Transfer Rumour Round Up

If transfer news over the past week is anything to go by, the financial juggernaut that is Manchester City shows no sign of stopping come the summer.

Depending on what newspaper you read, the Eastlands club are after Thierry Henry, John Terry, Roque Santa Cruz, Franck Ribéry and Fabio Cannavaro. Of all those targets, one would imagine that only Santa Cruz is a realistic prospect, doubly so if Blackburn Rovers are relegated. It appears that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea are also in pursuit of Ribéry, who is almost certain to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season. World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has other suitors in the form of Tottenham Hotspur who are also rumoured to be interested in the Italian whose contract at Real Madrid is up in the summer.

Elsewhere, AC Milan appear to have their sights set on a double signing from Arsenal with Emmanuel Adebayor and Gaël Clichy both reported targets. Whilst Arsene Wenger will surely not want to lose two of his brightest talents, he also has eyes on Everton’s Joleon Lescott and there could be a return to Arsenal for Jérémie Aliadière should Middlesbrough lose their battle against relegation.

The fact that Chelsea don’t know who their manager will be next season hasn’t stopped the rumours, with Roman Pavyluchenko and Rafael Van Der Vaart both touted to move to Stamford Bridge. Pavyluchenko has however insisted that he isn’t going anywhere.

With Rafa Benitez’s new contract signed, the Liverpool manager will be looking forward to greater freedom in the transfer market this summer. One possible target looks like being David Silva as Valencia look to cash in on one of their prize assets to ease their financial worries. The £30 million asking price could prove prohibitive however. Slightly cheaper might be a renewed £8 million bid for Gareth Barry and the £15 million signing of Stewart Downing should Boro go down. They will have to fight Spurs, who are long term admirers of the left-sided midfielder, for his signature however.

We are at the business end of the season right now with managers focused on trophies and staving off relegation rather than speculating who they might be interested in a few months time. Whether there is any truth behind the current crop of rumours remains to be seen but, with the futures of Cesc Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo still in the balance, it could well be a summer of high stakes transfers.