Wednesday 28 August 2013

The Rumour Mill: Cabaye saga rumbles on, Liverpool and Roma in Sakho chase

The current transfer window seems to be moving at the pace of a glacier; you know it’s going somewhere, but it’s impossible to see any progress and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

Gareth Bale to Real Madrid? Wayne Rooney to Chelsea?Yohan Cabaye to Arsenal? These transfers have been threatening to happen for some weeks, but seem to be hovering somewhere in the distance like very expensive mirages.

Paris Saint-Germain have invested in a few expensive mirages over the last couple of years, so it’s probably not a surprise to see the club’s name linked to all and sundry as we approach September 2.

Chief among the possible inbound transfers is Newcastle midfielder Cabaye, a player Laurent Blanc has been making kissy faces at all summer long. Sadly for Blanc, he has yet to get past first base with the former Lille skipper as others in the club’s hierarchy are less keen to push ahead with the transfer.

“He is a great player and I know Laurent Blanc likes him,” said president Nasser, like an over-protective parent stepping in between two teenage lovers.

“But we have not made any offers on it at Newcastle. Anything can still happen between now and September 2 .”

Technically it’s true that anything could happen, but I doubt it will. I can’t shake the feeling that Newcastle are bigging up PSG’s interest in the player in order to extract as much money as possible from Arsenal’s war chest. We shall see.

In terms of other incomings, Le Parisien says PSG are “supervising” Ajax right-back Ricardo Van Rhijn. Supervising must mean something different in French, as I doubt we are making him his dinner and checking he turns up for training on time.

Reports in Spain yesterday had linked us with a €40million offer for Barcelona forward Pedro, but this seems to have been denied by everybody involved.

Mamadou Sakho’s future remains uncertain. The want-away defender was left out of the squad all-together for Sunday’s match at Nantes, meaning he was forced to sit in the stands wearing giant headphones and a baseball cap that obscured most of his head. Poor chap.

Anyway, Liverpool remain Sakho’s destination of choice, but Brendan Rogers and Co are not keen on meeting the €15million asking price. AC Milan could enter the race if they secure Champions League qualification against PSV Eindhoven tonight. Roma are interested too, but would like a season-long loan deal with an option to buy. It’s all very confusing.

From PSG’s point of view, the club seem to still be labouring under the misapprehension that they can convince Sakho to stay, despite the fact the player is clearly itching to get away.

"He is a child of the club, like Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, it's hard to imagine him wearing another club's jersey,” said President Nasser. "I'm a little surprised that he wants to go; I had a discussion with him and my position is very clear and he knows it. We want to keep him and will do anything to do so.”

Everything apart from pick him ahead of the clearly over-the-hill Alex that is. Don't remember Liverpool ever dropping Gerrard for Jordan Henderson.

Definitely sur le depart is Momo Sissoko. Having rejected Cardiff for financial reasons, Momo’s agent has apparently been busy convincing Everton that their midfield is lacking a lumbering liability with a knack of picking up red cards. If that fails, there is some interest from Turkish clubs to fall back on.

Mathieu Bodmer is also looking abroad for more money a new challenge after turning down domestic approaches from Bordeaux, Nice and Rennes.


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