Transfer news and rumours: 20 January 2016
James Rodriguez is a wanted manThere are just 11 days to go in the winter transfer window of 2016 and so far, deals have been few across Europe and around the world. The big boys, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and various English Premier League clubs have been linked with plenty of players but none of the deals seem to be reaching fruition. Here's a roundup of the transfers rumours and confirmed deals from across the top leagues:
#1 Serie A
Europe's top scorer and former Real Madrid striker, Gonzalo Higuain, has been linked with a move to English defending champions, Chelsea, report London 24. Chelsea currently employ Diego Costa, Loic Remy, Radamel Falcao and Kenedy as their strikers but a player of Higuain's quality don't come too often and a move for him could benefit both parties.
However, Napoli president, Aurelio De Laurentiis is adamant that if any team wants to buy the Argentinian, they'll have to meet his release clause which is a whopping £72.4m. Even for someone like Chelsea, that looks like a stretch.
Fiorentina, Inter, Juventus and AC Milan are reportedly ready to sign Barcelona centre-back, Marc Bartra. The defender hasn't been able to break into the first team ahead of Gerard Pique and Javier Mascherano and could look elsewhere for a starting spot given that the UEFA Euro is not too far away.
Genoa president Enrico Preziosi has claimed that he's chased Alessio Cerci all his life. The Italian is currently owned by Atletico Madrid but has been on loan at AC Milan for the season.
“Cerci is the player I have chased the most during my life,” the president of the Grifone told Sky Sport. “I hope this choice will pay dividends.”