Football transfer rumours: Chelsea to swap Courtois for Costa?

LONDON. KAZINFORM - To the Daily Star, where it's reported that "high-level" talks took place between representatives of Chelsea and Atlético Madrid in London last week, presumably on the top floor of The Shard (306m tall), One Canada Square (235m) or even Heron Tower, which stands at 202m but attempts to cheat by boasting a 28m long spire; the sky-scraping equivalent of a short man trying to look taller by wearing stack heels and a top hat. And the subject of this high-level chat?
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A potential swap deal that would see Atlético Madrid keep the Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and give the Premier League leaders their star striker Diego Costa and £8m in exchange. Alternatively, they'll pay Chelsea £16m and throw in the Spain Under-21 midfielder Jorge Resurrección Merodio (aka Koke) as a sweetener. Never having played for Chelsea but having become a first-team staple at Atlético, where he has been on loan on loan for the past three seasons, the 21-year-old Courtois is reluctant to return to Stamford Bridge if it means playing second violin to Petr Cech. And considering he's playing for the third-placed team in La Liga, putting in performances that have attracted admiring glances Barcelona and Real Madrid, above them in the table, who can blame him? Should Courtois end up back in London or have his head turned by Barça or Real Madrid, Atlético will attempt to replace him with Hugo Lloris. In a bid to keep the Spanish wolves from the White Hart Lane door, it's said that Tottenham will offer Lloris a new and improved contract, while their defender Jan Vertonghen will also be presented with a new dotted on line which to sign. TalkSport report that Chelsea have also held talks - altitude unspecified - with Real Madrid to inquire about the possibility of bringing Sami Khedira to London next summer. Currently sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury that he and the Germany manager Joachim Löw are hopeful will have healed in time for the World Cup, the midfielder's recuperation looks to be going particularly well, Kazinform quotes the Guardian. The Dinamo Zagreb striker Robert Muric is a wanted man this Valentine's Day, with Ajax, Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur and believed to be wooing the teenager whose contract expires this summer with offers of chocolates, flowers and a romantic dinner. Rumours abound that the hunky, fleet-of-foot Croat has already promised his heart to Ajax, but the club's technical director Marc Overmars insists no deal has been agreed thus far. Click on this link to see what all the fuss is about. Internazionale want the Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra to move to Milan, if only to make their technical director Piero Ausillo feel better about having to endure the tedium of Wednesday night's match between Manchester United and Arsenal at the Emirates. The Mirror reports that officials at the Argentinian side Racing Club are claiming their 20-year-old midfielder Bruno Zuculini has already agreed terms with Manchester City in a deal worth around £1.5m to the South American side. Meanwhile at West Ham, Ravel Morrison is packing his designer toiletry bag in preparation for a three-month emergency loan spell at Loftus Road, where the Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp will throw an arm around his shoulder in a bid to help him return to something like the form the young midfielder showed earlier this season. The West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was less than complimentary about the player's attitude and work ethic during a press conference last Monday, while Redknapp said a loan deal was a definite possibility. "I think he'd like to come and if Sam wants to loan him, we're here," he said. Having failed in their efforts to prise the France defender Eliaquim Mangala away from Porto on transfer-deadline day, Manchester City may find their efforts to resurrect the deal for the £35m-rated player hijacked by Paris Saint-Germain this summer. In news relating to a slightly less sought after defender, Philadelphia Union manager John Hackworth has confirmed rumours that the MLS side have sounded out the Bolton Wanderers centre-half Zat Knight about a move to the city of Brotherly Love. "Truthfully, we have been in some conversations," Hackworth said. "But at the same time, we are looking at a lot of different countries and have vetted out many different centre-back options." And finally, David Moyes has torn his forlorn gaze on the 20-year-old Nottingham Forest centre-back Jamaal Lascelles, who has also been scouted by Liverpool and Arsenal.

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