More news on transfers, as rumours are beginning to surface that Arsenal and Liverpool will go head-to-head in a battle to sign Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou in a cut-price deal when the winter window opens.
The 26-year-old Ivory Coast forward is in the final year of his contract and looks increasingly unlikely to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge. With that in mind, Chelsea will be forced to either consider offers for the versatile Ivorian or risk losing him on a Bosman free next summer.
Arsene Wenger has been interested in signing Kalou for quite some time now and is prepared to step up his long-term interest in the player with a reported £6million bid in January. However, he will face competition from Liverpool, who are also believed to be monitoring the situation.
Kalou was benched after playing in the opening two Premier League games for Chelsea this season. He also made an appearance against Fulham in the Carling Cup as a late substitute, as well as conceding a late penalty against Valencia when he came from the bench, which earned the La Liga side a point in their Champions League group game.
It is understood that contract negotiations were put on hold, leading to speculation suggesting that he is likely to leave once his deal expires next summer.
Many clubs are looking to take advantage of the stand-off and secure him on a pre-contractual agreement in January, but Kalou, who can also play in central midfield and on the wing, is thought to favour remaining in England, with Arsenal almost certainly being his preferred destination.
Wenger tried to buy him from Feyenoord in 2006, but lost out to Chelsea when they paid the Dutch club £9 million. However, in February 2009, Kalou caused major controversy by admitting that he would love to play for Wenger someday.
Kalou may have fallen out-of-favour at Chelsea, but with our shortage of creative midfield players at our disposal currently, he would certainly be a good buy in my opinion. Plus, he bags tons of Premier League experience.
The fact that he said he would love to play under Wenger might re-establish his form and help bring back some confidence into our team, if we signed him of course.
But with all the players supposedly heading Arsenal’s way in January, we could have a new look side…it wouldn’t hurt to have at least two or three of the winter rumours coming true though.
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