Transfer round-up: City closing in on Bony
CITY CLOSE TO BONY DEAL
Manchester City are closing in on Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony.
Several media outlets in the UK - including Sky Sports and the BBC - have reported that the Etihad Stadium outfit have made progress in talks with the Welsh side and are close to agreeing £30 million ($60.7m) transfer fee for the Ivorian.
Bony, who joined Swansea from Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 for £12m, led the Premier League scoring charts for 2014, racking up 20 strikes to his name during the calendar year.
While his capture will strengthen City's forward line as they bid to defend their title, the Citizens will have to wait to see the 26-year-old in action as he will be on African Cup of Nations duty in the coming weeks.
NASTASIC TO LEAVE CITY
One player who may not get the chance to play alongside Bony looks to be Matija Nastasic.
Despite impressing immediately after joining City from Fiorentina in 2012, the Serbian defender has rarely featured under Manuel Pellegrini.
According to Sky Sports, Bundesliga side Schalke are leading the race to sign the 21-year-old although AC Milan are reportedly ready to rival Roberto di Matteo for Nastasic's signature.
WHERE'S SHAQIRI GOING?
With Steven Gerrard leaving at the end of the season, it's not looking good for Liverpool, who could miss out on Bayern Munich's Xherdan Shaqiri.
While earlier reports have suggested that Brendan Rodgers was close to landing the Swiss livewire on a permanent transfer that will take place in the summer, Soccerlens has reported that the Reds chances now hang in the balance after Shaqiri declared his interest to join Serie A side Inter Milan, based on a tweet from Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Liverpool's English Premier League rivals Stoke City have also declared their interest in Shaqiri through assistant manager Mark Bowen.
Good luck with that, Mark Hughes.
NORWEGIAN PRODIGY TO REAL?
Not quite reaching transfer saga proportions yet, but it's fair to say that Norwegian prodigy Martin Odegaard has been busy riding on his reputation to jet set around Europe's top clubs.
After being linked with a host of interested clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Arsenal, it looks like the 16-year-old could be ending up at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Reports emanating from Norway have suggested that the Stromsgodset attacking midfielder has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid.
In case you're not in the know, Odegaard made his debut for the Norway national team aged 15 years and 253 days - becoming the Scandinavian nation's youngest ever international.
SNIPPETS...
Manchester United are reportedly ready to step up their interest in Aston Villa's Ron Vlaar in their quest for a centre-back (The Sun)... Arsenal are keen on land Southampton's tough-tackling midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (London Evening Standard)... Victor Valdes is on the brink of inking a two-year deal at Man United (various)... Arsenal have had a second bid for Legia Warsaw midfielder Krystian Bielik rejected by the Polish side (Sky Sports)... Leicester have signed Cheslea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer on a free transfer (BBC)... The Foxes are also set to beat Chelsea to the signature of Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric (The Times)...
Sources: Sky Sports, BBC, Mail Online, Soccerlens, Football365
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now