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Despite pulling down the pants of their local rivals and administering a good spanking, Manchester City aren’t about to rest on their laurels. Pep Guardiola is once again being linked with a move for Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, who is also wanted by Manchester United. One of the most technically gifted players you’ve almost certainly never seen, the ludicrously over-hyped 21-year-old has been compared to a young Andrés Iniesta and is already valued at around £50m.
An inability to use Marouane Fellaini as an impact substitute because he was forced to play him from the start was among José Mourinho’s more amusing excuses for his side’s defeat in the Manchester derby. “I can imagine when it was 2-1 to bring a fresh Fellaini, I think they would be in big, big trouble,” said the United boss, prompting a Mexican wave of raised eyebrows and muffled tittering from front row to back in his post-match press conference.
The absence of Paul Pogba through injury meant Fellaini was in his starting line-up, a state of affairs that also showed Mourinho’s lack of faith in his £50m summer signing Fred. The 25-year-old Brazilian is understood to be thoroughly disillusioned with the lack of faith shown in him by his manager and has apparently been confiding in his crosstown friend and compatriot Fernandinho about his unhappiness with life at Old Trafford.
Aware that the future of Pogba at United might not be all that certain, Juventus will tempt the club’s resolve by offering a job lot of players in Medhi Benatia, Alex Sandro and Mario Mandzukic in exchange for their former midfielder.
Newcastle, West Ham and Everton are all planning to woo Yacine Brahimi, whose contract with Porto expires next summer. A Liverpool target a couple of years ago, the attacking midfielder who plays his international football for Algeria is free to talk to foreign suitors in January with a view to moving on a free transfer come season’s end.
Despite being taken to school by Salomón Rondón last Saturday, Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake remains a player in big demand. Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are all interested and the south coast club will listen to offers of £40m or more. Still in dire need of a goalscorer after drawing a blank in their 13th consecutive defeat without Wilfried Zaha in their lineup, Crystal Palace look likely to miss out on Roma frontman Patrik Schick. The Serie A side plan to hold on to their Czech forward, despite underwhelming performances this season that have led to him starting just two games and failing to find the net in 273 minutes on the pitch. Tabloid reports yesterday had Schick going to Arsenal on a loan deal in some kind of swap involving Aaron Ramsey, while Spanish outfits Sevilla and Valladolid have also registered their interest in the 22-year-old.
And finally, Barcelona midfielder Denis Suárez could be on his way to Chelsea. At best a fringe player at the Camp Nou, the 25-year-old has an admirer in Maurizio Sarri, who in a previous life made several concerted, but ultimately unsuccessful efforts to bring him to Napoli. Sarri’s former Italian employers remain interested in rescuing the player from his Barcelona purgatory, while Valencia are also ready to hitch their skirts in his general direction in January.
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