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Hot football transfer gossip: Kane, De Bruyne, Stones
Monday 10 August, 2015
Manchester United’s long-running pursuit of Harry Kane has taken a rather civilised turn, according to today’s Mirror, which claims the Red Devils have been making “discreet” enquiries about the Tottenham striker’s availability.
The nature of these enquiries is not completely clear, but presumably that’s what makes them “discreet”. And the Mirror, a paper not previously noted for its sensitivity, seem to be the only ones with the emotional intelligence to have noticed them.
The rest of us can only guess at what a “discreet” transfer enquiry entails. Ryan Giggs leaving anonymous love letters in Kane’s garden? Louis van Gaal fluttering his eyelids at Mauricio Pochettino from the dugout and then gesturing with his left elbow towards Kane’s approximate location on the pitch? Joel Glazer whispering a £35m bid into the ear of a random old lady and saying, “pass it on”?
It’s all very sweet, but it remains to be seen whether Van Gaal will pluck up the courage to actually make a bid.
Manuel Pellegrini is being much more forward in his courtship of Kevin de Bruyne, according to the Mail, who say Man City are confident of wrapping up a £46m deal for the Belgian before next weekend’s mega-match against Chelsea. For the sake of all those who have frittered away millions of hours reading transfer stories about De Bruyne this summer, let’s hope and pray they’re right.
We reported on reports last week that Chelsea were “preparing” a £30m bid for Everton’s John Stones, and things are moving along nicely with the club apparently now “set to” bid. We’re not sure what the next stage is exactly, but the actual “bidding” part can’t be far off. It also indicates Chelsea weren’t put off by that Watford player making Stones look silly on Saturday.
Always first with the stories that everyone else reported three days ago, the Daily Star say that West Ham are “still” keen on increasing their bid for Man Utd’s Javier Hernandez to £12m, while the Metro go one step further and claim the Hammers are in “advanced talks” with the Mexican, whatever those are.
And in less important Championship news, Middlesbrough are targeting Stoke’s Peter Crouch and Palace’s Dwight Gayle to lead a new-look attack.
