One of the most protracted deals of the summer will finally be concluded today (Saturday 29) as Belgian International, Kevin De Bruyne, finally signs for Manchester City in a reported fee of £55 million.
After a difficult second season for Manuel Pelegrini, Manchester City have spent heavily this window strengthening their squad with five new signings including: Aston Villa’s Fabian Delph, Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling and Argentinian defender Nicolas Otamendi of Valencia and the ex Chelsea player is set to be the next arrival. Despite starting the season strongly with an inform Sergio Agüero and a resurgent Yaya Toure, City will be keen to add more goals and attacking flair to their team and De Bruyne certainly brings that. De Bruyne managed 15 goals in all competitions last season while playing mainly in an attacking midfield position and added to that with 25 assists, it is easy to see why Pelegrini and the City board are willing to pay so much the young Belgian who will bring added quality into a City side that has relied heavily on Agüero and David Silva to score and create goals.
Manchester City had to fight off late interest from cross city rivals Manchester United and Bayern Munich for De Bruyne, the former disappointed yet again in this transfer window will now move onto other targets with just 3 days of business remaining. United manager Louis Van Gaal is determined to land one more ‘star’ play before the Tuesday deadline and may also have to fight to keep wantaway goal keeper David De Gea, although he is reportedly considering selling De Gea if a deal can be found for Gareth Bale.
Remember, I’ll be covering deadline day and all the deals and negotiations live on Tuesday until (and beyond) the 6pm deadline so feel free to pop back!
As reported previously, Tottenham Hotspur have now officially signed Korean forward Heung-Min Son for around £18 million from Bayer Leverkusen pending international clearance. He is not thought to be available for selection tomorrow against Everton as the club awaits his work permit.
In a somewhat unexpected turn of events Tottenham are now in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the prospective transfer of Korean forward Heung-Min Son for a fee in the region of £20 million. Spurs were widely expected to complete the signing of West Bromwich Albion’s Saido Berahino however, following another bid being rejected, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy appears to be considering other targets.
It was reported earlier on in the window that Tottenham had sent a transfer committee out to Germany to scout potential targets such as Sven Bender and Timo Werner however nothing ever materialized until now. Leverkusen’s sporting director, and former manager, Rudi Voller has confirmed that the Korean international was in in talk with Tottenham and even suggested a medical was underway already: “I saw many medicals in this business where there was no deal afterwards.” Despite Voller’s coyness, it does seem that a deal is very much on the cards now following the players omission from the Champions League match against Lazio.
Having scored 17 goals in all competitions last season from a wide position it is easy to see why Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino would be interested in Son however in this day and age it may not be as simple as it seems. One interpretation of the bid is that Tottenham are attempting to force the hand of West Brom over the sale of Saido Berahino. Keeping an unhappy youngster would be less than ideal for Tony Pulis and now that Tottenham seem to be pursuing other targets the England international could push harder for a move before the window shuts.
The potential sale of Erik Lamela to Inter Milan could be another motive behind the interest in the Son; after a disappointing 2 years in the capital Tottenham are considering cutting their losses on the Argentine winger and Heung-Min Son would be considered a sufficient replacement.
With only 5 days of the transfer window remaining many of the Premier League clubs will be hoping to wrap up deals so it’s likely to be a busy few days. I’ll be covering deadline day and all the deals live here from Tuesday morning right up to the 6pm deadline.
So as Sky Sports are reminding us every 15 minutes the transfer window will be coming to a close within a week now yet there seem to be a plethora of deals to be done before the 6pm deadline next Tuesday here’s a look at just a few…
Stones to Chelsea?
After John Terry’s terrible start to the season José Mourinho’s Chelsea have made it very obvious that they’re in the market for a new centre back, John Stones of Everton, and Terry’s dismissal against West Brom will have only furthered the London club’s interest in the young Englishman. There was speculation last week that Stones had submitted a transfer request however this was dismissed by Everton boss Roberto Martínez. Now however, the news has broken that a transfer request has indeed been made leaving Everton in a predicament and putting Chelsea in a strong position to land the defender in this final days of the transfer window. A deal being done would certainly depend on Chelsea upping their bid to around £40 million and Everton’s ability to bring in an adequate replacement to an already thin defence.
Will Tottenham Strengthen?
Following Harry Kane’s goalless start to the season Tottenham have been making great strides in the last weeks to bring in support for the striker who scored over 30 goals last season. With the signing of Clinton N’Jie they have added a pacey young forward to their ranks, however having scored just 7 goals last year and being unproven in England it is clear to see why Spurs are chasing another striker: Saido Berahino. The young West Brom forward had his breakthrough in the Premier League last season and has caught the attention of Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy due to his pace, versatility and age; all remits for Tottenham under their new transfer policy. Tony Pulis and the West Brom board have been less than happy with the interest in their star player though with two bids and a transfer request rejected up to now. Whether Tottenham land their man or not depends on Levy’s willingness to meet West Brom’s reported £30 million price tag. Aside from Berahino, the North London outfit are also in the market for a defensive midfield player and have shown interest in Vicror Wanyama of Southampton and Sven Bender from Dortmund but with less than a week remaining they may have left it too late.
City to miss out?
Manchester City have been negotiating with Wolfsburg for most of this month over the transfer of winger Kevin de Bruyne and they were closing in on a deal for the young Belgian last week in a deal worth around £50 million. However after missing out to Chelsea on former Barcelona winger Pedro, Louis Van Gaal’s Manchester United have reportedly registered interest in the player as he looks to strengthen his side who have started slowly in the league. With interest from Bayern Munich also being reported in the last few days Pelegrini will be hoping a deal will be found sooner rather than later.
Out of favour.
Emmanuel Adebayor has once again fallen out of favour at Tottenham and has been the subject of much speculation and interest this summer with a number of clubs interested in the Togolese striker. He was on the cusp of linking up with ex-Spurs boss Tim Sherwood until the deal collapsed (despite a medial being completed) due to the player reportedly wanting to remain in London. West Ham have shown an interest in signing Adebayor, as they did in January to no avail, and with Crystal Palace also linked his future certainly seems to be away from White Hart Lane.
At the businesns end of the summer as one club sells another buys and vice-versa meaning we should be in for a busy conclusion to the window. I will be doing my best to cover all deadline day transfers as they happen so sit back and relax as managers around the country scrap and panic to get their deals done as the clock ticks down…
El Representante 
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