Aubameyang, Drogba and Zabaleta and more have all been linked with moves to and from the biggest clubs in the Serie A
Napoli are considering a move for Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, while Pablo Zabaleta has emerged as a January target for Inter Milan. The Nerazzurri were rejected in their approach from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Juventus are currently monitoring Porto starlet Ruben Neves.
AC Milan are interested in acquiring Keita Balde from Lazio, and Roma are considering sending back Thomas Vermaelen to Barcelona.
Napoli considering move for Didier Drogba
After his successful second spell at Chelsea in 2014/15 season where he reunited with Jose Mourinho to lead Chelsea to the Premier League and the Capital One Cup double, the legendary Ivorian has been seeing out the final stages of his career at Major League side Montreal Impact.
He is currently in the second year of his contract with the club as their ‘designated player’ and until recently it seemed that he would choose to end his career with the Canadian side, but there may be one last European fling in the Ivorian’s future.
According to SPORT, Serie A side S.S.C.Napoli are considering taking him on loan for the remainder of the season. Drogba is one of the options they have been forced to consider after striker Arkadiusz Milik suffered a knee injury during an international outing with Poland.
Should he not renew with Impact, Drogba would sign with the Partenopei until June and fill in for the 22-year-old Milik. Since joining in 2015, Drogba has lit up the MLS with his stellar displays, scoring 21 goals and registering 7 assists in 31 games so far.
Though he won’t have the same ability as he did in his prime, his valuable Champions League experience and winning mentality is also something that Maurizio Sarri can count on, should they manage to lure the big man to the Stadio San Paolo.
Inter Milan were turned down by Borussia Dortmund
The Gabon-international has been in superb form Die Borussen since his 2013 move. He has managed to make 151 appearances in all competitions since then, scoring 88 goals in the process. After a slow start under Jurgen Klopp, he has begun to live up to his potential under the watchful eyes of current manager Thomas Tuchel.
His performances haven’t gone unnoticed, with a number of European heavyweights rumoured to be interested in securing the services of the former St.Etienne striker.
So it is no surprise that even Inter Milan had tried their luck in the summer. A report in Calciomercato claims that the Nerazzurri had set their sights on the 27-year-old in the summer, after coming under new ownership. It was a bright transfer window for the former European Champions, one which saw them acquire superb talents like Gabigol, Joao Mario and Antonio Candreva for vast sums of money.
Needless to say, their approach was rejected by the German club and when Inter asked how much Aubameyang would cost, Dortmund put a €100 million price tag on their player. With 39 goals and 12 assists in all competitions last term, one could argue that that price tag isn’t too much in this inflated market. However, the prospect of luring a former AC Milan player to the blue side of the San Siro would have been priceless for the Nerazzurri.
Inter Milan target Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta
Pablo Zabaleta has emerged as a possible transfer target for the Nerazzurri. Inter Milan are looking to reinforcements for fullback and have strongly been linked with Barcelona’s Inter Milan and Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian and now according to Calciomercato, the Argentine has been added to their list of potential targets.
Zabaleta’s contract runs till the summer of 2017, but City could let him go in January itself, if they wish to make some money off of him or should they be able to find a suitable replacement. Currently in his 9th season with the Citizens, Zabaleta has made over 300 appearances for the English giants and has been an integral part of the club’s recent success in the era following their takeover by Sheikh Mansour.
He has won every single domestic honour with the club and has captained them on numerous occasions in the absence of Vincent Kompany. Frank De Boer’s side have endured a horrid start to the season and the defence has been one of the biggest issues so far this season and they currently sit at 11th place, having won only 3 of their 9 Serie A games.
Despite being over 30, the Argentine international is still in peak physical condition and with his technical ability and leadership qualities, would be a welcome addition to Frank De Boer’s squad.
Juventus monitoring Ruben Neves
In the wake of injuries to Claudio Marchisio, Kwadwo Asamoah and the departure of Paul Pogba to Manchester United, Juventus are short of top quality personnel in midfield. The Italian giants were linked with moves for Marco Veratti, Blaise Matuidi and Axel Witsel in the summer but were unable to facilitate moves for either of them. So understandably, the Old Lady want to strengthen their midfield, possibly with a long term option.
According to Calciomercato, Juventus are monitoring FC Porto midfielder Ruben Neves. The young Portuguese has become an integral part of the squad. He made his Primeira Liga debut only aged 17 and became the youngest player in the club’s history to score in the competition.
He also made his UEFA Champions League debut a few days later, becoming the youngest Portuguese to play in the competition. He has also on occasions, captained his club side. According to the report, Juventus have been scouting the defensive midfielder since 2014 and believe that he is worthy of big investment.
Neves has a release clause of €40 million and has also been contacted by the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool.
AC Milan interested in Lazio’s Keita
According to Calciomercato, AC Milan want to sign Lazio winger Keita Balde in January. The Senegalese international is yet to agree to a contract extension with Lazio and he is reportedly aware of interest from AC Milan and rivals Inter.
The 22-year-old is a big prospect for the future and over the past three seasons, has impressed for the biaconcelesti, scoring 23 goals and assisting 25 times in all competitions in over a 100 appearances.
The Barcelona youth product is unhappy at Lazio, but the club wish to extend his contract and add a release clause of €30 million. It’s an offer that he is still considering, and is in no rush to sign a contract, given the interest from other top clubs.
Roma could send Vermaelen back in January itself
According to Calciomercato, Roma may prefer to send Thomas Vermaelen back to Barcelona in January. Since moving to Barcelona in the summer of 2014, he suffered numerous injuries which kept him out of action until the end of the season. Much of the same followed in the last campaign and Barcelona eventually managed to sign replacements, meaning more quality and competition for the center back position.
Eventually, the Belgian international was sent on loan to Il Giallorossi in the summer with an option to purchase as Roma had to sign reinforcements in defence due to Antonio Rudiger’s long term injury and Lucas Digne’s departure.
But since his arrival, Vermaelen has once again suffered injuries which have restricted him to a total of 3 official appearances this term, and Roma may consider sending him back to the Nou Camp in December once Rudiger makes his long awaited return.
