombian international has already played for the Italian at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and now looks set to link up with his former manager at Everton in a deal that could be completed as early as this week. With one year left on his contract, the 29-year-old would cost in the region of £25m.
Ancelotti is also plotting on taking advantage of Barcelona’s summer clear-out by signing Emerson on a two-year loan deal, but the Catalan club are reported to be hopeful of selling the 21-year-old Brazilian right-back who has many suitors around Europe, including Milan. Determined to hog this particular section of today’s Rumour Mill, Everton are also negotiating the purchase of £22m-rated Brazilian midfielder Allan from Napoli, yet another one of Ancelotti’s former clubs.
And finally, Donny van de Beek has coughed for the doctor in Amsterdam before his £40m move from Ajax to Manchester United. Jamie Jackson, the Guardian’s Reni-hat-wearing scribe on the Manchester beat, was invited on Talksport this morning to offer his take on the Dutch midfielder. “He’s 23, he’s been to the Champions League semi-final and by all accounts he’s a team player,” he said. “This is all about upgrading and providing added depth.”