Transfer gossip: Luiz to Arsenal? Llorente to Chelsea? | OneFootball

It’s almost the end of a January which contained five Mondays but more importantly, the transfer window is rapidly creaking shut too.

So on the eve of what promises to be a frantic Deadline Day, let’s crank up the rumour mill and see what it spits out.

Real Talk ?

A rather large spanner has been thrown into the works of Arsenal’s attempts to land Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gunners want to fund the signing of the Gabon striker by offloading Olivier Giroud but they don’t really want to sell him to Chelsea, and Chelsea don’t want to pay £30 million for a 31-year-old anyway.

So Arsenal might have to drop their asking price for the Frenchman, or let him go on loan to West Ham, while Chelsea could go back in for Fernando Llorente, whom they lost out to Tottenham for in the summer.

And if Aubameyang does leave Dortmund, Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi will move to the Westfalenstadion on loan. It’s a veritable transfer merry-go-round!

One player it looks like Chelsea will definitely sign is Roma’s Emerson Palmieri after a £25m fee was agreed for the Brazilian left-back on Monday.

Elsewhere, Manchester City are set to announce the club-record signing of Aymeric Laporte on Tuesday and he could swiftly be followed by Fred. According to the Daily Mail, the Blues are in advanced negotiations to sign the Shakhtar Donetsk midfield maestro.

And Spurs have agreed a £25m fee with Paris Saint-Germain for Brazilian winger Lucas Moura. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Premier League.

Fake News ?

The Daily Star reckon Chelsea could offer David Luiz to Arsenal as a makeweight in a deal for Giroud. We know the Brazilian is out of favour at Stamford Bridge but we also know 2+2 isn’t 5.

Reports in Italy suggest Juventus will step up their efforts to sign Atlético Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco following the news Juan Cuadrado will be out for another two months. We’re not sure about that one.

After missing out on Daniel Sturridge on Monday, Newcastle are going to offer to take Kelechi Iheanacho on loan for the rest of the season. And Leicester are probably going to tell them to get lost.

Meanwhile, this tweet just about sums up West Ham‘s current level of hyper transfer activity …

And if Zlatan Ibrahimović does want to leave Manchester United for LA Galaxy, he might want to mention it to his manager first. José Mourinho says the first he heard of the Swede’s exit was on TV, although won’t stand in his way if he does want to go to MLS in the summer.

Fantasy Football ?

The Telegraph say Chelsea will refuse any bids from Man City to sign Eden Hazard in the summer, even if they offer to break the world transfer record for the Belgian.

David Beckham claims a number of “top players” have told him they want to play for his as yet un-named MLS franchise in Miami.

But if it turns out they were all pulling his leg, former Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt is up for it. “If you need a striker, I’m the guy,” the 31-year-old Jamaican told the ex-England skipper on Monday.

What you missed yesterday ?

Lots of loan deals. Daniel Sturridge moved to West Brom from Liverpool, Gerard Deulofeu swapped Barcelona for Watford, Chelsea‘s Charly Musonda has gone to Celtic, Baba Rahman has left Stamford Bridge for Schalke and Leonardo Ulloa returned to Brighton from Leicester.

In other emotional returns, Tim Cahill went back to Millwall 14 years after leaving for Everton.

And in less emotional news, Diafro Sakho completed a permanent switch from West Ham to Rennes.

Total spent so far: €567m