Wallets at the ready for January sales Barcelona’s chase of Griezmann set to dominate winter window
PARIS — Barcelona is making moves to bring Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann to Camp Nou while Manchester City is eyeing Alexis Sanchez as clubs around Europe prepare for the January transfer window.
The winter window opens at one minute past midnight on Jan 1, and Barca is looking for a belated Christmas present in France international Griezmann.
Both players will likely move in the summer but deals could be struck in January, with Sanchez holding out for a reported 400,000-euro-perweek ($535,000) deal from the Premier League leader when his contract runs out at the end of the season.
Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo claimed Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has had dinner with Griezmann’s parents and sister, who manages the player’s affairs, and the Catalan club is looking to tie him down to a deal that would see him move in the summer.
Not even Atletico’s complaint to FIFA about Barca’s public pursuit of its star is likely to stop the move, with Barca director Guillermo Amor as good as admitting the meeting took place.
In August, Griezmann’s former agent Eric Ohalts revealed that his 26-year-old client would have moved to Manchester United in the summer had FIFA not upheld a transfer ban that stopped Atletico from buying any reinforcements, and now Barca is ready to swoop.
Barca coffers bursting
Barcelona’s coffers are full to the brim after receiving 222 million euros ($263 million) from the world-record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain. Griezmann’s 100-million-euro buyout clause means Barca only needs to agree personal terms, avoiding the problems they encountered when it failed to sign Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool in August.
Barcelona is, however, still keeping tabs on Brazilian Coutinho and could make a bid lower than the 100 million euros it was prepared to pay in the summer.
PSG clearout
After the Neymar signing, PSG has got to sell players to comply with UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules.
Inter Milan is among those looking at PSG winger Javier Pastore, who has consistently been linked with a move to China and admitted last month that he was “disappointed” at his lack of firstteam action.
PSG coach Unai Emery admitted that Brazilian midfielder Lucas Moura and French international striker Hatem Ben Arfa are interested in leaving in January, but said nothing about Pastore and Angel Di Maria, who has expressed his annoyance at being forced out of the first team by new arrivals Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Liverpool and Arsenal are keen on PSG’s Julian Draxler, but the German has revealed that he has no plans to leave Paris after finding a new role in Emery’s team.
The Qatari-backed Parisians were rumored to be interested in AC Milan’s young goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, but after the stopper reportedly complained about being coerced into signing a six-million-euro contract extension in the summer, the club, the player and, crucially, his powerful agent Mino Raiola have made moves towards a reconciliation at the San Siro.
PSG has given themselves an FFP boost after agreeing the 35-million-euro sale of 21-year-old talent Gonzalo Guedes to Valencia, where the Portugal international is currently on loan from the Ligue 1 leader.
Arsenal exodus?
The sharks are circling Arsenal, as Sanchez and fellow attackers Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud head towards potential Gunners exits.
Manchester City was denied Sanchez on transfer deadline day in August, but City boss Pep Guardiola has indicated he may forego a move in January and wait until the summer to swoop.
Sanchez is reportedly unhappy at Arsenal, and the London club is prepared to open negotiations with City — knowing that Chelsea and Real Madrid are also both interested — to avoid seeing the Chilean star leave on a free transfer in the offseason.
City’s local rival Manchester United is looking at the Gunners’ other attacking star Ozil, with the inconsistent Henrikh Mkhitaryan the likely player to make way for the Germany international.
United boss Jose Mourinho is a long-time admirer of Ozil, of former of his at Real Madrid, but the Red Devils could wait until his contract expires in May if no-one else makes a winter move.
Frenchman Giroud could also leave Emirates Stadium as Borussia Dortmund looks for a partner for star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Eden to Madrid?
Chelsea’s attacking dynamo Eden Hazard is a top target for Real Madrid, and should the Belgian make a post-World Cup move to Spain, Real’s Marco Asensio is keen on joining Guardiola at City. Real is not normally a club that does business in the winter window.
Chelsea, meanwhile, is pondering a bid for Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar, with Blues striker Michy Batshuayi a potential makeweight as he seeks first-team action to boost his chances of making Belgium’s World Cup squad.
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha is also a target for Antonio Conte’s side, as is Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, who was denied a summer move to Liverpool, while out-of-favor Blues centerback David Luiz is attracting interest from Juventus and Real.