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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Lukaku ‘wanted to leave Everton’, West Ham ‘could have signed Vardy’
If you were surprised that Romelu Lukaku ended up staying at Everton this summer despite Hot Football Transfer Gossip repeatedly indicating that he would leave, don’t worry. He seems to be pretty surprised too. In fact that’s a polite way of putting it.
The beefy Belgian was variously valued at £45m, £50m, £60m, £65m and even - if Hot Football Transfer Gossip’s memory serves it correctly - £72m at one point as he appeared destined to leave Goodison Park for Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain or somewhere else. Then just before deadline day he suddenly “committed his future” to the Toffees. It doesn’t look like that was his idea though.
The Liverpool Echo reports that Lukaku has given a “coy” response to questions about whether he will sign a new deal on Merseyside. In fact, it’s not coy at all.
“I want to win prizes. But when I get into a situation where I can leave but my team will not let me, I’m not one to go absent, get fined and cultivate a negative reputation.”
So in other words, he wanted to leave Everton but they refused to sell him.
He continues: “I try to remain calm and treat my club with respect. Hopefully they can treat me also with respect and I can leave through the main gate.”
So in other words, he was absolutely livid that Everton wouldn’t sell him but he’s got going to kick off about it and intends to scarper at the next possible opportunity.
"I will not quarrel with Everton,” he concludes, although these comments are so thinly veiled that they virtually amount to fighting talk. Let’s see what Toffees fans think about them.
Moving on, a man whose club were more than happy to let him leave in the summer, Matteo Darmian, could finally quit Manchester United in January and sign for Juventus (Tuttosport).
Meanwhile, a player who could have left in the summer but chose not to, Jamie Vardy, has revealed that England manager Sam Allardyce had the chance to sign him for West Ham a few years ago (Standard). He evidently thought Andy Carroll would be more prolific.
Antoine Griezmann has disappointed those optimistic fans of Man Utd and Arsenal who believed he would be their next major signing by declaring that he won’t leave Atletico Madrid… unless Diego Simeone quits as manager (Daily Mail).
Now sit back and wait for the rumour that the Gunners will sack Arsene Wenger, replace him with Simeone and sign Griezmann.
Elsewhere, another Euro 2016 hero - Cardiff City’s Aron Gunnarsson, is being linked with a January move to Bundesliga side Hamburg (Wales Online), Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot wants to move to the Premier League (Sun) and Sunderland failed in a bid to sign 34-year-old Bordeaux goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso in the “final minutes” of deadline day (L'Equipe). That could have made all the difference in the title race.
