We all mull through transfer rumours every day, be it reading a newspaper on the train home, on the iPad whilst grazing over a bowl of cereal, or a quick gander at Sky Sports News before bedtime. But we all know that the vast majority of them are complete nonsense, dreamed up by some overworked journalist scared they’re about to get the sack from the Daily Mail.
In truth, transfer rumours are the footballing equivalent of those celebrity gossip magazines, who claim to have the inside scoop on Simon Cowell’s girlfriend’s reaction to Cheryl Cole winking at him on camera, or reveal exclusives such as ‘Kiera Knightley eats cheese’.
And just to prove it’s all hogwash of the highest order, here’s FIVE January transfer rumours that Arsenal fans just shouldn’t bother listening to.
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MATS HUMMELS
Sorry Arsenal fans, I’m just not buying this one:
Not necessarily the idea of Mats Hummels preferring Arsenal over Manchester United – that’s more than understandable – but the notion of him actually moving to the Emirates in January. Firstly, the German World Cup winner clearly loves Borussia Dortmund. He had the chance to leave in the summer but instead accepted the club captaincy. Even amid their current relegation-zone plight, he’s still a Black-Yellow through and through. Secondly, where would the 25 year-old centre-half actually fit into Arsenal’s starting XI? Arsene Wenger’s hardly famed for his cut-throat buying and selling of the Sir Alex Ferguson variety and undoubtedly still has faith in Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as a partnership. A game-time-share between the three seems far less likely than the Arsenal gaffer reminding everyone that ‘a returning injured player is as good as a new signing’ when Koscielny comes back from injury ahead of the January window. Thirdly and most importantly, pretty much every top European club would try to sign Hummels if he became available, so Arsenal could find themselves quickly eclipsed in their apparent pursuit of the Beckenbauer-esque-defender
PAULO BYBALA
//www.youtube.com/embed/esKYDyNfMzo?rel=0
Transfer speculators love labelling young prospects with ‘the next’ monikers – be it the next Ronaldo, the next Zidane or even the next Robbie Savage. And the latest ‘the next’ to be linked with Arsenal is 20 year-old Paulo Dybala, aka ‘the next Sergio Aguero’.
Don’t even bother concern yourselves with the absurdity of comparing Dybala to a striker that holds one of the best goals-to-minute-ratios in Premier League history, before he’s even earned an inaugural cap for Argentina, because even if the Palermo forward is indeed Sergio Aguero reincarnated, there’s no way Arsenal are buying him in January.
I mean, seriously, £31million? For a striker with 29 goals in 108 career appearances – the majority of which were scored for Argentine side Instituto de Cordoba?
Arsene Wenger didn’t even want to pay that much for Gonzalo Higuain in summer 2013, an Argentine front-man with 171 goals under his belt.
Dybala’s clearly a talented kid however and certainly one to watch out for in the future – check out the video above.
Xherdan Shaqiri
If Arsenal buy Xhedan Shaqiri in January, a rumour courtesy of the Daily Star:
…Arsene Wenger should be sacked on the spot. I have no qualms with the Switzerland international. He’s amassed 17 goals in 77 appearances for Bayern Munich in a cameo role and impressed at the World Cup too, creating the most chances per match (documented as Key Passes) of any player at the tournament:
But the last thing the Gunners need in January is yet another offensive midfielder. They’ve splashed out nearly £80million on Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez over the last two summers, not to mention having Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Joel Campbell, Lukas Podolski, Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott on the books already. So if Wenger were to overlook the obvious requirement for extra defensive cover in January, an issue the fan base are making their feelings about firmly clear, in favour of snapping up Shaqiri, north London could well explode into a full-blown riot. Purely due to the potential implications, this rumour almost certainly won’t prove true.
DANI ALVES AND PEDRO
Arsenal are apparently preparing a double-swoop for Barcleona duo Dani Alves and Pedro:
But to see either turn up at the Emirates in January would be rather surprising.
You can’t doubt the Catalan pair’s credentials; they’ve both won two Champions League titles, in addition to several La Ligas and Copa del Reys, as part of the Barcelona side that will probably go down in the history books as the greatest club team of all time.
But once again, Arsenal don’t need another offensive midfielder of Pedro’s variety; he’s essentially a copy of Alexis Sanchez, but lacking the physicality and tenacity that’s seen the Chile international take to the Premier League so well.
Likewise, Arsenal bought two right-backs in the summer; Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy. Unless Arsene Wenger has suddenly developed a fetish for No.2’s, there’s no real need for him to source another one when the transfer market reopens.
Perhaps most importantly however, Barcelona’s transfer ban means they can’t buy anyone until 2016. Although Pedro and Alves may be rather miffed at their reduced game-time this season, making 14 collective starts out of a possible 22 in La Liga, the Spanish giants aren’t stupid enough to axe two integral squad players half-way through the season – especially when they can’t sign replacements for the next 18 months.
Alves has made it pretty clear he’ll leave the Nou Camp at the end of the season when his contract expires, but Barca are under no obligation to let him leave before then – it’s not as if they need the money.
Likewise, Pedro’s under contract until 2016 and reports in October suggested the Spain international had entered negotiations over a new deal.
SAMI KHEDIRA
Sami Khedira is probably the signing most Arsenal fans want to see in January, but unfortunately, Arsene Wenger has already ruled out the Real Madrid ace as a viable transfer target:
He also remarked that, despite popular belief, the north London club were never close to signing the German World Cup winner during the summer.
Disappointing news to some, but perhaps the Arsenal manager’s decision is justified. There’s some clear misconceptions about Khedira in England; he’s a box-to-box player, not the tough-tackling midfield enforcer the Gunners fan base desires.
Take a look at his heat-map from Germany’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final thrashing of Brazil for example:
Or the 27 year-old’s stats compared to some of Europe’s other top holding midfielders:
Indeed, he’s more of an up-and-down man, and Arsenal already have a couple of those in Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey.
With his contract set to expire next summer however and a new deal looking increasingly unlikely, it seems Khedira will be moving on in January – just not to Arsenal.