Ten deals we believe will come to fruition this summer.
David Villa: Barcelona to Arsenal
We expect Arsene Wenger to re-ignite his interest in the Spanish international in the summer and will finally secure a deal to bring the Barcelona man to the Emirates Stadium.
31 year old marksman Villa will have just a year to run on his contract come the summer and the Gunners will then have more of a chance of persuading the Catalan club to sell and are readying a £14m bid for the former Valencia striker.
Wenger is ready to offer the experienced attacker a three or four year deal and is willing to meet the player’s current wage demands, said to be in the region of £110k a week.
Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova has used David Villa fairly sparingly, opting in the main to use the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Pedro over Spain’s record international goal-scorer, this hasn’t blunted the striker’s edge though.
David Villa has still netted ten goals in all competitions despite making just 12 starts and Wenger clearly feels that despite his age the La Liga man could be a great asset to add to his Arsenal strike-force.
Arsenal have had little problem hitting the back of the net this term, scoring 49 goals in 23 Premier League fixtures, but Arsene Wenger’s decision to use the likes of Lukas Podolski and Gervinho in wide areas does mean that the Emirates Stadium side only really have to central striking options in the form of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott.
The success of any move for Villa will of course greatly depend on Arsenal having secured a Champions League berth for next term.
Tom Ince: Blackpool to Liverpool
The former Anfield man has been linked with a move back to the Merseyside club for some weeks now and with Reading said to have made an offer for the Blackpool youngster Liverpool will surely be ready to up their bid in the summer.
Ince conforms to Liverpool’s youthful transfer policy and is a player Rodgers is keen on bringing back to the club he left 18 months ago.
The youngster would surely prefer a move back to Liverpool over advances from Reading, not least because he has seen Rodgers show great faith in young talents like Andre Wisdom, Suso and Raheem Sterling, faith that was not shown in Ince when he was struggling to get a foot hold in the first team picture under both Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish.
Tom Ince has shone at Bloomfield Road this term, notching up 15 goals and ten assists in Blackpool’s faltering Championship campaign.
If Blackpool fail to secure a route back to the top tier then they will be even more financially liable to do so.
Leandro Damiao: Internacional to Tottenham
Tottenham attempted to finally land long term target Leandro Damiao but failed to secure a deal in the final hours of the January transfer window.
Andre Villas-Boas knows his side do not have a myriad of striking options and with Jermain Defoe suffering with injury problems and Emmanuel Adebayor away on Africa Cup of Nations duty it has become all to clear they are light up front.
The Internacional striker has been strongly linked with a move to Totteham for the best part of a year and given that Tottenham have previously signed players from the Porto Alegre club in the past, having brought in midfield battle Sandro from the same source, there is perhaps a chance a deal could be struck in the summer.
Damiao has been a consistent finisher in Brazil, scoring 74 goals in 129 appearances for Internacional. The powerful marksman finished as the top scorer during the 2012 Olympic Football tournament.
Peter Odemwingie: West Brom to QPR
The Baggies striker has effectively burned bridges back to West Brom by opting to drive down to Loftus Road to complete a deal that wasn’t close to coming to fruition. This has led to a great deal of derision from his team-mates and his boss.
If QPR stay in the top tier, and perhaps even if they don’t, we can see QPR looking to complete a deal to bring in the Nigerian international and his actions may well have helped to drive his price down as he appears to have little or no future at the Hawthorns.
Harry Redknapp clearly wanted another striker on deadline-day but will hope that the signings he did make will help keep the West London side in the Premier League.
If they did get relegated Odemwingie may still be keen on a move to join the Super Hoops.
Asmir Begovic: Stoke City to Man United
Man United are reportedly confident of signing Stoke City keeper Asmir Begovic this summer according to the Daily Mail.
Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to make an £8m bid for the 25 year old Potters custodian and may just succeed with such a bid given that Tony Pulis has already signed a ready made replacement in the form of England youngster Jack Butland.
