Ranking the Week's 20 Hottest Transfer Rumours: Gotze, Koke, Laporte, Coutinho
The end of the week brings our usual roundup of the transfer rumours that have been doing the rounds over the previous few days.
We take all the biggest and most often repeated links to bring you a comprehensive guide to the possibilities of winter, ranking the stories by different criteria including the named price tag, the ability of the player in question and the standing of the buying club in the world of football.
Here are the 20 for the week, featuring out-of-contract players, world-renowned stars and everything in between.
20. Thomas Buitink
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This week's youngster-on-the-verge-of-a-big-move is Dutch forward Thomas Buitink, a 15-year-old with Vitesse who has yet to make a senior appearance.
The Daily Mail link him with Manchester City after the youngster netted "more than 100 goals at youth level" for his club, with Arsenal and Chelsea—the latter of whom have ties with Vitesse, sending players on loan there—also interested.
Buitink is a youth international with the Netherlands at under-15 level.
19. Benik Afobe
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Wolves forward Benik Afobe was the target of a few Premier League clubs' interest over the summer, but he ended up staying with the Championship side and has since scored five in 10 league games this season.
Now Newcastle United are ready to make a move for the 22-year-old in January, per the Sunday People (h/t Mirror), not put off by the £14 million asking price on account of their own struggles in the top flight this term.
Norwich City were one of the biggest interested teams in summer, but they have scored 12 times this season—Newcastle have managed only half that number and sit bottom of the table.
18. Morgan Amalfitano
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A few players will be looking for clubs in January—and Morgan Amalfitano has joined those ranks after being released by West Ham United.
The Evening Standard confirmed the cancellation of the winger's contract by the Hammers, by "mutual consent," after he had earlier been disciplined by the club for breaching manager Slaven Bilic's team rules.
Amalfitano, 30, played four times in the Europa League qualifiers for West Ham this season, but he did not feature in the Premier League.
17. Laurent Depoitre
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Tottenham Hotspur's search for a striker over the summer was well-documented, with a chase for Saido Berahino proving long and ultimately unsuccessful. They did bring in a couple of attackers to support Harry Kane, but Mauricio Pochettino clearly still wants more.
TalkSPORT cites Belgian news outlet Het Laatste Nieuws as claiming Spurs are interested in Gent striker Laurent Depoitre for a January move, with the 26-year-old on target on four occasions already this season.
This is just his third season in the top flight in Belgium, and he netted 14 goals last season.
16. Dirk Kuyt
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Barcelona's search for reinforcements in January will take them to an unexpected conclusion: Feyenoord's veteran attacker Dirk Kuyt.
That's the opinion of Sport, anyway, who says (h/t Metro) the need to sign a cheap and experienced frontman to have a big impact in the same way Henrik Larsson did means Kuyt and Alvaro Negredo are possibilities.
Kuyt, 35, only joined Feyenoord in summer and has six goals in nine games.
15. Domenico Berardi
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After only being appointed on Thursday, per the club's official website, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has barely been in his new job long enough to get to know his own strikers, but already the transfer-gossip columns are giving him a new one to play with.
Domenico Berardi could be his first signing as Reds boss, according to Calciomercato (h/t Metro), who says Klopp was a fan of the forward while he was at Borussia Dortmund but was unable to sign him due to the co-ownership arrangement with Juventus.
The Sassuolo attacker has not scored in his six games this season.
14. Adnan Januzaj
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Manchester United playmaker Adnan Januzaj was deemed not important or good enough to play for his team this year, so a loan spell at Borussia Dortmund is where the multi-nationality youngster is continuing to learn his trade.
Now, though, it seems that United boss Louis van Gaal has doubts about Januzaj's ability to perform in the longer term too, with the Manchester Evening News reporting he has this season only to prove to the manager he has what it takes.
Including his early performances this season at United before going on loan, Januzaj has played 10 times and scored once in 2015-16.
13. Victor Andrade
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Once in a while, a player crops up out of nowhere on the transfer rumour column—with a price tag higher in millions than the number of appearances he has made.
Victor Andrade is this week's player to fit that description, with the Benfica attacker rated at £25 million according to the Mirror...after three first-team matches for the Portuguese side.
Manchester City and Chelsea are predictably the teams involved in the chase, with Andrade, 20, playing just over 100 minutes of Primeira Liga action so far this term.
12. Aleksandr Kokorin
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Arsenal's striker search in summer didn't yield any success, with Petr Cech their only new addition to the squad by the end of the transfer window.
Now it emerges that one of their targets was Russian striker Aleksandr Kokorin, for whom the Gunners made a loan approach—but it was vetoed by his club Dynamo Moscow, who thought the forward deserved a permanent move instead.
The Evening Standard reports sovsport.ru quoting Dynamo manager Andrey Kobelec confirming the approach.
11. Sadio Mane
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Sadio Mane was the target of Manchester United's pre-Anthony Martial transfer activity, but the Southampton man wasn't let go by his club and has started the season in good form.
