Today's papers are mostly dedicated to Louis van Gaal and what looks like his inevitable demise at Manchester United. It appears as though transfer talk has taken a blow in order to speculate about Jose Mourinho's future too as many of the back pages are saying Chelsea's former head honcho is resisting a move to Real Madrid as he awaits developments in the LVG saga.
There are still some nuggets worth taking a look at, however, as Chelsea are linked again with one of Atletico Madrid's star players and Neymar refuses to rule out a move away from Barcelona.
Note: We must also offer a friendly reminder that today is Dia de los Inocentes in Spain, which is the equivalent to April Fool's day here. Be careful what kind of rumours you hear coming out of Spain as the possibility is that it's a wind-up.
The Speculation
Chelsea are rumoured to be considering a £110 million 'swoop' for Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba in the winter tranfer window. It seems unlikely, however, considering the uncertainty at the club following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and appointing of Guus Hiddink on an interim basis.
Neymar is out of contract at Barcelona in 2018 and the Catalan club are said to be keen to tie down the services of the young Brazilian. Neymar has refused to rule out a move, however, but this might suggest him jockeying for a better position when contract renewal comes around. Manchester City are reportedly interested and obviously have the money to sign him but a deal in the summer looks unlikely, much less in January.
The Javier Hernandez rumours continue to roll as the Bayer Leverkusen star (19 goals in 22 make it okay to call him a star) remains heavily linked with a return to Arsenal and the Premier League. Bayer Leverkusen have no reason to sell and Hernandez might be a little hasty to jump at the first chance given how loved he is in Germany and the fact that he is playing first team football for the first time in years. The advice is to give this one a pinch of salt and let it settle.
Jackson Martiez of Atletico Madrid continues to be linked to both Tottenham Hotspurs and Chelsea with Diego Costa possibly going the other way. The message from Atletico Madrid's president, Enrique Cerezo, is that "Right now, Diego is a Chelsea player and he has to focus on Chelsea but you never know what will happen in football -- and sometimes players do return to their former clubs."
AS Roma are linked with Yannick Bolasie and Odion Ighalo as the latter has taken the Premier League by storm with his 13 goals in 18 appearences this season.
Done Deal
Arsenal have reportedly wrapped up the signing of Mohamed Elneny from FC Basle for £5 million as Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky set to leave in the summer.
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