As The Bangles once almost said, it is just another Manic Monday (in the transfer market)...
Since the transfer window creaked open, the juiciest of all the juicy rumours was the one that Lionel Messi might be on his way out the door at Barcelona. Featuring eye-watering buy out clauses, FFP calculations and who he followed on Instagram, it was a very 2015 story and one that never really seemed to ring true, despite all the circumstantial evidence.
Last night, after helping Barca to beat Atletico, the man himself addressed the rumours, leaving no doubt as to what he thought of them.
"I have no intentions of leaving for any team, not Chelsea nor Manchester City. I'm tired of all the things that people have been saying. I didn't ask the club to fire anyone."
"People make it out as if I run the club and that's not how it is," he added. "I don't ask anyone to make decisions. Everything that has been said is lies and I want people to know that. Everything that has been said is false."
That's that cleared up so, and we have to assume we won't see the Argentinian's name in the rumour mill for the rest of the window. Pigs may also sprout wings by month end.
Away from Messi, all the tittle tattle today surrounds Liverpool. The
Express say the Reds will try to sell Mario Balotelli to drum up some cash so they can buy Gonzalo Higuain and Sampdoria keeper Sergio Romero. Good luck with that one...
However, over on the
Mail they say that Juventus may take the Italian striker on loan ahead of a permanent move in the summer. They quote Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri who told the Times: "We would like to recruit him, but we do not know if it's possible. Mario had a good season with me."
The Mirror focus on Rickie Lambert, who they say is wanted by West Brom and Crystal Palace. The former Southampton man will be allowed to leave once Divock Origi ends his loan spell at Lille and returns to Liverpool.
The
Mirror also say that Liverpool will try to lure brilliantly named Sampdoria keeper Norberto Neto to the club this month.
And the
Liverpool Echo say that Oussama Assaidi (remember him) is to be sold to Al-Ahli for £4.7m. Now that is some good business, if they can pull it off.
Away from Liverpool, the rumours are a bit thin. The
Mail say that Villa are after midfielder Carles Gil from Valencia to add some creative, attacking spark to their moribund team while the Star say that Manchester Uniuted and Arsenal are after Celtic's Virgil van Dijk, but he will cost £10m.
Finally, in quotes that are sure to get the old 'I was mistranslated' treatment soon, Newcastle's Moussa Sissoko is
reported to have said:
"I hope I’ll leave for a bigger club one day, but I don’t know when.
“England is my priority. If [Arsene] Wenger calls, I’ll have a man-to-man discussion with him and then we’ll see. Arsenal has always been the club of my heart."
Time to dig out the phone Arsene...
