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January Transfer Thread - it couldn't open and close any quicker

Liverpool are ready to trigger the £75m release clause in Sevilla and France defender Jules Kounde's contract this month, with Chelsea and Real Madrid also interested in the 23-year-old. (El Nacional via Teamtalk)

Chelsea's 28-year-old German defender Antonio Rudiger, out of contract in the summer and yet to sign a new deal with the European champions, is said to prefer a move to Real Madrid over Paris St-Germain if he leaves Stamford Bridge. (Football London)

PSG are said to have offered Rudiger 7m euros a year after tax, more than the Spanish side have proposed. (Footmercato - in French)

Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, 34, has committed himself to Manchester United for the rest of the season after talks with boss Ralf Rangnick. (Mirror)

AC Milan are considering a move for Emirates Marketing Project's 26-year-old Dutch defender Nathan Ake after the Italian side lost Denmark centre-back Simon Kjaer, 32, for the rest of the season with a knee injury. (Sun)

Emirates Marketing Project could pursue Croatia captain Luka Modric, who is unhappy with the contract renewal offered by Real Madrid. The 36-year-old's current deal at the Spanish club runs out at the end of the season. (El Nacional, via Mail)

Arsenal are willing to finance a big-money deal to sign 21-year-old Serbia forward Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina in January. (Mirror)

Saudi Sportswashing Machine have been quoted £50m for Bayer Leverkusen's Czech striker Patrik Schick, 25, as their hunt for a forward gets more desperate. (Sky Sports)

Paris St-Germain, AC Milan, Roma, Lyon, Barcelona and Saudi Sportswashing Machine are among clubs that could be interested in 25-year-old French midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, whose future at Tottenham is uncertain after he was booed by Spurs supporters when substituted in Sunday's FA Cup third-round win against Morecambe. (Star)

The magic of the FA Cup-set

Saudi Sportswashing Machine could rival Ajax in pursuit of 24-year-old Netherlands winger Steven Bergwijn, whose representatives are looking at loan options for him away from Tottenham. (90min)

Ajax have already made a £15m bid for Bergwijn and are keen to complete a deal for him before they face Utrecht on Sunday. (Telegraaf - in Dutch)

Saudi Sportswashing Machine are in advanced talks to sign 19-year-old French striker Hugo Ekitike from Reims for just under £30m. (90min)

Saudi Sportswashing Machine's hopes of signing 21-year-old defender Sven Botman during the January transfer window seem to be over, with the Dutchman's club Lille refusing to consider his departure. Sevilla's 28-year-old Brazilian Diego Carlos and Frenchman Benoit Badiashile, 20, of Monaco remain options for the Magpies this month. (Athletic, subscription required)

Saudi Sportswashing Machine could turn to Everton's 25-year-old English centre-back Mason Holgate as another defensive option. (Give Me Sport)

Tottenham will consider offers for England midfielder Dele Alli, 25, and Republic of Ireland defender Matt Doherty, 29, to leave the club during January. (Sky Sports)

Spurs are leading the chase for AC Milan and Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie, 25, who is out of contract in the summer. (Rudy Galetti on Twitter)

Manchester United have discussed a move for Borussia Monchengladbach's 25-year-old Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria this month, but a bid is yet to be made. (Fabrizio Romano)

Chelsea are in talks with Lyon about a deal to recall 27-year-old Italy defender Emerson Palmieri from his loan spell in France as cover for the injured Ben Chilwell. (Mail)

West Ham are weighing up a loan move for Paris St-Germain's 25-year-old Senegalese defender Abdou Diallo. (RMC Sport - in French)

Queens Park Rangers striker Lyndon Dykes has attracted the interest of a number of Premier League clubs, including Saudi Sportswashing Machine, Burnley, Crystal Palace and Norwich City. Scottish champions Rangers and English Championship leaders Bournemouth are also said to keen on the 26-year-old Australian-born Scotland international. (Teamtalk)

Vivianne Miedema, 25, has not ruled out extending her stay with Women's Super League leaders Arsenal but the Netherlands striker is wanted by Paris St-Germain and European champions Barcelona. (Telegraph, subscription required)
 
What is the best we could hope for? Being realistic.

Sign: Eriksen and Traore. Then miraculously sell Ndombele and Le Celco allowing us to sign Vlahovic. Okay that isn't realistic.

Something like, sell/loan-with-option-to-buy Le Celso and Bergwjin and sign Eriksen, Traore plus a CB. It would leave us light up front, but any forward worth their salt won't be free to transfer in Jan in all likelihood. It will be one of those where we could sign a stand-in forward, but then why not give minutes to Scarlett who's similar quality? And save the cash for spending on someone top tier in the summer.

I'd be happy with shifting 2 and signing 3. But it doesn't look too promising. The final week of the window is where things may pick up.
 
I watch every window to see some real commitment from the Club in terms of spend and nothing ever seems to change. There is no intention by Levy of trying to get the level up to the top three clubs. We don't have a sugar Daddy - I get that (or we do but Lewis won't spend his own money) BUT while Levy holds out for a great stadium naming rights deal which would inject cash, he has probably missed out on two year's worth of that income - possibly around £40M.

Anyway the main point is that Levy doesn't like spending money on transfer fees. Here's what he said - word for word - on All or Nothing:

"In 2001, we decided that we were going to embark on two massive projects which was the Academy and the Stadium. The Academy was important because we need to have a production line of players; the idea that you can run a club that every year you can go and spend tens of millions of pounds on the player is just unsustainable"

So there you have it - I give him very top marks for the Stadium and the training centre but he has failed in terms of the outputs from the Academy and with it, the scouting team AND he simply won't change his philosophy on Transfers.

And so we will go on in this cycle of: new manager: hopes raised: new Manager gets disillusioned with transfer approach: results drop and manager leaves - rinse and repeat.

We're doomed, Captain Mainwaring, doomed, I tell you...
 
What is the best we could hope for? Being realistic.

Sign: Eriksen and Traore. Then miraculously sell Ndombele and Le Celco allowing us to sign Vlahovic. Okay that isn't realistic.

Something like, sell/loan-with-option-to-buy Le Celso and Bergwjin and sign Eriksen, Traore plus a CB. It would leave us light up front, but any forward worth their salt won't be free to transfer in Jan in all likelihood. It will be one of those where we could sign a stand-in forward, but then why not give minutes to Scarlett who's similar quality? And save the cash for spending on someone top tier in the summer.

I'd be happy with shifting 2 and signing 3. But it doesn't look too promising. The final week of the window is where things may pick up.

Brereton and Bogle in for Bergwijn, Doherty and Carter-Vickers (minimal net spend)

Then maybe a late Ndombele swap for Guimaraes or Aouar (with us likely subsidising wages)

Scarlett isn't ready yet for adult football - that was abundantly clear against Mura, where he was a rabbit in the headlights
 
Brereton and Bogle in for Bergwijn, Doherty and Carter-Vickers (minimal net spend)

Then maybe a late Ndombele swap for Guimaraes or Aouar (with us likely subsidising wages)

Scarlett isn't ready yet for adult football - that was abundantly clear against Mura, where he was a rabbit in the headlights
Rabbit in the headlights? He never got given the ball.
 
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