It’s been a quiet week in La Liga…off the field. With no football action going on in La Liga, the focus has turned to the transfer market with all sorts of rumors starting to ramp up. In case you missed it, let’s recap some of the latest news and rumors.
Arsenal In For Ramos
Arsenal’s defensive problems in the English Premier League have been well documented and the word around town is that they’ve been given the green light to spend at the back end. That has put their sights on Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid. Ramos has made 300 appearances for Real and he has also pulled on the Spanish shirt 124 times, but it might be time for a change for him.
The fact that Real is willing to listen to offers is an indication of that. His physical approach would have no problems adapting to the English style of play. It will be interesting to see what Real does as they’re leading the league and romping through their Champions League title defense, do they really want to tinker with their team right now? It would have to be quite the offer from Arsenal.
Moyes To Bring In Januzaj
Adnan Januzaj might be looking to leave Manchester United for a loan spell in January and an intriguing landing place for the 19-year-old could be Real Sociedad, who is now managed by David Moyes. The Scot, in his brief spell at United, gave Januzaj his big chance and the Belgian ran with the opportunity. But Januzaj hasn’t received much work from Louis van Gaal. With United under-using him, he’s become expendable. That being the case, it wouldn’t be a big surprise if Sociedad, who is 14th in Spain, looks to rekindle his spirits by bringing him in and putting him back under Moyes’ wing.
United Want Bale?
Gareth Bale continues to play well for Real but the word is that Madrid might be trying to offload the Welsh winger for a cool $180 million. While that astronomical figure will surely come down, Manchester United are one of the few clubs that could handle the hefty price tag that Bale would come with. The two sides have made some huge transfers in recent years, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Angel Di Maria and Ruud van Nisterooy, to list a few names that have swapped shirts. Bale was supposed to head to United before Real swooped in for him and it seems like Man U is still eyeing his services.
Atletico To Ward Off Man City Advances For Mandzukic
Manchester City have struggled with injuries to their strikers this season as they played their latest game without their top three. They have been actively looking at their options since their top goal scorer, Sergio Aguero, was injured last month. The rumor these days is that they would like to speak to Mario Mandzukic, who just signed to Atletico from Bayern Munich last summer.
Mandzukic would be a great addition for City, but Atletico have managed to stay in the top three in La Liga this season, as well as progress to the knockout stage in the Champions League. It could take a lot of money for them to be swayed. They’re probably not too keen on letting him go this soon but the latest rumor has Atletico signing Fernando Torres in a precursor for Mandzukic’ departure, so stay tuned.
Madrid Talking To Cech
Finally, Real might be trying to make a move for Petr Cech, who is the No. 2 in goal at Chelsea behind Thibault Courtois. While Iker Casillas hasn’t played terribly for the La Liga leaders, Cech is probably still an upgrade and he is eager to get some games in. Casillas has made a few errors and earned some whistles from the Real fans. He’s clearly not the man that was once atop the sport. People have been calling for him to step away for a while now, so this move wouldn’t be a major surprise.
