January frenzy
> Coutinho move could spark spending spree
figure at the Emirates. His contract expires in the summer, meaning Arsenal either cash in on the Chilean now or risk seeing him walk away for nothing.
Before the January transfer window even opened, Liverpool moved to address their defensive frailties by bringing in Dutch centreback Virgil Van Dijk from Southampton for £75 million (RM405m), one of the most expensive transfers in history.
Arsenal, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Championship side Nottingham Forest yesterday, face a similar dilemma with Mesut Ozil, who is also out of contract in the summer.
Meanwhile, Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has admitted he has been in talks about bringing Theo Walcott back to the club from Arsenal.
The enormous TV receipts enjoyed by Premier League clubs forces many into the transfer market to compete with the biggest earners in their own division.
So Everton, still far from safe from relegation after a dreadful start to the season, have signed a much-needed centre-forward in Cenk Tosun on a four-and-a-halfyear deal worth a reported £27 million (RM146m).
The forward has scored 41 goals in 96 Turkish Super Lig games for Besiktas.
Leicester City will fight to keep Mahrez, who was one of the driving forces when the unfashionable club won the Premier League title in 2016.
But if Mahrez is tempted away – and he reportedly has a clause in his contract allowing him to leave if a substantial bid comes along in this window – then Leicester’s French boss Claude Puel could turn to Hatem Ben Arfa, who has failed to break into Paris SaintGermain’s star-studded first team.
Ben Arfa has previous Premier League experience with Newcastle and he worked with Puel at Nice in the 2015-2016 season.
PSG could be prepared to let Ben Arfa leave cheaply as the Qatari-backed club need to reduce their wage bill to comply with financial fair play rules after their spending reached stratospheric levels last summer with the worldrecord arrival of Neymar, followed by the acquisition of Kylian Mbappe. – AFP