Football transfer rumours: Arsenal to sign Romelu Lukaku?
ASTANA. KAZINFORM - For years, Arsenal have been derided as a team desperate to fall to pieces the second that the pressure hits - but not any more. Already this summer, they have bought Granit Xhaka and his legendary house key, and now plan to pay Everton £38m for Romelu Lukaku. Which of the two will be on penalties remains to be seen, but as any manager will tell you, it's a nice problem to have.
Elsewhere in north London, "England flop Harry Kane" will be rewarded for two and a half games of indifferent form with a new £5m-a-year contract. Quite whySpurs have been swayed by two stellar seasons of contagious excitement is anyone's guess. And Kane may soon have a new strike partner: Vincent Janssen of AZ Alkmaar; in yet another act of amazing shrewdness from Daniel Levy, Spurs have increased their bid from £15m to £16m. Janssen was top scorer in the Dutch league last season, and the mooted fee is similar to that paid by Manchester United for Ruud van Nistelrooy.
United, meanwhile, still think that they're going to sign Paul Pogba. I know! But the unusualness of the world's finest young player returning to a club he left once already, riveted by the challenge of Europa League football, is to ignore the magic of Ed Woodward's negotiating genius. He plans to think of a really big number, unsuccessfully haggle himself down, and ride back to Manchester in a blaze of indifference.
And United are also interested in buying Rúben Neves from Porto. Neves is a holding midfielder, apparently not a contradiction in terms, and at only 19 years of age, would cost a mere £13m. More importantly, he is represented by Jorge Mendes whose battle with Mino Raiola promises to be a fascinating subplot to the season.
Also in the market for Neves are Liverpool, seeking to replace Swansea-bound Joe Allen. However, there are reservations as to whether such a young player can handle the responsibility that comes with such a role.
Liverpool would also like to sell Christian Benteke. So far, Crystal Palace have offered a mere £31.5m, but Liverpool value him at a whole million more - coincidentally the fee that they paid for him last summer. Initially reticent to schlep to south London, Benteke has been piqued by Palace's recent investment, envisaging a succession of relaxing afternoons watching Andros Townsend step inside before pasting a shot over the bar.
Elsewhere, Pep Guardiola is exploiting his coaching genius to buy a new team;Leroy Sané, the man who spawned a thousand Cypress Hill chants, will soon arrive from Schalke, and for a bargainalicious £40m too. This news comes hot on the heels of Monday's announcement that Oleksandr Zinchenko has been bought from FC Ufa - such is the benefit of hiring Guardiola, his expertise in the Ukrainian market gleaned at Barcelona via the purchase of Dmytro Chygrynskiy.
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