Ziyech to Chelsea for €45m this summer -
Tier 1 source for Ajax
No questioning his talent but I don't know how / if his legs will translate to the Premier League, being age 27 at the start of next season and all. Seems like a good time for Ajax to sell him on, and odd that Chelsea would want to block Mount in an attacking midfield role
Questioning whether a 27 year old can handle the fitness of the EPL seems odd to me. Footballing prime years generally seem to be 25-28 IMO, since that's the intersecting point when these guys have been pros long enough to understand the importance of training/fitness, have experience, but still young enough to have elite speed and conditioning. I'm sure some guys are springier at 20-23 or whatever younger age ranges, but they also haven't had as much time to build muscle onto their final body frame or had as many seasons with a first team at that point. Questioning whether any player can make the transition from another league to EPL is also fair (cough*Ndombele*cough*), but age concerns for a 27 year old?!??
In other transfer news, Barca are seeking to use an exemption of sorts from UEFA (maybe RFEF? Both?) for an injury-related transfer outside of the January window. In short, due to the Dembele injury, it seems an enumerated exception exists that would allow Barca to seek a transfer from another Spanish club or a player without a club. Rumored targets include Willian José (Sociedad), Ángel Rodríguez (Getafe), Lucas Pérez (Alaves), and Loren Morón (Betis).
I don't see why Sociedad and Getafe would willingly let players go in the midst of seasons where placing in the top 6 and the lucrative and prestigious benefits are real possibilities. I guess if Barca basically guarantees the economic benefits of finishing top 4/6 then it's a hedge. I believe Spain requires all players to have release clauses (learned by way of the Neymar-PSG saga: Part I), but that info is hard to find.
I'm also curious why Roger Marti (Levante), Joselu (Alaves), Moreno (Villareal), and Avila (Osasuna) aren't being rumored. Joselu and Moreno in particular seem like players worth having. Both have 9 goals (all from open play), 3 assists, and are big targets (1.92M, 6'3''). I'm surprised that Barca would chase Perez over Joselu from Alaves, but I haven't watched them enough to have any real basis for that other than Perez scored 4/9 from PKs. It's not the most exciting name, but Soldado (Granada) is another name I'd be interested in. He's long in the tooth at 34, but hey that's almost the average for Barca this year HEYOOOOO!!!!! More seriously, he has a respectable 4 assists this season and is a physical PITA to play against. I think he's also probably the right price for the role Barca have in mind.
The other avenue, free agents, is a list where I don't recognize a lot of names. But to give a flavor, Diego Tardelli (Gremio), Sakho (Rennais), and Obafemi Martins (Shanghai) pop up. There's also an interesting list of Colombian strikers currently without a club, including Blanco, Osorio, and Murillo, although I have no idea why any of these players are currently without a club. Tardelli is 34 and Martins is 35, but the other guys are all around 30.