Metro is now reporting Spanish outlet Fichajes as claiming United boss Louis van Gaal has insisted the deal for the 23-year-old goes ahead in January instead, to boost the Old Trafford club's attacking options.
While Martial has started well, Wayne Rooney continues to struggle and Marouane Fellaini has also played up front this season for the Red Devils.
10. Juan Cuadrado
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Juan Cuadrado failed to settle at Chelsea after moving from Fiorentina last season, so a loan spell back to Serie A was almost an inevitability.
Now at Juventus, Chelsea are hoping the Italian title-holders make the move permanent and want Juve to pay £18 million for the privilege, a significant loss for the London club but one they are accepting they'll have to make—that's according to Goal (h/t the Mirror).
Cuadrado, 27, has played six times in Serie A for Juventus so far.
9. Anwar El Ghazi
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Ajax winger Anwar El Ghazi has been impressing with Ajax in the Eredivisie, and now both Merseyside clubs are looking to bring him to the Premier League.
Everton and Liverpool, as well as Southampton, are interested in a January move for the 20-year-old, according to Sunday People (h/t the Mirror), and £12 million is likely to be the asking price.
El Ghazi has scored seven goals in eight in league games this term.
8. Aymeric Laporte
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Athletic Bilbao centre-back Aymeric Laporte is seen as one of the big transfer possibilities every time the window opens—and the young defender is apparently more than aware of that fact.
Even so, he appears cool on a potential move away from his Basque club.
TalkSPORT cites AS quoting Laporte, saying: "My name is mentioned in every transfer window and with a lot of teams. I've renewed four times with Athletic. I've done what I wanted, I've shown confidence in the club and them in me. Let's see if we can add more trophies."
Barcelona and Manchester United have both been heavily linked with the 21-year-old.
7. Shkodran Mustafi
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Valencia centre-back Shkodran Mustafi is earning admirers with his displays in La Liga, and Manchester United are now one of the sides hoping to make a move for the 23-year-old in January after they didn't land any of their prime targets in the position over summer.
A £22 million bid will be needed, per the Express (h/t the Mirror), with Valencia doubtless reluctant to sell the other half of the partnership that got them into the top four last season—Nicolas Otamendi was the other part, and he left for Manchester City in summer.
6. Ilkay Gundogan
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The appointment of Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool isn't just having an effect on the Reds' transfer plans apparently, but also Barcelona's—with the Spanish club concerned that the former Borussia Dortmund boss might return to his old club to nab a couple of players they are interested in.
Barcelona are now ready to step up their move for Ilkay Gundogan, per Le 10 Sport (h/t Metro), as they do not want Klopp and Liverpool to jump ahead in the queue for the 24-year-old midfielder.
Marco Reus is the other player mentioned.
5. Philippe Coutinho
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Good news for Liverpool fans came during the week—and we're not talking about Jurgen Klopp's appointment as manager.
Instead it came on the transfer front, when the agent of star playmaker Philippe Coutinho insisted that talks over a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid were wide of the mark, according to the Daily Mail.
Instead, Kia Joorabchian has said the Brazilian is happy at Anfield and will be central to the new manager's plans.
4. Mario Gotze
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Bayern Munich's versatile attacking midfielder Mario Gotze has been linked with moves away over the last few months as he has not been able to win himself a single regular role in the team.
While the links to various clubs have been widespread, Gotze, 23, says he isn't going anywhere, per Suddeutsche Zeitung (h/t the Daily Star).
"I made my own mistakes but I've also had to withstand a lot of things that have been twisted.
[...]
I feel very happy here, I am glad to be a Bayern player. I would love to be the face of Bayern.
I've played a big role (for the club) in the first two years and I want to play an even greater part.
I never dealt with a transfer, it's quite possible that other clubs had interest but I had no interest in leaving Bayern.
"
The article itself notes Arsenal as being one of the interested parties.
3. Marquinhos
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Barcelona's 2016 transfer plans include a return to the bidding table to bring in Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Marquinhos, according to Goal.
A €40 million bid was rejected last year by the Ligue 1 champions but Marquinhos, 21, continues to play a secondary role with the French side, while Barcelona see him as the ideal man to continue the evolution of the team with his talent on the ball and defensive awareness.
A summer bid is more than likely from the Catalan team as a result.
2. Koke
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Goal further indicates that Koke remains high on the list of Barcelona priorities, with the Atletico Madrid midfielder a standout talent who would fit into both the system and the playing style of the Catalan club.
Two years ago, there was a €60 million bid for Koke turned down by Atleti, but Barcelona remain extremely interested and seemingly feel the 23-year-old is the better option rather than current midfielder Ivan Rakitic, or potential alternative target Philippe Coutinho—mentioned earlier.
Barcelona's ban ends in January when Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal will be registered to play.
1. Marco Reus
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Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus is the top priority for Barcelona once their transfer/registration ban comes to an end.
That's the claim from Mundo Deportivo (h/t the Daily Mail), who latch a £22 million price tag on the German attacker and say the Catalan club will make a move for him next summer.
Regular messages exchanged with goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen have been instrumental in making sure Reus, 26, is ready to make the step up, according to the report.
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