With 20 goals to his name this season, Memphis Depay is the leading scorer in the Eredivisie. Of course, in a league where cynics consider goals a lot easier to come by compared to elsewhere, that might not seem like a lot – Afonso Alves famously got 34 in 2006-07 and look what happened to him when he moved to pastures new and a mite more competitive. But considering he’s a winger - and a very good one as anybody who watched last summer’s World Cup will know - Depay will almost certainly be delighted with his return of 20 goals in the current campaign, not least because they helped his team PSV Eindhoven secure the Dutch league title at the expense of Ajax over the weekend. During the course of their celebrations, PSV revealed that Manchester United have made concrete enquiries about signing one of Europe’s most exciting prospects, with whom Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have also been linked. “We have had a telephone call from them about him but no talks have been held yet,” said PSV technical director Marcel Brands in a TV interview. “There are several top clubs who have expressed an interest.”
With PSV resigned to losing Depay and his fellow midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum this summer, it remains only for them to decide on a fee for the duo. Tottenham are rumoured to have bid £14.5m for Depay, 21, but Brands insists he will cost whatever club eventually buys him a hell of a lot more. “It will be much higher than the offer from Tottenham Hotspur,” said Brands. “He will be very expensive.” Reports elsewhere suggest the fee could be closer to £25m.
Elsewhere in Holland, Feyenoord have joined Marseille and Celtic on the list of former European super-powers that are interested in signing Manchester City’s Swedish striker John Guidetti, whose contract expires this summer.
Like a child torn between divorcing parents, Espanyol central defender Hector Moreno will be forced to choose between hanging his hat with Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this summer. The word in Spain is that he has his heart set on pitching up at the Emirates with a teddy bear under his arm in a move that would see £15m going into the coffers of the Catalonian club.
Martin Skrtel could attempt to get over the crushing disappointment of Liverpool’s surprise narrative-busting FA Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Aston Villa by moving to Wolfsburg. With just one year left on his contract, several clubs fancy their chances of signing the Slovakian central defender on the cheap and the Bundesliga side and Napoli are believed to be among them.
With Manchester United unlikely to pursue their interest in making Radamel Falcao’s loan from Monaco permanent, it’s being reported that the Colombian’s agent has tried to rustle up some interest in the out-of-sorts 29-year-old from Liverpool. One player who is attracting interest at Manchester United is Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who has made 27 appearances since October, after returning from the back injury that forced him to the sidelines for the entirety of last season.
Aaron Lennon’s loan move from Tottenham to Everton will be made permanent if the Merseyside club agree to send Kevin Mirallas and an as yet unspecified number of £20 notes the other way. Elsewhere in London, West Ham’s 25-year-old full-back Aaron Cresswell has got antennae twitching at Chelsea and could switch clubs in a deal worth £20m to the Hammers.
Southampton are believed to be interested in rescuing goalkeeper Tim Krul and defender Daryl Janmaat from their Newcastle purgatory this summer, while Louis van Gaal could send Manchester United’s teenage striker James Wilson to St James’s Park on loan in order to give him some experience of playing in the Premier League.
And finally, Stoke City striker Peter Crouch is wanted by Real Madrid and Manchester City, while his goalkeeping team-mate Asmir Begovic is a target for A-League side Newcastle Jets. Actually, hold on ... that’s not right - Stoke City striker Peter Crouch is wanted by A-League side Newcastle Jets, while his goalkeeping team-mate Asmir Begovic is a target for Real Madrid and Manchester City.
