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Arsenal target Barcelona’s Thiago Alcantara
Transfer Talk: Arsenal could bid £25m for midfielder – but Man Utd and Real Madrid fancy him too
ARSENE WENGER hasn't finished his rebuilding of the Arsenal squad and intends to make a bid for Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara in January's transfer window. That's what the People says, claiming that Wenger tried to strike a deal with Barcelona over the 20-year-old when he agreed to the sale of Cesc Fabregas last month.
Apparently the Catalan club didn't accept the nutty professor’s proposal but that hasn't stopped Wenger in his plan to snare Alcantara (above left).
Arsenal scouts will be despatched to Spain in the coming weeks to check on the progress of the Spain Under-21 international and the People says it’s likely that Wenger will make Barcelona a substantial offer in January, likely to be somewhere in the region of £25m.
Ominously, however, both Manchester United and Real Madrid are known to be admirers of Alcantara, with the youngster's dad reputedly keen for him to sign for the latter.
Bolton's central defender Gary Cahill appears to be angling for a way out of the Reebok Stadium in the wake of their 5-0 thrashing by Manchester United on Saturday.
The England defender was linked with Tottenham and Arsenal this summer, with both clubs allegedly trying to sign him on the final day of the transfer window. Bolton are believed to have priced them out of the market, however, and it seems the 25-year-old regrets the fact he's still at Bolton.
"As a professional you want to strive and be the best you can and try to get to the highest level you can," he's quoted as saying in the Metro, adding: "At the moment I'm not doing that."
While Arsenal have apparently gone cold on the idea of signing Cahill, Spurs are still keen and the Metro says that Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas is also monitoring the Bolton star.
LA Galaxy are pulling out all the stops to keep hold of David Beckham after stories emerged last week linking him with a return to the Premier League with either QPR or Tottenham.
The Metro says that following the claims, the MLS side have offered the 36-year-old midfielder a lucrative one-year extension to the contract that expires in November. The offer will place Beckham on the horns of a dilemma, says the paper, which claims that while he would love one final crack at the English top flight, his family is settled in Los Angeles and it would be a major wrench to uproot his children and return to the UK.
Meanwhile QPR owner Tony Fernandes was giving little away when asked by Sky Sports on Saturday if Beckham would be playing for the club in November. "Let's see. It's early days," Fernandes replied. "It is something that I think would be good for the club, but we're a long, long way from anything."
Finally, Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has joined Al Ain on loan for the remainder of the season. The Ghanaian joined Sunderland last year from French side Rennes in a £13m deal, but despite netting 10 times last season he hasn't settled and manager Steve Bruce is relieved to offload Gyan to the United Arab Emirates club.
"Anyone who has seen Asamoah play will know that he hasn't been himself in recent months," said Bruce. "This option suits all parties at the present time and the club is well protected in the deal." According to the Daily Mail, Sunderland will receive a world record loan fee of £6m for Gyan. ·
