The silly season is in full swing but we’re still waiting for Tottenham Hotspur to make their first big splash signing this summer. Most of the transfer talk, aside from the managerial search soap opera, has surrounded Harry Kane and whether or not he’ll stay.
So we begin there with talk of a potential swap deal, players and cash arrangement, with Manchester United that would see Jesse Lingard going the other way.
Football Insider reports that new manager Nuno Espirito Santo would be interested in the the 28-year-old winger who saw his career left for dead until his January loan move to West Ham United, where he was simply dominant. Lingard scored 14 goals during his loan spell with the Irons, helping them qualify for Europa League.
The Englishman has a very uncertain future at United, where he couldn’t get in the team, and that was even before Jadon Sancho arrived to increase competition on the wings.
Lingard really should move on to a place where he could get first team football, but that won’t likely be Tottenham, as the Sunday Express says talk of the England captain moving to United in a swap deal is “nonsense.”
While Kane may be seeking a new challenge this summer, the report says that the power still lies with the club. The other Manchester club reportedly placed a substantial bid for Kane, but it just wasn’t enough and City are now said to be turned off from pursuing Kane, due to the really high asking price.
Real Madrid attacking midfielder Isco, 29, could be seeing his time at the Bernabeu coming to an end. According to the Sunday Mirror, both north London clubs are keeping an eye on the situation. AC Milan are said to be interested as well. Reportedly, he could be had for as little as £6 million, given that he has just one year left on his deal and he’s unlikely to renew.
He may not fit in under new manager Carlo Ancelotti’s plans, but moving him could be complicated by the fact that he commands a very high salary.
Arsenal, who don’t have European football next season as a selling point to offer transfer window targets, badly need to makeover the midfield.
Meanwhile Tottenham have Conference League competition and Milan are back in the Champions League, so that could tip the cards in their favor.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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