The ink has barely dried on the final Premier League table, yet silly season is already well underway.
Whether you’re one of those people who relishes weeks of transfer rumours, or if you’re in the ‘Bah! Humbug! football gossip’ camp, one thing’s for certain – it’s not going away in a hurry.
To save everyone time and energy, JOE has imagined some of the rumours we’re likely to see over the summer.
Don’t say you weren’t prepared.
Manchester United to sign Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
We’re surprised we haven’t seen this one already.
United seem happy to let Robin van Persie move on, while Falcao is as likely to return to Old Trafford as post-match pizza.
Louis van Gaal has been linked with pretty much every other member of the Dutch World Cup squad already, so why not a player with European calibre for the club’s return to the Champions League?
Che Adams to join Tottenham
The 18-year-old ticks so many Tottenham boxes that a rumour seems inevitable.
Don’t believe us? Just check this handy Venn diagram below…
Fernando Torres to Real Madrid
We know, this sounds ridiculous, but we should remember that the great Raul was once an Atletico player before making a name for himself at the Bernabeu.
Throw Torres’ old mentor Rafa Benitez into the mix, not to mention a club with the budget to pay over the odds for one last hurrah from a faded striker, and you have all the ingredients of one of those ‘shock switches’ the papers love so much.
Michu to Liverpool
Admit it, you’d forgotten all about Michu. It’s alright, so had we.
However the Spaniard is due back in the Premier League this summer after an injury-hit loan spell with Napoli, and only one man can fix the Swansea maestro: Brendan Rodgers.
The Liverpool boss has struggled with Spaniards in the past, but he’s sure to dismiss the failure of Iago Aspas, Luis Alberto, Dani Pacheco, Jose Enrique and Suso as a one-off.
Angel Di Maria to Arsenal
With uncertainty over their goalkeeper, question marks over their strikeforce and key midfielders on the wane, the task for Arsenal is clear – spend the entire budget on an attacking midfielder.
Sure, there will be complaints in January when Mathieu Flamini has to be parachuted in again on a short-term deal, but Arsene knows.
