With the January transfer window opening up in just a few days, we look ahead at some of the players most likely to be changing clubs in the January sales.
1. Carlos Tevez, Man City. Hopefully Tevez will finally leave and join AC Milan, with the transfer saga dragging on for a long time already. Personally I really don’t understand Tevez one bit. He’s at Man United, he doesn’t seem willing to hold on for his chance and didn’t feel loved so joined City for more money and to get one over on his previous club. He becomes their star player, one of the best strikers in the league, and then claims to be homesick and ends up falling out with Mancini, refusing to warm-up in one of their most important matches which seemingly sealed his fate. He could’ve been idolised by City and could’ve been part of their history, but instead wants to go to a far weaker league in Serie A just when he’s in his prime. A top, top striker who unfortunately fails to settle wherever he lands.
2. Dimitar Berbatov, Man United. I don’t at all think he will leave, but I think there will be several clubs enquiring about the availability of the Bulgarian striker. He’s been in the goals recently due to making more of an appearance in the United side, but seems to generally be behind the preferred partnership of Rooney and Hernandez, with Danny Wellbeck also starting ahead of him at times. His body language of late seems to be worse than usual, obviously unhappy at his role as a bit-part player. His contract is due to expire at the end of the season and it remains to be seen whether Sir Alex Ferguson opts to extend it or not, with him apparently unimpressed with Berbatov’s performances during the big matches.
3. Gary Cahill, Bolton Wanderers. Cahill has come on leaps and bounds during his 4 year stint with Bolton, but with the club in a real relegation battle it looks as if he will be leaving during the January transfer window with Chelsea apparently the front runners to sign him. Chelsea have struggled defensively this season, and an english partnership of Terry and Cahill looks quite a solid combination. With David Luiz looking out of his depth, Villas-Boas needs to tighten things up at the back and Cahill looks the perfect choice. Manager of Bolton Owen Coyle has had a really tough season as of late, which is surprising given his credentials. It seems to be a matter of when, rather then if, Cahill makes the move to a top Premier League side.
4. David Beckham, LA Galaxy. Beckham seems to be quite in demand these days, with clubs like Everton seemingly stating their interest in the superstar as well as a host of other clubs. PSG, now armed with a wad of money, look to be leading the race for his signature. There’s no doubting that Beckham would be a great coup for any club, but I’m not too sure how he’d perform at the highest level these days. I’m still sure that he could do a job though, much in the way that Ryan Giggs does, when called upon.
5. Demba Ba, Newcastle. Fans at Newcastle were angry last season when they sold their star striker Andy Carroll for £35 million with no other decent replacement brought in. However, at the end of the season when West Ham were relegated Ba had a clause in his contract triggered allowing him to leave on a free transfer. Newcastle snapped him up, and haven’t looked back since. Carroll has gone on to struggle at Liverpool whilst Ba is one of the leading Premier League scorers, looking a top player in the process. Newcastle have their own transfer worries with Tiote another revelation for them this season, and Chelsea rumoured to be interested in signing him.
