Transfer news and rumours: Chelsea's Cesc Fabregas to follow Oscar to China as Arsenal suffer Alexis Sanchez blow
All the latest transfer reports, gossip and speculation on Friday, December 16
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Your support makes all the difference.Is Cesc Fabregas set to follow Chelsea team-mate Oscar to the Far East next summer – or is it all Chinese whispers?
That’s the question on every Chelsea fan’s lips this morning.
With Oscar set to seal a remarkable £52m January move to Shanghai SIPG next month, rumours are now rife his fellow midfielder could do the same.
Today’s Daily Mail reports Fabregas, who scored his first Premier League goal of the season for the Blues on Saturday – is the subject of interest from Chinese clubs but will not consider a move in January.
His likeliest destination next summer could be Guangzhou Evergrande, coached by Luiz Felipe Scolari, the former Chelsea manager. Reports suggest Chelsea could hold out for as much as £40m for Fabregas, who is under contract until 2019.
Oscar will become the third-highest paid player in the world after moving from Chelsea to Shanghai SIPG, on weekly net wages of £400,000, says the Times.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have offered Chelsea target Alexis Sanchez a £9.3m-a-year deal to tempt him to sign a new contract, but the Daily Mirror reports that is still significantly short of the Chilean’s wage demands.
Sanchez is on £130,000-a-week at the Emirates with Arsenal having offered to raise that to £180,000-a-week. It is understood, however, that Sanchez, who has been in excellent form this season, wants a minimum £250,000-a-week.
Sanchez is reported to have been offered an astonishing £500,000-a-week from clubs in China. He has 18 months left on his contract at Arsenal.
Elsewhere, Juventus star Paulo Dybala claims Paul Pogba is missing life in Turin. Manchester United re-signed Pogba from Juventus for a world-record £89m fee in the summer, and he is settling in at Old Trafford after a low-key start.
Dybala told Corriere dello Sport: I’m still talking to Pogba, we are missing him for his quality on the pitch and his jokes in the dressing room. However, he misses us as well.”
Dimitar Berbatov is set for a return to Old Trafford, according to the Manchester Evening News, as he targets a Premier League comeback.
Berbatov scored 57 goals for United between 2008 and 2012, and remains a firm favourite with Manchester United fans.
He is a free agent after leaving PAOK in the summer and is keen to return to the Premier League despite being about to turn 36.
The Manchester Evening News reports Berbatov will visit Carrington next week to train with Jose Mourinho’s squad as he targets a return to England.
In other transfer news on Friday Everton are set to sign Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson in January, says the Daily Mirror.
And Southampton are ready to move for Valencia’s £16.7m-rated Spanish midfielder Dani Parejo, according to the Daily Star.
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