1. Cavani - Ibrahimovic should be the most fun partnership in Europe
After weeks of testing Napoli with undersized bids, somebody actually decided to go ahead and bite the €64m - price tagged bullet and bring Edinson Cavani to their club. That somebody is Paris St Germain, and they're looking at sticking Cavani and Zlatan together to form what should be the most enjoyable strike partnership in Europe, one that only 2 years ago would only be compiled on "Serie A XI of the Year" lists.
Those thinking that El Matador's arrival should usher Ibra out may have spoken to soon, as the giant Swede is starting to run out of options should he want to leave. Juventus dropped out the race they never looked likely to win(I even tweeted as much in March) months ago, while Manchester City have literally just bought Alvaro Negredo from Sevilla and look to be adding Fiorentina star Stevan Jovetic too.
Jose' Mourinho and Chelsea now seem pre-occupied with a certain English forward(more on this later) while Real Madrid's "no over-30's" philosophy mixed with Carlo Ancelotti's sudden intention to try and keep Higuain and Benzema in his new team mean that there aren't any teams left he hasn't already played for.
Which means that Ibra will have to stay and Paris and play nice with Edi. What a shame. The two players combined for 59 goals last season for their respective clubs, and there is reason to believe the two players can in fact play together.
Given Ibra's ability(and new fond tendency) to play deep and push up with ball while Cavani is content to charge around the pitch doing the defensive work usually associated with a midfielder actually makes Zlatan's job all that easier. Add Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore and Marco Verratti and that's a very exciting team.
(Also, an interesting side-note is now Napoli president has revealed that he has €124m to play with this summer to turn his side into a Scudetto challenger. Watch some Serie A this season, trust me.)
2. Thiago at Bayern, Strootman at Roma and Manchester United STILL need a midfielder.
I have a feeling I'm going to be bemoaning United's inability to sign a player in this position until I'm staring down the barrel of a midlife crisis. From leading the hypothetical chases for talented midfielders Kevin Strootman(United being pegged as favorites before last season ended, PSV coach Dick Advocaat pretty much admitting that KS wanted England) and Thiago Alacantra(who send the world of Twitter into a flurry after receiving a reported "Welcome To Manchester" message on his hat-trick ball from the Euro U-21's final) their indecision and stalling has led to both targets going to different sides.
United will now turn their attention to other players. Other players apparently including Cesc Fabregas. The likelihood of the former Arsenal captain joining United for a rumored £25m appears unlikely considering that there is literally nothing in it for Barcelona who would be losing their second talented midfielder in two weeks for £15m less than they gave Arsenal for him just two years ago. Given Xavi's age(newsflash: it's increasing by the day) and the aforementioned financial investment the Catalan giants made to guarantee Cesc's arrival, it seems a tough deal to break.
But, stranger things have happened. The Telegraph reported that the Spaniard would be interested in a move and the English newspaper are usually pretty reliable(they happened to break this, rather large, piece of United news). Just don't expect Barca to be pretty happy about the idea.
3. Wayne Rooney at Chelsea? Really? Yep.
The strangest rumor I'd seen for a while just a week ago just got confirmed by the club on their official website, with new Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho admitting that Chelsea had made a bid for the unsettled forward.
After you try and get past your inability to imagine Rooney, he of eight years at Manchester United in a Chelsea shirt, it kind of makes sense.
Rooney isn't happy at United. For whatever reason, ambition, wages, players, new manager. Whatever. United are happy to keep the 27 year old but the acquisition of Robin Van Persie plus the mood swings of their now former talisman means that they're much easier to negotiate with than they would have been in say, 2010.
Chelsea need a forward of quality and one that is more confident than Fernando Torres, who can link between midfield and attack and make what was a weak point in the Stamford Bridge machine last season a strong point. Wayne Rooney can be that man. A change of scenery, a desire to prove himself for a new coach without the anger and complacency that has formed as collateral to his Old Trafford career could breathe new life into the striker. Chelsea's fans vociferous support of Fernando Torres while he struggled with form and confidence were both surprising and admirable, and Rooney would surely benefit from a fanbase that is not against him.
Let's not forget as well, Rooney is still a remarkably talented player who is blessed with numerous talents and versatility, and is still one of the best players in the world.If you don't believe that, check the figures. They're not bad at all.
Despite not being the main forward for Sir Alex Ferguson last season and only appearing 22 times(his lowest since joining United) Rooney scored 12 and supplied 10 assists, contributing on average a goal a game.The season before, he scored 27 EPL goals in 32 games.
Not bad from a player who has handed two transfer requests in that period. Imagine what he can do when he's happy?
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