January has come and gone, but Transfer Talk is already monitoring the whispers ahead of all the summer moves. Check out all the latest deals here.
Barcelona set sights on Saints star Cedric
Barcelona are weighing up a summer move for a new right-back — and the player they could turn to is Southampton’s Cedric Soares, according to the Telegraph.
Portugal international Cedric joined the Saints from Sporting Lisbon for a fee approaching £5 million in 2015 and is under contract with them until 2020.
And the Telegraph says that means Barca would have to pay “at least £15m” in order to bring him to the Camp Nou.
It adds that they are looking to sign another right-back “having suffered problems in that position since the departure of Dani Alves” and see Cedric as a player whose style would suit them.
But the paper adds that with the Saints facing uncertainty over the futures of defenders Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Bertrand — linked with Chelsea and Manchester City respectively — they “would be extremely reluctant to sell him.”
Milan set to step up Sissoko interest?
He has only been at White Hart Lane since the final day of the summer window, but it appears AC Milan are increasingly confident that they will be able to tempt Moussa Sissoko to Italy come the season’s end.
Spurs signed Sissoko for a club record £30m, but life in London has not so far worked out as the France midfielder, 27, might have imagined.
He has made only six Premier League starts since arriving from Newcastle, and the Mirror reports that Milan are among “a number of clubs monitoring his situation.”
Meanwhile, Schalke are poised to sign midfielder Nabil Bentaleb on a permanent deal from Spurs, according to the London Evening Standard.
It says Bentaleb, on loan at the Bundesliga club, will move for £16m at the end of the season after reports in Germany suggested his weekend appearance had “triggered an option in the deal that will ensure a transfer goes ahead.”
The Algeria international is out of the first-team picture at White Hart Lane, and the Standard adds that although neither club has confirmed a full-time move “it is understood Spurs are prepared for his departure.”
Bentaleb, 22, came through the Tottenham academy ranks and has hit four goals for Schalke so far this season.
Who is on the move?
Are Isco and James Rodriguez both on their way out of the Santiago Bernabeu? Will Liverpool land a transfer coup in signing World Cup winner Mario Gotze?
Craig Burley takes a look at some of the more likely moves to come this summer:
Tap-ins
– Both Crystal Palace and Watford are interested in Juventus midfielder Mario Lemina, according to the Sun.
Citing reports in Italy, it says the 23-year-old Gabon international would cost around £17m. He has previously been reported to be a potential target for Arsenal, Monaco and Leicester after failing to become a regular first choice under Massimiliano Allegri.
But Watford and Palace have emerged as the favourites — although any Palace bid would depend on whether they can save their Premier League status.
– Sky Sports says that despite reports linking Hull City’s Abel Hernandez with a move to Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan, no official bid has so far been received by the Premier League strugglers.
The forward is part of the Hull squad that travelled to Portugal for warm-weather training — but with the Chinese transfer window not closing until the end of the month, there is still time for a £15m deal to be done.
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