LaLiga: 5 stars who could move to the Premier League as soon as January

Antoine Griezmann - Manchester United, Chelsea or Manchester City

Easily the biggest name on this list is none other than Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. The charismatic forward, who had anything but a poor goalscoring record before his move to Spain’s capital, has moved himself onto that rung of players just below Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. At times he’s been forced to carry the burden of scoring all by himself but his recent comments to a French news station has caused some Premier League fans to dream about him joining their side.

“I can’t go to Real Madrid because there’s a pact between the two clubs (restricting the movement of players from one to the other). There isn’t a pact with Barcelona but there they have three forwards who are untouchable.” Griezmann later expressed his happiness at Atletico and how he wasn’t thinking of a move away and how, at present, he had no interest of returning to France with Paris Saint Germain. “You never know what will happen in the future but going to PSG is not part of my plans. Perhaps one day, but not now.”

Griezmann added that should he leave Atletico Madrid he would prefer to stay in LaLiga or move to the Premier League. With the former unlikely for the reasons mentioned previously, it opens the door for England’s richest clubs to tempt Griezmann to try his hand in the Premier League. Only a handful of clubs would be able to stump up the cash required for Atletico to even answer the phone, let alone consider selling their key asset.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City could test their resolve and perhaps the latter could offer Sergio Aguero as a makeweight. Either way a move in January would be almost impossible to pull off but the ground work towards a summer switch could begin very soon.

Isco - Arsenal, Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur

Ah, the one that got away for Tottenham. Was it ever really a possibility? It’s so easy to get sucked into believing stories towards the end of transfer deadline day and more so when you need reinforcements. Spurs were linked with a move for Isco in the final few days and while the money was there the club ended up with Mousa Sissoko as opposed to the talented man from Malaga.

So was the interest real? Sources close to the player and club say it was but he ultimately decided to remain at Real Madrid. Was it a ploy to get new contract talks underway? Maybe, but he’s still no closer to discussing new terms let alone signing on the bottom line at the Bernabeu. With just 18 months to run on his deal it’ll be interesting to see if Madrid allow him to reach the summer without improved terms being agreed.

The injury crisis at the club has actually benefited Isco to the point he’s playing regularly and was even the star man in the derbi against city rivals Atletico. However, the concern for the player must be that his preferred position doesn’t exist at Real Madrid when everyone is fit. Although decent as one of the midfield three it also greatly limits his influence on the game. With Toni Kroos out until the New Year, Gareth Bale too, it should provide him with enough minutes on the pitch to stake a claim for a greater role in the squad.

If he’s demoted to the bench once the injured stars return and with his contract running down, he might push for a move while Madrid are still able to demand a large fee. Spurs need competition for Christian Eriksen, Arsenal could play him behind Alexis Sanchez and Liverpool might want a replacement for Philippe Coutinho, both in the short and long-term.

Jose Luis Gaya - Manchester United or Liverpool 

It doesn’t seem to get any better for Valencia fans. They’ve leapt from one crisis to another and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fans are planning to a demonstrate a huge show of faith for the upcoming game against Malaga but another poor result could send the club spiralling even further down the table.

Now Jose Luis Gaya is arguably the last man standing when it comes to the new generation of established academy products. Juan Bernat, Jordi Alba and just this summer Paco Alcacer have all left for pastures new and it makes sense that sides would be circling the sinking ship, hoping to pick off the quality left at Valencia.

Gaya loves the club and has a close connection with the fans but while talk of restructuring in January continues, it leaves question marks as to where the funds woule come from. Joao Cancelo could be sold but then so could Gaya himself. In fact, Toni Lato, a young 19-year-old left back, is seen as his heir apparent but it might come too soon in January to promote him to the first team picture. Although as we’ve seen in recent years a respectable bid could get those in charge’s attention.

United and Liverpool might be looking to improve that area of their team come January.

Aleix Vidal - anyone who needs a backup right-back

Speaking of full-backs in need of a move, Aleix Vidal has to leave Barcelona in January. The winger/wing-back/full-back’s gamble of joining Los Culés last summer and then spending six months training hasn’t paid off. It reached a boiling point in the summer when he fell out with first team coach Luis Enrique and he’s been banished from the squad ever since, and it looks increasingly likely he won’t be given another chance.

Over in Spain they’ve mentioned that the player himself would love a move back to Sevilla but Barcelona would obviously prefer to offload him for a higher price to a Premier League side. I’m not sure the best teams in the division would see Vidal as a starter but he could certainly improve the competition in that role. Perhaps United wiould be interested if they moved on Matteo Darmian or Arsenal if they wanted to give Hector Bellerin a more natural replacement when the Spaniard needed a break.

Ignacio Camacho - West Brom

This move was expected to go through on transfer deadline day in the summer but due to a stand-off between Malaga and West Brom over the structure of payments it ended up falling through. However while the battle might have been lost the war continues because Camacho is yet to sign a new deal at the club and insiders say after initial conversations took place back in September, nothing has happened since.

The player himself remains calm on the issue but is concerned by the lack of effort from his current club. Camacho discussed personal terms with West Brom and actually agreed a deal with them, assuming the bartering between the clubs wouldn’t cause the deal to collapse at such a late stage. You’d imagine should his situation remain the same come January then negotiations would take place again.

At just 26 years of age and Julien Lopetegui’s openness to new faces in the squad, it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Camacho could push his way into Spain’s plans too. A chance to perform regularly in front of a larger audience in England might help tip the scale in his favour. Either way, of all the possible deals mentioned, this seems the most likely to happen.