TRANSFER ROUNDUP: Striker Talks About ‘Dream Move’ To Man United, Arsenal Star Signs Contract Extension, And More
Former Arsenal Man Urges Wenger To Hijack Mourinho’s Prime Target
REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Former Arsenal playmaker Paul Merson has urged Arsene Wenger to sign Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann has been linked with a record breaking summer move to Manchester United, with numerous sources claiming that the Frenchman’s representatives have already reached a “verbal agreement” with the Old Trafford officials over various contract details and wages.
But amid this speculation, Paul Merson has asked Wenger to sign Griezmann up, and also successfully hold on to current star players Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, so as to bring the successful title-winning days back at the London club.
Speaking at the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast show on talkSPORT, Merson stated: “When [the fans] you’re paying that kind of money you have to be watching world class footballers at the club. You can’t just have two – you should have five and six in my opinion.
“With Griezmann, people go ‘they’ve [Arsenal] got that kind of player’. They haven’t. They’ve got two of them but you could do with another one. For me there isn’t a club in the world that wouldn’t want Griezmann.”
Berahino Set To Join Stoke City
Saido Berahino is all set to leave West Brom to join fellow Premier League outfit Stoke City.
On Friday morning, Stoke boss Mark Hughes expressed his doubts as to whether the deal will ever get done, by telling reporters: “I said last week that I was more confident that something could be done. It’s fair to say now that it’s swung the other way.
“There hasn’t been too much progress for some time. I might be wrong and things might change quickly but people seem to be entrenched in positions. It’s down to price and other things.”
However, as per latest reports, the two clubs seem to have finally reached an agreement for the young Englishman, who will join the Potters following a medical examination, for an initial fee of £10 million, which could potentially rise up to £15 million with performance related add-ons.
Arsenal Star Extends Stay At The Club
Reuters / Dylan Martinez
Arsenal’s star midfielder Santi Cazorla has extended his stay at the Emirates.
According to the FA’s newly released list of ‘Players Under Written Contracts,’ Arsenal seem to have re-registered Santi Cazorla, which indicates that Arsene Wenger has triggered the automatic one-year extension in the Spanish international’s current contract.
The news will come as a boost for Arsenal fans, who have been extremely worried about their main players’ decisions to put contract extension talks on hold lately. Meanwhile, Cazorla, who has been out of action since November after undergoing a surgery on his Achilles, is currently believed to be at least six weeks away from making a return.
West Brom Confirm Livermore Signing
West Bromwich Albion have confirmed the signing of Jake Livermore from Hull City on their official website.
Having passed the medical examination, the 27-year-old has now arrived at the Hawthorns, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with the club.
West Brom’s new man has already started 20 Premier League games for Hull this season, scoring one goal and impressing hugely in midfield in the process, and thereby convincing manager Tony Pulis to sign the Englishman.
Promising Starlet Talks About “Dream Move” To Manchester United
Livingston striker Matthew Knox has stated that it is “every player’s dream” to join Manchester United.
The 17-year-old was invited to train at Carrington – United’s training ground – on three occasions in 2016. The youngster has also had trial spells at Everton, Liverpool, and Tottenham Hotspur, but he believes a move to Manchester United will be the one that’s impossible to turn down.
“Moving to a club like Manchester United is every player’s dream and when that door opens it’s almost impossible to say no,” said Knox.
He also spoke about his recent trials with the Red Devils, stating: “As soon as you turn into the driveway leading to the Carrington training ground you see the large Manchester United logo and it knocks you for six. Then you pull into the car park and it’s full of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys, there is everything there, the lot.
“Then you see immaculate grass training pitches, I counted about 12 of them but there may have been more than that and they are cut to perfection and that’s not counting the indoor pitches. There is a canteen where all of the players eat and everyone joins in together, all of the youth team, under 23s and first team all mix in. I sat directly across from Michael Carrick during one lunchtime.
“It’s surreal to be sitting listening to banter between the likes of Paul Pogba and Wayne Rooney and joining all of these superstars queueing up for lunch, it was incredible. Jose Mourinho would be sitting next to his coaches but he’d speak a different language when he was talking to them so I didn’t understand a word. They were all great with me, they would take time to say hello and ask how I was doing.”
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