With the exception of Belarus, global football is currently suspended. There is talk of the Premier League eying a potential mid-June return, and with that in mind, a possible return to team training in a couple weeks. Of course, there are just more questions than answers right now with Project Restart.
The English top flight just doesn’t seem to have the same coherence and direction as the leading leagues in Germany, Spain and Italy right now. In the meantime, we still have transfer talk to do, so with that in mind, let’s take a spin through the Gunners rumor mill.
We begin today with the latest on Arsenal’s most handsomely paid and perhaps most decorated player, attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil. He’s been linked with a move to Turkey before, and we’ve even seen his name mentioned alongside Fenerbahce in the past.
Ozil’s name has also popped up with Chinese Super League and American MLS sides, pretty much anywhere they have deep pockets. However, a close friend of the player, Acun Ilicali, is high on the prospects of Ozil going to Fenerbahce.
“When his contract with Arsenal will expire, the favourites would be Fenerbahce,” Ilicali told SportX. “We are also working on that front. I really wanted to tell you in more detail, but I cannot.”
“We’ll talk about these things when the time comes.”
Elsewhere, Arsenal are reportedly ahead of Manchester United, in the race to acquire promising Real Madrid teenager Cesar Gelabert. That’s according to Spanish publication AS, who claim the duo of Premier League giants are monitoring the situation of the 19-year-old attacking midfielder.
We close with Feyenoord midfielder Orkun Kokcu, who is being monitored by both Arsenal and Chelsea. The pair of London clubs are keen on the 19-year-old with a reported valuation of about $28 million (£23m). According to the Daily Express, the Gunners are understood to have even “made contact with the Turkey under-21 international’s representatives with the view to a future move.”
Also said to be interested are Real Betis, Sevilla, Roma and Atalanta.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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