There's a lot of talk and speculation but when it comes to
transfers, how do you separate fact from fiction? David Amoyal looks at
some of the current rumours and predicts how likely the proposed moves
are to actually happen.
Chelsea winning the race for Pedro as well as Lazio's elimination in the preliminary round of the Champions League have given some momentum to the rumors linking Felipe Anderson to Manchester United.
Back in June, United contacted Lazio about both Anderson and defender Stefan De Vrij. At the time, Lazio made it very clear they wouldn't sell the players easily but the circumstances may have changed for Anderson since then.
Lazio acquired highly rated Ajax prospect Ricardo Kishna, who scored on his Serie A debut over the weekend. In addition, Ravel Morrison has (at least so far) fitted in quite well to Stefano Pioli's squad -- he's also become a fan favourite -- and they also have Italy's starting winger Antonio Candreva and former Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita.
Will all these factors be enough for Lazio to sell Anderson? There certainly is that possibility but the club would need to receive a big offer from United after giving Anderson a contract extension last March as well as the team's No. 10 jersey.
Paul Pogba to Chelsea: 5 percent
Paul Pogba continues to be the biggest prize on the transfer market but after a turbulent summer, Juventus are determined to hang on to their jewel. After selling Arturo Vidal to Bayern Munich, Juventus' president Andrea Agnelli has decided Pogba will stay in Turin for at least another season.
Chelsea did make a concrete attempt to sign Pogba last week. Gianluca Di Marzio reported the Blues contacted both Pogba's agent, Mino Raiola, and Juventus but they were given a negative answer by both camps. Juventus turned down a bid of around €70m, while Raiola insisted that Chelsea's salary offer of €8m net per season was too low to even consider.
Juventus are determined to hold on to Pogba this summer. They have also acquired numerous players under 25 in the past two years (Alvaro Morata, Paulo Dybala, Alex Sandro and Daniele Rugani) to surround him, plus the midfielder also wants to prepare for Euro 2016 in France next summer at a club where he's comfortable.
Axel Witsel to Juventus: 35 percent
Juventus being linked once again to Axel Witsel was seen as another sign Pogba was on his way out, but that does not appear to be the case. The Juve midfield has been decimated by injuries: Sami Khedira will be out until at least October (and he's coming off a season in which he barely played), Kwadwo Asamoah is set for surgery and Claudio Marchisio has been sidelined by a muscular injury. Meanwhile, Andrea Pirlo and Vidal are long gone.
Juventus had been linked to Witsel at beginning of summer and at the time, it was viewed as a potential replacement for Vidal. The Bianconeri decided to sign Khedira for that instead but also recently contacted Zenit over Witsel, with the Russian side open to a sale for around €25m.
The Old Lady are also monitoring Julian Draxler's situation but Schalke want €30m as a set fee without any bonuses tied to games played. Juventus are concerned with the tendon issues the German international suffered last season and may need to sell young forward Kingsley Coman to Bayern Munich to finance the purchase of both Draxler and Witsel (odds are only one will arrive).
Alessandro Matri to West Ham: 80 percent
Fernando Llorente's transfer to Sevilla, as well as Mario Balotelli's return to Milan, have had domino effects on Alessandro Matri and Simone Zaza's situations. Matri is now expandable at Milan while Zaza is much less likely to leave Juventus since Llorente's departure should give him some playing time.
Matri has offers from Atalanta and Lazio, but he's intrigued by the possibility of playing for West Ham and living in London, according to Di Marzio. The Hammers have acquired numerous players from Serie A in recent years and Matri would fill a need in their squad.
Simone Zaza to Tottenham: 20 percent
Zaza arrived at Juventus in July but quickly fell behind in the pecking order -- last Sunday, coach Max Allegri started Coman and Mario Mandzukic and then subbed in Dybala and Llorente. Zaza wants to ensure he gets some playing time this season so he can be part of Italy's squad at Euro 2016.
While West Ham are now focused on Matri, Tottenham could make another attempt for Zaza. Spurs had been linked to him back in April and could make a final offer should Juventus further bolster their offensive options with Draxler after signing Juan Cuadrado from Chelsea on loan.
Ezequiel Garay to Chelsea: 30 percent
The struggles to sign John Stones from Everton have caused Chelsea to start pondering other options. Centre-back has been a position on the Blues' mind for quite some time and last May they were linked with Atletico Madrid's Diego Godin, before the defender opted to sign a new contract.
Chelsea then moved on to Stones but have not managed to break Everton down with a series of bids, so they have turned to Zenit centre-back Ezequiel Garay. The Argentine wouldn't bring as much potential as Stones, but he's still in his prime as he turns 29 in October.
Mourinho is pushing to bring him to Stamford Bridge but it remains to be seen if Zenit are open to letting him leave considering Witsel could also depart.
Juan Iturbe to Everton: 10 percent
Iturbe was the most expensive purchase for any Serie A team last summer. He struggled in his first season at Roma as coach Rudi Garcia asked him to do a lot more defensive work than he was used to at Verona.
But he's also just 22 and could bounce back if given a chance. Iturbe's preference is to be sold outright rather than go out on loan, but it's very difficult to envision a team coming close to paying the €25m Roma invested last summer.
The Argentine has been linked to Everton this week, having previously been a Liverpool transfer target, but odds are he'll remain in Italy. Iturbe's entourage have already spoken to Fiorentina where he could relieve the tension over the Salah transfer.
Genoa have also been very aggressive in pursuing him recently and he would be an ideal fit for coach Gian Piero Gasperini's offensive style. It's more likely Iturbe will stay in Italy rather than move to the Premier League.
Adem Ljajic to Aston Villa: 40 percent
In addition to Iturbe, Roma are also looking to move Ljajic before the window closes. The Serbian attacker had been linked to Manchester City during the Dzeko negotiation and he could end up in England after all.
Roma's sporting director Walter Sabatini travelled to London earlier this week to meet with Aston Villa and they were close to reaching an agreement. But Inter Milan are also making a late push for Ljajic, although Roma would probably prefer him to move to an English club rather than a rival in Italy.
Kingsley Coman to Bayern Munich: 30 percent
Could Coman be reunited with Vidal at Bayern Munich? Juventus are involved in so many potential last-minute deals that it's certainly possible. The Bianconeri acquired the French prospect as a free transfer from PSG last summer and Coman appeared in 20 matches last season in all competitions.
Bayern Munich have been looking to sign the forward as the heir apparent to Franck Ribery all summer. During the negotiation for Vidal his name came up again, but Juventus managed to keep him and he even started the first two matches of the season over the highly rated Dybala.
Cuadrado, a player with similar attributes to Coman, has arrived on loan and if the club are able to complete a deal for Draxler then Coman would be viewed as expendable.
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