It’s the off-season for all club competition, almost all of the international play currently being staged are just meaningless friendlies, so you know what that means? It is indeed the summer silly season, i.e. time to talk some transfer rumors.
So with that in mind, let’s dive right in to the latest narratives surrounding Manchester City, with two forwards potentially leaving, one deal that is moving closer to completion, and another transfer narrative that is only just getting started. Let’s start with the former, Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus.
According to some reports, the 25-year-old Brazilian has already agreed in principle to move to join Arsenal. Jesus, wanting regular first team football ahead of the World Cup, so he could make it into the Brazil squad, has reportedly turned down Real Madrid and Juventus.
At this stage, it sounds likes the two big six clubs are hammering out the final transfer fee. It is expected to be in the range of £50 million, which is pretty good for a player who is/has been essentially an odd man out. His role/status is expected to diminish even more with Erling Haaland now having transferred over.
This seems like a good fit, great deal for both parties, but the Daily Mail doesn’t see Jesus as the answer for Arsenal however. Read more about that, over at this link.
Moving on, the Raheem Sterling to Chelsea? saga. Yes, we have a question mark for that sentence. You know that Sterling wants out, as that’s common knowledge. He even turned down Tottenham, but a move to this London club might make sense, as Chelsea are still trying to find themselves in attack and some players in the final third will be moving on this summer.
On Sunday Sky Sports said “it would take a bid close to £60m” to get this deal over the line before deadline day. Given how Sterling only had one year left on his current Manchester City deal, this price seems high. Other rumors talk of a much smaller budget, with talk of a €25m bid having already been rejected.
However, it appears that this story is just all smoke and not fire at this point.
According to the Telegraph’s latest report, which appears to be sourced from the Jamaican born English international, there are “no frontrunners at present” and Chelsea haven’t even contacted the player or the club.
So someone is right, and someone is totally wrong here. This is why they call it the silly season.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.