Having turned up late to a team meeting and been dropped by Southampton boss Ronald Koeman, the door may now be open for Manchester United to sign Senegal forward Sadio Mane, according to the weekend tabloids.
Mane may be on his way
It depends which paper you read, however, as Saints have slapped a huge £62.5m price tag on the 23-year-old to ward off what is understood to be persistent interest from the Red Devils.
Speculation tends to surround the talents of south coast side during transfer windows, because they do eventually end up selling players, with United, Liverpool and Arsenal all benefiting from St Mary’s purchases in recent times.
Whether Mane would be brought to Old Trafford alongside or instead of Lazio’s Felipe Anderson, who is another reported target for Louis van Gaal, remains to be seen.
Bargain Bojan buy available?
Stoke City, meanwhile, could lose star striker Bojan Krkic for just £10m after that valuation was revealed to be the buyout clause in his Britannia Stadium contract.
Potters boss Mark Hughes has got the Midlands men playing some terrific football thanks to an attacking ensemble of Marko Arnaurtovic, Bojan and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Premier League suitors could well now circle for Krkic, knowing he is available cheaply this January, while Austria international Arnautovic is being watched by French champions PSG.
In other Stoke news, Hughes has Porto and former Marseille defensive midfielder Gianelli Imbula on his radar, as he is reportedly unsettled at the Estadio do Dragao. The Potters will eventually have to replace the ageing legs of Republic of Ireland anchorman Glenn Whelan.
Aubameyang and Ter Stegen to English top-flight?
Arsenal are again linked with leading Bundesliga marksman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with the 26-year-old Borussia Dortmund forward valued at £42m.
The Gabon attacker remains one of the most exciting strikers from Africa to watch, but the Gunners will clearly need to go close to breaking their transfer record if they are to lure him to the Emirates.
Speaking of Dortmund, former Westfalenstadion head coach Jurgen Klopp has been quoted £20m for Barcelona goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as the Liverpool manager seeks a new number one.
Swans to sell Shelvey to fund Bamford buy?
Managerless Swansea City could cash in on England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey in a bid to bring Chelsea-owned forward Patrick Bamford to the Liberty Stadium.
Former France target man Bafetimbi Gomis has fallen out of favour under Swans caretaker coach Alan Curtis, so could also be sold in an effort to raise funds to snare 22-year-old Bamford, who is a more mobile attacking option yet struggled to make an impact in a loan spell at Crystal Palace.
Defoe and Remy on the move?
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe could Bournemouth’s latest buy following their coup capture of highly-rated Argentine attacker Juan Iturbe. The ex-England forward, 33, could cost the Cherries £6m and had a loan spell at Dean Court some 16 years ago.
And finally, clubs are now queuing up for the services of Chelsea frontman Loic Remy, with Norwich City entering the fray alongside Aston Villa and Swansea.
