Welcome to Transfer Digest, where we here at JOE chew the day’s grisly transfer rumours to a fine and smooth paste to be more easily consumed by you the reader.
Inter rationale
We start off at Old Trafford, where Jose Mourinho is believed to be weighing up a bid for Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic, owner of a disconcertingly long face.
The clubs are currently at something of a crossroads with regards to the fee, with United offering £40 million – well below Inter’s £55m valuation of the Croatian international, reportedly set by the Italian club off the back of the Premier League side’s enthusiastic spending last summer.
Despite the standoff, Perisic is said to be keen on pushing the deal through, and has reportedly been parked in the Old Trafford car park alongside Peter Odemwingie for the last 36 hours.
Prince Michy
Premier League champions Chelsea will no doubt be looking to strengthen their squad ahead of their return to the Champions League next season, but there could be outgoings too in the form of striker Michy Batshuayi.
According to media reports, the Belgian forward has attracted the attention of AS Monaco, who have reportedly been impressed with his work this season as Chelsea’s social media manager and are keen to welcome him to the principality.
“Michy is a really bright talent,” said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim. “He has a natural knack for engaging with users and whether it’s photos, videos or Photoshop work, his results this season speak for themselves.”
“Crass and without dignity”
In non-transfer news, we go to remarks made by soon-to-depart Chelsea captain John Terry who has broken from his tradition of only speaking when being spoken to, to hit out at Francesco Totti for what he described as a farewell which was “crass and without dignity”.
Terry, who recently had his own (and technically second) farewell at Stamford Bridge, said that the entire show reflected poorly on the Roman legend.
“It left a bad taste in my mouth; like shit,” said Terry today. “Everyone goes on about what a class act Totti is but he only made it about himself for a second and devoted the rest of his speech to the city, fans and his teammates. He’s gone down a lot in my estimation.”
Terry has also revealed that while he is open to a move abroad this summer, he will require all interested clubs to agree to a week-long farewell jamboree in his honour upon completion of his contract.
And finally…
Huddersfield Town won the money game yesterday after they defeated Reading FC on penalties in the Championship Play-Off final. Manager David Wagner has said that he now want his players to enjoy a few weeks off to celebrate their hard-earned promotion before being replaced by more expensive and superior players in the months to come.
Speaking at Wembley yesterday, Wagner said: “These players are legends. They have worked tirelessly for me this season and deserve a break. This achievement will never be forgotten, even when the majority of them are loaned out to mid-table Championship teams by August.”
