Chelsea FC . and Manchester City are eyeing a move for FC Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, while West Ham United continues their negotiation with the Spanish club.
Alex Song, once an important member of the Arsenal team, has faced uncertain future since his move to Barcelona in 2012. The Cameroonian international failed to grab a place in the starting line-up of the Catalan side and was eventually loaned out to West Ham United last season.
The midfielder made a bright start to his career at Upton Park, although he did fade away in the second part of the season, much like the Hammers. West Ham Uniteda s new manager Slaven Bilic considers Song an important cog in his machine and has held talks with the 27-year-old to sign with them permanently.
The English club however faces the challenge of convincing Barcelona to let him sign for free. The Spanish club reportedly value Song at A?5million, and none of the club who loans him will be willing to pay the entirety of his A?70,000-a-week wages. West Ham have offered Barcelona a way out of this situation by taking on his wage, but expect Barca to wave of the transfer fee.
The London based club however faces competition from Chelsea and Manchester City, who are monitoring his situation. Songa s agent has already informed Barca that they are in talks with multiple clubs at the moment. The fact that Alex Song qualifies as a home grown player, due to his time with the Gunners, has caught the attention of a lot of Premier League clubs, who are struggling to fill that quote with quality. This is one of the reasons why Man City have been forced to continue their pursuit of Raheem Sterling, despite Liverpoola s ridiculous demands.
Jose Mourinho reportedly sees Song as good back up for Nemanja Matic, with John Obi Mikel expected to depart from Stamford Bridge this summer, Song will be useful squad player for the reigning Premier League Champions. While both Chelsea and Manchester City will be willing to meet Barcaa s transfer fee demands, Song could still prefer to choose West Ham, even on a loan move, in order play regular first team football. The midfielder is unlikely to repeat the same mistake he made while choosing to leave Arsenal for Barcelona.