A list of ten players who could move this summer for a cut price fee.
Charles N’Zogbia – Aston Villa
The former Wigan man looks likely to be heading out of Villa Park at the soonest opportunity after appearing to be a member of Paul Lambert’s ‘bomb squad’ that saw unwanted players given unreasonably high shirt numbers earlier this summer.
Figuring sparingly last season, he saw himself lose his place in favour of the new system that saw established strikers Gabriel Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann take up spots out wide, and with the arrivals of Aleksander Tonev and Leandro Bacuna he may well find playing time difficult to come by again this term.
Arriving in the West Midlands for £9 million two years ago, he will be available for considerably less than that as Villa continue to look to chop numbers off the wage bill, with the Frenchman being a prime candidate for his lack of consistency during a relegation battle in the previous campaign.
Still capable of dazzling on the left, he would make a great addition to a number of mid table sides looking to push onwards and upwards.
Tiago Ilori – Sporting Lisbon
One of the hottest prospects in Europe right now should be available for a steal as Sporting Lisbon are struggling to tie him down to a new deal.
Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers had been in for the 20-year-old earlier in the summer, but had seen a £3 million bid thwarted by the Portuguese side, who were demanding at least double that before they allowed him to talk with another club.
However, the player’s refusal to sign a new deal with the club has alerted Liverpool, along with several others, who are now preparing to return with a fresh offer in the hope that Sporting will now be willing to cash in on him rather than lose him for nothing later on.
It’s not every day that a prospect such as this becomes available for so little and he would suit any number of sides either as a regular starter or as someone to bed in over time.
The Lisbon club have been expected to hold a fire sale this summer to ease some of their heavy off field debts, but Ilori is thought to be one of the names that they hope to hold on to with a new contract waiting to be signed.
Bruma – Sporting Lisbon
The 18-year-old winger has caught the eye of some of Europe’s top clubs having broken into Sporting’s first team this season.
Chelsea attempted to bring Bruma to West London last year but the Lisbon giants managed to tie him down with a new deal.
However, Bruma’s lawyer, Bebiano Gomes, says his deal expired at the end of June, but the club have insisted there was a clause that triggered an automatic renewal, prompting an awkward court case to hold up any move.
Bayern are already believed to have made a £4 million bid to take Bruma to the Bundesliga, a £2 million rise on the bid Chelsea had previously tabled.
Bruma’s older brother, Buomesca, is already on the books at Fulham so Chelsea could have the upper hand as the two could be reunited in the English capital.
Armindo Tué Na Bangna, as his full name reads, has made eight appearances for the first team, scoring once, but he’s been heavily involved in the segunda team where he’s scored six times in 25 appearances.
Keisuke Honda – CSKA Moscow
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Gallaini has confirmed that the club are hoping to sign CSKA Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda, but will wait until January to do so.
However, the Japanese international has entered the final six months of his contract with the Russian side, meaning he is now free to talk with other club’s who may be interested in bringing him on board.
Everton and Liverpool had been thought to be keeping an eye on his situation, but CSKA, who have said they would let the 27-year-old go now should a reasonable offer come their way, have stated that the ball is firmly in Milan’s court if they want to make an approach.
But Galliani has insisted that the Rossoneri are happy to wait until the winter to bring him to the San Siro.
Milan are hoping to add more options to their attack with Robinho and Kevin Prince-Boateng likely to move on themselves this summer, though the former has just seen his return to Santos break down.
So though he may not actually be leaving Moscow this summer, he could secure the move over the next couple of weeks.
Soloman Kalou – Lille
The Ivorian hitman, who is currently with French side Lille has been linked with moves to West Brom and West Ham at various points throughout the season after both clubs were reported to have triggered a £2.6m release clause in his contract.
Kalou spent six years at Stamford Bridge where he bagged 60 goals 251 appearances. He fell out of favour towards the end of his time there and last summer made the switch to Ligue 1 with Lille where he wracked up 16 goals in 37 appearances.
He has previously expressed his desire to return to England one by claiming that he missed playing in the Premier League, however, any side hoping to bring him back to these shores will have to give him assurances that he will be playing through the middle after rumours that he turned down a switch to West Ham because they couldn’t promise him that were true.
