With every summer comes new transfer saga’s involving British players. This summer is no exception with several British players set to move clubs. Here is our are 10 most likely players to move during the off-season.
Andy Carroll (Liverpool)
Carrol moved to West Ham on loan last summer and has had a reasonably successful season at Upton Park, being the focal point of the Hammers attack with Kevin Nolan benefitting greatly from the tall strikers knock downs. Now that the season is over, Carroll is free to go back to Liverpool. However, it appears that Liverpool no longer want the striker and appear to want to sell Carroll as appose to putting him out on loan again. West Ham have reportedly had a £15 million bid accepted by Liverpool, but the Geordie striker is reluctant to move to Upton Park on a permanent basis.
Newcastle appear to also have an opportunity to sign Carroll but it is unknown whether the club are willing to bid £15 million for him, even though Carroll would more than likely prefer a move back to his former club than a move to Upton Park.
Gareth Bale (Tottenham)
The transfer saga involving Gareth Bale looks set to be one of the biggest of the summer. Bale has had a fantastic season for Spurs, scoring 23 goals as the North London club fell agonisingly short of a place in next seasons Champions League. The Welsh winger has since been linked with some of the biggest clubs in Europe, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid. Madrid appear to be leading the race to sign the Welshman, with Madrid President Florentino Perez publicly admitting that Los Blancos are interested in Bale. Real could offer Tottenham a world record bid of £85 million, a fee that would be tough to turn down for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Bale could decide to stay in North London, with Levy set to offer the winger a new contract. With so many possible scenarios surrounding Bale this summer, his future and where he will be playing next season are hard to predict.
Leighton Baines (Everton)
Baines has been one of Everton’s stand out performers this season, with the left-back being a reliable figure in David Moyes line-up. Since the end of the season, Moyes has left Everton to join Manchester United and many at Goodison Park fear that Baines could follow him to Old Trafford.
With United left back Patrice Evra getting older, Moyes will soon have to replace the Frenchman and could see his former player Baines as an ideal replacement. Rumours have suggested that Moyes may post a bid of £39 million for both Baines and Everton midfielder Maourne Fellani. A move to United would appeal to Baines, not only the opportunity to player under his former manager but also the prospect of playing for one of the biggest sides in the world.
Luke Shaw (Southampton)
Luke Shaw is one of the most talented young English players around at the moment and the Southampton left back has created a lot of interest amongst some of the bigger clubs in the Premier League. Manchester United and Chelsea look set to go head to head for the signature of Shaw, who could be part of their respective teams for many years.
New Manchester United manager David Moyes may move for Shaw fir his bid for Leighton Baines falls through, although Shaw may decide to move to Chelsea, who he supported as a boy. Their is also pressure on the 17 year old to sign a new contract at Southampton, which is also a possibility with first team football set to be hard to come by at United and Chelsea.
Ashley Williams (Swansea City)
The Swansea captain has had a fantastic season at the Liberty Stadium, leading the Welsh Cup to League Cup glory in February by beating Bradford City at Wembley. Following his strong defensive displays at centre back for the Swans, speculation has mounted that he could depart for a bigger Premier League club, with Arsenal and Liverpool said to be interested in bringing in Williams. Arsenal appear to be frontrunners for the Welshman’s signature, although the prospect of linking up with former manager Brendan Rodgers could sway Williams to move to Anfield instead of the Emirates.
Swansea are said to demanding £10 million for their captain and are in no mood to let their captain go on the cheap.
John Terry (Chelsea)
The former England captain was once considered one of the best players in Europe and was a key member of Chelsea’s Premier League title wins in 2005 and 2006. The Chelsea captain is not the player he used to be and struggled to get into Chelsea’s starting line-up last year despite still being club captain. With Jose Mourinho coming back to Stamford Bridge, Terry will hope to re-ignite his Chelsea career. Mourinho may have other ideas however and maybe looking to sell a defender who is well past his best.
Should Terry decide to leave Stamford Bridge, French club AS Monaco would be interested in signing him and could make him a key part of the clubs march towards the Champions League and the top of Ligue 1. Leaving Stamford Bridge would be difficult for Terry, who has made it known he wishes to stay at the club until he retires.
Gary Hooper (Celtic)
Hooper is one of the most dangerous strikers in Scotland and helped Celtic claim the Scottish Premier League title last year. After a strong season in Scotland, Hooper has been attracting interest from teams in the Premier League. It is thought that Sunderland and Norwich are vying for the signature of the Scotland striker, who is valued at £7 million.
New Sunderland boss Paulo Di Canio is thought to want to overhaul is squad and sign some new players up front and Hooper could be a player that ends up at the Stadium of Light. Newly promoted Hull City are also said to be in the hunt for Hooper as are Southampton, with manager Manuel Pochettino looking to boast his options up front.
Scott Sinclair (Man City)
Sinclair has had a very difficult first season for Manchester City. The winger has only started 3 games at the Etihad after moving from Swansea for £6.2 million last summer. Manager Roberto Mancini seemed to not value Sinclair and kept him on the bench for many games. It appears that Sinclair has had enough of being a bench warmer and is looking for a move away from Manchester City so he can play some first team football, with one eye on trying to force his way into the England team for next summers World Cup.
A possible destination for Sinclair could be a move back to Swansea, although some believe that the Swans shouldn’t re-sign the winger. Swanasea could look to sign Sinclair on loan if they are priced out of re-signing the winger.
Stewart Downing (Liverpool)
Stewart Downing is a frustrating figure at Liverpool, with moments of brilliance coupled with moments of despair. Rumours have flying around for many months that Downing could be on his way out of Anfield. As far back as last summer, many assumed that the former Middleborough player would be leaving after a series of disappointing performances. Downing signed for Liverpool for £20 million from Aston Villa two years ago and Liverpool look set to cut their losses on the winger.
A possible destination for Downing could be Fulham, who are thought to be interested in bringing the player to Craven Cottage on loan, although Liverpool are said to want a transfer fee for Downing. The Anfield club will hope to recoup some of the £20 million transfer fee they spent, and could use it to sign some of their main targets, such as Aston Villa striker Christan Benteke.
Wayne Rooney (Man United)
Rooney has been a key figure at Old Trafford since he joined the club from Everton in 2004, helping manager Sir Alex Ferguson to win several Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2008. However, all has not been well for Rooney at Old Trafford this season. He was unhappy about being left on the bench for possibly United’s biggest game of the season, at home to Real Madrid in the 2nd round of the Champions League. Since then, Rooney has asked Ferguson if he can leave the club, feeling that he needs a fresh start at another club. Ferguson has now retired at Old Trafford, leaving the job of keeping Wayne Rooney to new manager David Moyes, who gave striker his first professional appearance.
Rooney has said he will consider staying at Old Trafford under Moyes, but speculation has linked him with a host of top clubs throughout Europe, including Chelsea, Paris St Germain and AS Monaco. At the moment it appears that Arsenal are front runners for Rooney’s signature and could offer £25 million for the England man. It remains to be seen whether United will want to sell Rooney to one of their Premier League rivals and will hope that Rooney’s changes his mind and commits to staying at Old Trafford.