Gareth Bale to Birmingham or Burnley or Fulham or West Ham or Nottingham Forest or various Inter Milan or just about everyone really
It seems like every team in the world wants Gareth Bale. Or every club except the one he’s at. Gareth has had a lot of injury problems, there is an unfortunate coincidence with regard to his win ratio and there is the small matter of his hair’s occasionally taking precedence over the football match. But most clubs can look past all that and see someone with the potential to be the greatest left back in the world. Yes, maybe even greater than Gael Clichy.
In some ways, I would love him to get away from Tottenham but the injury which has prevented Benoit Assou-Ekotto from going to the African Cup of Nations means that Gareth should get a run in the team. And if Harry Redknapp is to be believed (which admittedly isn’t always the case) Gareth should do very well in Assou-Ekotto’s absence.
But what about when Assou-Ekotto returns? Although many of the above teams he’s been linked with are doing very well, Gareth should walk straight into the team and stay there until the end of the season. With Tottenham, it hasn’t happened for Gareth over the last three years for one reason or another. So we don’t know for sure that this time will be any different. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with the player, it’s just the club’s wrong. Then again, there’s no guarantee that any of the other teams will be right. Birmingham are very physical which doesn’t suit Gareth’s style of play, West Ham probably won’t give him many opportunities to improve his win ratio and Italy is a long way to go for a twenty year old who’s not overly confident at the moment. He’s also too good for the Championship. Fulham though? Now there’s a thought.
Craig Bellamy to Arsenal or Tottenham
After Craig Bellamy protested at the sacking of Mark Hughes, it was thought his time at Eastlands was coming to an end. Since then Roberto Mancini has said he and Craig are friends and that Craig is staying – and Craig has said he’s happy to stay. However Manchester City have also said that Craig is more likely to believe than rubbish Robinho. And as Robinho’s departure does look rather likely at the moment, maybe Craig will be moving on.
Arsenal and Tottenham have both expressed an interest but Arsene Wenger doesn’t think Arsenal will be able to afford either him or any of his Manchester City team-mates. A move to Tottenham will only happen if they can raise the money by selling players. Roman Pavlyuchenko is desperate to leave and there has been a lot of interest in Robbie Keane but it would probably be better to replace them with two good but cheap players than one brilliant but expensive one.
Darcy Blake to Plymouth Argyle (loan)
Darcy Blake is, of course, already on loan to Plymouth from Cardiff City. But his loan is coming to an end and Plymouth are hoping to extend it, despite the fact he’s mostly kept on the bench. Cardiff have so far refused Plymouth permission to cup-tie Darcy so they probably have some sort of plan for him this season, even if he’s only a last resort. But the way things are at Cardiff at the moment, he might be worth a try.
Jason Brown to ?
The rumour is that Jason Brown might not stay at Blackburn Rovers as he wants first team football. And I expect he does want first team football, who wouldn’t? But that doesn’t mean this is true.
Troy Brown to ? (loan)
Roy Keane has said he might sent Troy Brown out on loan to get some first team football. He has been on the bench a few times this season but he’s always stayed there and given his young age, there’s not much chance he’ll become a regular at Ipswich. His best chance of getting games for Ipswich is by getting some first team football elsewhere.
Jack Collison to Arsenal
West Ham United are not in the best financial situation at the moment and might need to sell some of their best players if there’s interest from other clubs. Jack Collison has undoubtedly been one of their best players this season and Arsenal are allegedly interested. Well why not? He’s around the same age as a large percentage of the squad, yet he’s good enough to play for the first team. He can play in the holding role, arguably better than anyone currently at Arsenal with the exception of Alex Song who’s gone to the African Cup of Nations.
David Cotterill to Swansea City
The transfer of David Cotterill from Sheffield United to Swansea has apparently already been agreed but due to the transfer window’s being closed at the time, he went there initially on loan. Now the transfer window is open, the transaction can be completed – but considering that Sheff Utd usually leave him on the bench, if he’s in the squad at all, the question does arrive about whether Swansea still want him. As far as I can see, David has done a good job for them.
Arron Davies to ?
Arron Davies hasn’t had the best time of it recently. He had trouble getting into the team with Nottingham Forest so they sent him on loan to Brighton & Hove Albion, only for new manager Gus Poyet eventually terminated his loan early. So Arron went back to Forest, only to find they didn’t want him either and he’d be released in January. Well it’s January now (although some sources say he was released on 10th December) and I haven’t heard of his going anyway but hopefully that’s about to change and soon he’ll have a lovely new club to play for where everyone loves him and wants him to play every week.
Andy Dorman to ?
Andy Dorman hopes to boost his chances of playing for Wales by leaving St Mirren for a team in the English leagues. He has a hamstring injury at the moment so he probably doesn’t look like the most attractive proposition just at present.
Lewis Haldane to Port Vale
Lewis Haldane’s loan move to Port Vale was a great success, despite a low number of goals, and Port Vale made it clear they wanted to keep him. So an agreement was made that they would buy him from Bristol City in January and Lewis meanwhile continued to train with Vale. However when the transfer window was due to open, Bristol Rovers still hadn’t sorted things out with Lewis but they agreed to a second loan to Port Vale that would enable him to play for them as negotiations continued.
Wayne Hennessey to ?
The rumour that Wayne Hennessey has refused to sign a new contract have been refuted by the club. But he is a very good goalkeeper who’s not getting first team football at the moment.
Jason Koumas to ?
Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez doesn’t seem overly impressed with Jason Koumas and the sad truth is Steve Bruce didn’t seem to think much of him either. So Jason could move on, although probably not to Sunderland.
Andy King to Premiership clubs
Andy King has become one of Leicester City’s key players this season, recently also becoming a regular goalscorer. As a result he has been linked with Premiership clubs. I hope he stays where he is. He’s getting regular football with Leicester and if he keeps going the way he is, Leicester could be in the Premiership in a few months time. I hope he gives it to the end of the season anyway.
Joe Ledley to a Premiership Club
Joe Ledley wants to leave Cardiff City and much as I’d like to I can’t quite blame him after the way they’re making him play through a hip injury and risk making it worse.
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