He can still play in a wider position, and at such a low price he would represent a great piece of business for a side lacking goals and lacking funds.
Diego Capel – Sporting Lisbon
The third and final Sporting Lisbon player on the list, and probably the best too.
The former Sevilla winger operates on the left side of the attack where his speed and crossing ability cause problems for defences. Once a spikey character, known for his tantrums as much as anything else, he’s matured since making the move to Lisbon last year.
No stranger to European competition, he won the Uefa Cup twice in succession with Sevilla in 2006 and 2007. A year later he was part of the squad that won the Uefa Super Cup, defeating Barcelona 3-0.
At the start of the window his price was thought to be just under £10 million, however, since nothing has materialised yet, he is now priced at just £6 million, and a move for the two cap Spanish international could go ahead if any clubs can free up the cash quickly. Capel may also seek a move away as Sporting are midway through a disappointing campaign, currently sitting in 10th place of the Portuguese league.
Adem Ljajic – Fiorentina
A number of sides have cast admiring glances over the 21-year-old serb this season, with the both AC Milan and Manchester City said to be weighing up offers.
Milan are thought to be leading the chase of the interesting parties and they have been keen to press ahead with talks as he enters the final year of his current contract in Tuscany. Fiorentina are keen for him to stay and are said to be preparing fresh terms to convince him to stay, but earlier this week they secured the signing of Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez meaning there will be increased competition for places next season – and that will especially be the case should they manage to keep hold of Stevan Jovetic too.
Normally valued at around £15 million, the Serie A giants may be forced to drop their asking price as he has been stalling on putting pen-to-paper on a new deal as his current one expires next summer.
Geoffrey Kondogbia – Sevilla
The 20-year-old has impressed since arriving from Lens in his home country last summer and has already generated a significant amount of interest with his performances last season.
Premier League quartet Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, as well as La Liga giants Real Madrid and Ligue 1 side Monaco, are all believed to be considering bids for the defensive midfielder who made his international bow for France in the friendly against Belgium last week.
Sevilla have already sold Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Gary Medel to Premier League clubs for big money this summer in a bid to ease their mounting financial difficulties.
They have made it clear that they will not entertain any bids for him, even though there is a release clause €20 million (£17.2m) reportedly inserted into his contract, but the bank statements don’t lie and they could still be forced to cash in on him.
Christian Eriksen – Ajax
One of the hottest prospects in Europe, the young Dane is in high demand and a player that any club across the continent would do very well to get their hands on.
Having broken into Ajax’s first team in 2010 the 21-year-old has since gone onto make over 150 appearances for the Amsterdam outfit and Liverpool have been keeping a close eye on his development over the recent seasons.
What’s more is that he has an incredible rate of creating assists, over the past three seasons he’s clocked up 13-17-17 scoring chances for others, something which will benefit Liverpool’s front line greatly, especially if he has Gerrard and Coutinho behind him.
Despite his tender years he’s also managed to wrack up 34 appearances for the Danish national side. Couple that with the Champions League experience he’s gained in Holland, you can expect that he has a mature head on his young shoulders.
A move away from the Dutch giants this summer does seem likely for Eriksen. He has just under a year left to run on his current deal and he has all but said that he wants to test himself on a bigger stage, something that Ajax fans are more than used to by now.
Valued at £16 million, there’s a good chance that he’ll be available for just a fraction of that price.
Scott Sinclair – Manchester City
Chances are that if you wanted to see Scott Sinclair last season you’d have had better luck just watching the bench as that’s where he spent most of his time. It seemed like a bad move at the time, and surprise surprise – it was.
At Swansea he seemingly had the world at his feet, finally finding a home after being passed around the lower leagues like a cigarette in a World War Two submarine whilst at Chelsea. It could be argued that he wasn’t given enough of a chance over the past 12 months, but when the management don’t want to play you then there is usually a valid reason for that.
Offering very little to what City already have, he could soon well be following in the footsteps of fellow England hopeful Adam Johnson in a move away from the Etihad this summer.
So far Everton, Newcastle and West Brom have all shown an interest in taking him on board, with the latter hoping to land him on loan, but should they want to make the deal permanent then it’s not likely that they will have to go too near the £6 million that City paid for him last summer.
Sinclair has since joined West Brom on a season long loan deal.