Nothing excites, inflames the imagination and sparks a debate amongst fans of the beautiful game like football rumours.
But the holy grail when it comes to these speculative conversations has to be Premier League transfers. Of course, rumours are just that – rumours – but some hold more weight than others, and amongst the plethora of mutterings and musings lives some interesting nuggets.
There’s no time when these rumours are discussed with more enthusiasm than the summer transfer window, and with just under three weeks until the 2019/20 season starts, the rumour mill has hit fever pitch.
Whenever Premier League transfer rumours are concerned, the focus is often on the figures being bandied about as much as the players associated with them. This is understandable however, as if you look at some of the world’s most expensive footballers it becomes glaringly obvious that money talks and it talks loudest in the Summer transfer window.
Here are some of the latest football transfer rumours doing the rounds at the moment.
Lukaku to Inter Milan/Pogba to Real Madrid or Juventus
Romelu Lukaku has been leading Manchester United’s frontline for two seasons now, since signing from Everton in 2017 for £75million. The Belgian re-joined Manchester United training on Monday, but is still being strongly linked with a move to Inter Milan and is 1/5 with Grosvenorsport.com to make the move to Italy. An ominous question-mark remains as firmly over Lukaku’s future at Old Trafford as it does his United teammate Paul Pogba, allegedly the target of both his former club Juventus and Real Madrid, with the respective odds of a move away at 6/1 and 5/4.
However, unlike Lukaku, United gaffer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has slapped a hefty price tag of £180million on Pogba, which is almost double what Jose Mourinho spent to bring him back to Old Trafford in 2016. While the sizeable asking price for the Frenchman, who is 3/5 to stay in England, will likely be enough to deter any would-be suitors, it seems a lot more likely that Lukaku will be playing his football elsewhere next season, however he is priced at 7/5 to remain in Manchester.
Philippe Coutinho to Liverpool/PSG?
Every season, talk of returning legends sparks sweet speculative nostalgia amongst fans and leaves them salivating with imagined scenarios of former players donning their team’s colours again.
Surely for Liverpool fans, none can be more inviting than the thought of Philippe Coutinho walking out at Anfield, a Liver bird on his shirt again. Coutinho left Liverpool for Barcelona in January 2018 for a colossal £142million but hasn’t shone as brightly at the Nou Camp.
It has been reported that Liverpool have had an initial bid for the Brazilian turned down by Barcelona and the current question remains as to whether the Premier League runners-up will put their hands in their pockets again and offer more to bring Coutinho back to Merseyside.
The speculation has been given more ammunition when Coutinho was seen partying with former Liverpool teammate Roberto Firmino this week. Coutinho has also been rumoured to be a pawn to barter with in a bidding war as Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain hash it out for the World’s most expensive player Neymar.
Barcelona have reportedly offered Coutinho, plus Ousmane Dembele and £40million to bring Neymar back to the Nou Camp. PSG are said to have turned this offer down having paid £262million for Neymar only two years ago and it looks as if they won’t budge unless there is a substantial figure placed on the table. With this in mind, a Coutinho move back to Liverpool looks a lot more likely at 5/2 than the Neymar/PSG deal at 5/4.
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