Such a move would clearly lead some to believe that young Spaniard David de Gea’s Old Trafford day’s are numbered. The former Atletico Madrid man struggled in his first season at Man United but has improved a great deal in his second season, seeing off the challenge of Anders Lindegaard to secure the number one starting spot.
Begovic would surely jump at the chance of a move to Man United and Pulis may have realised he is fighting a losing battle to keep the Bosnian international, hence his move to sign teenage sensation Butland on a £4m deal last month.
Yoann Gourcuff: Lyon to Arsenal
We can see Arsene Wenger pushing on with efforts to land this long term target in the summer.
Lyon’s financial dire straits must be fairly monumental given that the club made a decent sum from the sales of Hugo Lloris, Aly Cissokho and Kim Källström to Tottenham, Valencia and Spartak Moscow respectively but still need to sell in order to stave off further debts.
Though French midfielder Gourcuff is perhaps not the same player he once was, his career blighted by injury and poor patches of form, at 26 years of age the former Bordeaux man still has a lot to offer and the temptation to pick up a long term target for a reduced price may be too much for Wenger to resist.
Arsenal do possess a number of players of a similar style to the attacking midfielder, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky to name two and arguably Jack Wilshere performs in the same type of role, however given the injuries this very trio have suffered over the past 18 months perhaps it’s still worth making a move for the one time AC Milan man.
Ezequiel Garay: Benfica to Man United
The 26 year old Argentine international has been a big success since his move from Real Madrid to the Lisbon giants, helping the Estadio da Luz side to mount a genuine title challenge this term and is seen by Sir Alex Ferguson as a long term replacement for veteran Rio Ferdinand.
The no nonsense defender is apparently a player Benfica are willing to listen to offers for but only if their €30m (£25m) valuation is met, and though that fee is not one Man United are likely to meet they may be able to haggle with the Portuguese side given their financial problems.
With Rio Ferdinand entering the latter stages of his career and with no new deal on the table for the veteran, and with Nemanja Vidic having repeated injury concerns, this is perhaps a move that could go through this summer.
Marouane Fellaini: Everton to Chelsea
Fellaini has been in excellent form this term, helping to keep his Toffees side in or around the top four for much of the current campaign, scoring eight goals, and is a pivotal member of David Moyes’s Everton squad.
The former Standard Liege man was subject to a release clause but it is believed to have run out which would mean that Chelsea would have to offer a fairly high sum, probably in the region of £25m and upwards, to have any chance of persuading Everton chairman Bill Kenwright to sell.
Chelsea may see Abramovich is an ideal long term replacement for Frank Lampard, who is expected to leave the Blues this summer.
The Russian owner may well be willing to fork out a big sum for the Belgian in the hope of bringing in the in-form 25 year old to Stamford Bridge where the powerful midfielder would finally see his first taste of Champions League action.
Edinson Cavani: Napoli to Man City
With Mario Balotelli leaving Man City we can see Roberto Mancini, or whomever is in charge at the Etihad Stadium come the summer, making a big money move for the Napoli goal machine.
Sergio Aguero has not hit the heights of last term and Carlos Tevez has turned down recent contract offers, there may well be scope for bringing in a ‘marquee’ signing to help boost the club’s front-line.
Any move for the Uruguayan would require a fee in the region of £50m and only City and Chelsea are likely to make such a bid, but we can well see such a move occurring this summer, especially if Napoli fail to beat Juventus to the Serie A title.
Mohamed Diame: West Ham to Arsenal
The North London club lack a defensively minded midfield presence, having arguably failed to bring in an adequate replacement for Alex Song after he left to join Barcelona last summer, and this lack of an ‘enforcer’ has been exacerbated by the fact that Mikel Arteta has seen his creativity compromised by having to adopt a holding position in order to fulfill a makeshift role in the centre of the park.
Diame is said to be keen on a move to Arsenal but reports about his release clause are seemingly inconclusive with some sources believing that the fee needed to sign the 25 year old may be nearer £7m, which may still be a very decent price to pay for the Hammer man.
Come the summer a move for the Senegal international could be just the ticket.