The tug of war between Everton and Chelsea over Anthony Gordon continues to get ever more ridiculous. In fact, it is getting seriously trippy. It says here that the hope at Stamford Bridge is that by dangling Conor Gallagher, Armando Broja and £25m in front of Goodison Park suits, Frank Lampard might be convinced to finally let go of Gordon’s feet. The Mill’s not brilliant at maths but this kind of deal would appear to make the attacking midfielder, who is yet to get into double figures for goals at Everton, worth around £75m to £80m. Far out, man.
Across Stanley Park, Liverpool have midfield problems of their own to sort out. Despite emphatically ending talk of a crisis with their nine-goal evisceration of Bournemouth, Jürgen Klopp is still keen to add a middle man who can last more than one game without getting injured to his ranks. With Frenkie de Jong looking likely to stay at Barcelona, a deal for long-time Borussia Dortmund target Jude Bellingham might be brought forward to January, but Wolves’s Rúben Neves, RB Leipzig’s Konrad Laimer and Sheffield United’s Sander Berge are more immediate options.
The boos that are still ringing in Steven Gerrard’s ears have prompted him to intensify efforts to strengthen his Aston Villa defence by bringing in Jan Bednarek from Southampton on loan. Ajax will move for Hakim Ziyech to replace Manchester United-bound Antony, who will do well at Old Trafford if his prolific mentions in this gossip column are anything to go by.
Brendan Rodgers wants to inject a bit of life into his stale Leicester squad by snaffling Matheus Pereira away from Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal. The flying winger last made headlines in England by becoming embroiled in a row with former West Brom manager Valérien Ismaël over his commitment to the club. Could be interesting.
Harry Winks is this close to joining Sampdoria from Tottenham and Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi is just a medical away from a season-long loan move to Bayer Leverkusen. Ethan Ampadu is on his way out of Stamford Bridge, too. The Wales utility man is set for a loan move to Spezia, who have the option to buy at a cool £12.5m. Reports here say that Cristiano Ronaldo is knocking at the Stamford Bridge door hoping to play Champions League football. Won’t somebody just let him in?
And the word is that Manchester City will hand £100m to Pep Guardiola and tell him to “go and buy yourself something nice” if anyone catches his eye at the Qatar World Cup.
