Well, we always knew John Terry was a bit of a Villain didn’t we? The former England captain has signed a one-year deal with Aston Villa having left Chelsea. In years gone by, some managers have done a fine job of getting a little extra out of an older head at the end of his career. So, will JT be a Rio Ferdinand at QPR or a Paul Merson at Portsmouth? Either way, as Gabby mentioned on WhatsApp, he’s the best defender Villa have ever had without even kicking a ball.
So in 2017 a kit launch basically tells us all we need to know when it comes to likely transfer movements. Therefore, Wayne Rooney in the Manchester United kit launch = Wayne Rooney staying at Manchester United. Naby Keita not in the RB Leipzig kit launch = Naby Keita hot footing it to Liverpool for £70m. Apparently, Jurgen Klopp has already spoken to Naby, explaining how important he will be at Anfield. It is nice to see Jurgen learning from the Virgil van Dijk debacle.
Everton are the latest football keen to sign Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud. With Alexandre Lacazette about to start his goodbyes at Lyon, Giroud could well find himself surplus to requirements, despite being one of two current Arsenal players capable of finding the back of the net from time to time. The other, Alexis Sanchez, is still being all mysterious. When Alexis goes, Arsenal will unveil Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez as a completely inferior replacement.
West Ham United want to sign Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen, but that is hardly news. West Ham want to sign anyone that claims to be a striker and not called Andy Carroll. I give this one a very minimal chance of happening.
One deal that will happen is the deal that Swansea City have on the table for Rodrigo Mesa. Fellow Spanish speakers will be giggling at that one, I am sure.
Having suggested that Jay Rodriguez might be useful to new Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino, he was promptly sold to West Bromwich Albion for £12m. Once again, Tales has its finger on the pulse.
Jose Mourinho is growing “increasingly frustrated” at “only” spending £30m on a young defender from Benfica. So far, Victor Lindelof is the only new face at Old Trafford and deals for Alvaro Morata and Nemanja Matic have stalled. It’s almost as if Real Madrid and Chelsea are reluctant to strengthen a club they don’t really like. Jose is also making it known that he wasn’t too impressed when he heard that Ed Woodward had jetted off to New Zealand to watch the British Lions Test. Jose has a point, Woodward only really has to fire into action twice a year so flying to the other side of the world is not really the sign of a competent CEO. Oh wait, this is Ed Woodward. Competent is not a word to have anywhere near him.
Finally, Stoke City have offered Steven Ireland a new deal at the club. This has shocked me for a couple of reasons, the most obvious being I didn’t even realise he was still a footballer.