French midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia has been linked with a host of big clubs this summer.

The Monaco man has been mentioned as a target for Tottenham Hotspur, Inter Milan, AC Milan and even Barcelona this summer, according to Sport. The Daily Mail suggests Arsenal as possible suitors, too. 

However, it is being reported that the 22-year-old is such as big fan of Liverpool that he could be tempted to snub all of those clubs for a move to Anfield. 

As reported by Duncan Castles for Goal in an article about Kondogbia’s future: “As for the emotional advantage, that lies in an unlikely place. Kondogbia, it is said, is “a huge Liverpool fan”; fanatical enough that an offer from Anfield might even sway his decision. Whether this Liverpool administration has the sense to find out is another matter entirely.”

Kondogbia is valued at around £20 million, although according to Castles there is “a clause in Kondogbia’s Monaco contract allowing him to move to (Real Madrid) for €20 million (£14.2 million).”

[Goal.com]

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Before there was Alexis Sanchez, before there was Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira and before there was even Arsene Wenger, there was Dennis Bergkamp.

June 20 marks the 20th anniversary of the mercurial Dutchman’s arrival at Highbury from Inter Milan, the pre-Wenger Arsenal still seems something of a curiosity—an era that today’s young Gunners supporters can only read about or watch on YouTube.

Make no mistake, when Bergkamp arrived in north London in June 1995, Arsenal were in the midst of a crisis.

Not today’s version of a crisis, which might see them lose back-to-back games, exit the Champions League disappointingly or temporarily look as though they might not finish third or fourth in the Premier League, but a full-blown crisis.

George Graham had been sacked after he was found guilty of profiting financially from transfers, Paul Merson had only recently returned from rehab as a result of gambling, drug and alcohol problems, Nayim’s goal from near the halfway line had beaten the Gunners in the Cup Winners’ Cup Final in Paris and Arsenal had lost 17 games on the way to finishing 12th in the Premier League below the likes of Queens Park Rangers and Wimbledon and a massive 11 points behind Tottenham Hotspur.

Bergkamp must have questioned what he’d wandered into.

It was an Arsenal now overseen by Bruce Rioch, who had signalled his intent by tripling the club’s transfer record to sign the then-26-year-old Bergkamp for £7.5 million.

There was a less than auspicious start before the new No. 10 scored his first two goals for the club in a 4-2 win over Southampton at Highbury, a feat that led to the Independent’s Bob Houston to claim that “this was the day the doubters of Dennis Bergkamp’s worth were routed.” There were never to be any doubters again.

With Bergkamp at the fore and feeding the prolific Ian Wright in attack, the Gunners rose to a fifth place in the table and a return to European football, largely achieved thanks to the Dutchman’s classy winner at home to Bolton Wanderers six minutes from time on the final day of the campaign.

Had Bergkamp not scored that goal, Everton—who finished the campaign on 61 points, level with Blackburn Rovers and Tottenham—would have pipped Arsenal to a UEFA Cup place on goal difference. It may seem of little consequence now, but that immediate return to the continental stage was so important at the time.

Four months later came the arrival of the relatively unknown French coach Wenger from footballing obscurity at Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan. The rest, as they say, is history.

It is a history Wenger has shaped but owes a lot to Bergkamp for his doing so.

As a bridge between the old, defensive, long-ball playing, “1-0 to the” Arsenal and Wenger’s sleeker continental approach, Bergkamp was in place for the arrivals of the likes of Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Nicolas Anelka and Henry.

He played his part in the education of all of them and more, his obvious and genuine quality shining through during an 11-year spell in which he played 423 games, scored 120 goals and won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups.

Today, a statue of the Dutchman resides outside the Emirates Stadium. Inside it, Bergkamp’s presence is still being felt.

When Wenger arrived at Arsenal, he obviously did so with his own coaching ideas and philosophies, but the fact that Bergkamp was already at the club made it much easier for him to adapt and get his methods across.

The Dutchman was so good he could have played for any manager. This is a player who finished in the top three of Ballon d’Or voting prior to joining the Gunners and was third in the FIFA World Player of the Year vote at the end of Wenger’s first season in charge.

The Arsenal manager wasn’t being carried by his team’s star player, but his life would certainly have been a lot tougher if he wasn’t there, and he gained in confidence as the years went by and the trophies followed suit.

There is also an elegance to Wenger’s teams that, again, Bergkamp helped to create.

Wenger’s Arsenal have always had fast players, such as Overmars, Anelka, Henry, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez, but they have also always had thinkers in the team, such as Robert Pires, Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil—perhaps the closest thing to Bergkamp the Gunners currently have, especially if he could improve his scoring rate.

Doing things with style was always the Dutchman’s way, and that seems to have become the Arsenal ethos during Wenger’s 18 years in charge.

It doesn’t always end with success—and there always seemed to be a European player or two more highly regarded than Bergkamp—but it ensures the Gunners will remain forever watchable, just like their £7.5 million signing from Inter Milan was in his heyday.

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Arsenal “have been in contact” with Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender about the possibility of him heading to north London, reported by Bild (h/t Lewis Rudd for Metro.co.uk).

The Gunners’ alleged interest comes after Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton were linked with the £20 million-rated German, reported by the Daily Mail (h/t Izzy Horsefield of the Express).

Bender was linked with an Emirates Stadium switch as the summer transfer window loomed last year. He missed much of the 2014-15 season after undergoing knee surgery in January, accumulating just 14 Bundesliga starts during Dortmund’s struggled run to seventh.

Sven, like his twin brother Lars, would be able to provide an effective defensive shield for Arsenal. He is a determined winner of the ball, providing 2.5 tackles and 2.7 interceptions per game last season, recorded by WhoScored.com. He’s also dominant in the air and confident in progressing possession while patrolling the halfway line.

In January, former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamman suggested either Bender sibling would significantly improve Arsenal’s play, reported by Simon Mullock of the Mirror:

For me, Arsenal would be much better served, going for one of the Bender brothers, especially Lars. Either of those boys would give Wenger something he hasn’t got in midfield. Someone who can read the game, is ­naturally defensively minded and who will thrive, operating in front of the back four, making sure Arsenal don’t get exposed.

However, Francis Coquelin enjoyed a terrific run of form during the latter half of the season and has proved himself a quality line of defence ahead of Arsenal’s back four. Coquelin’s mobility and energy is key to his game, but he will need top-quality cover to ensure next term’s busy schedule doesn’t impact his progress.

Monaco’s Geoffrey Kondogbia continues to be linked with the club, although it seems local rivals Spurs are also interested in his services. It’s suggested the White Hart Lane club have a lodged a £20 million bid for the destructive Frenchman, according to talkSPORT.

David Amoyal, writer on behalf of Sky Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio, indicates AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani has had dinner with the 22-year-old in Monaco ahead of trying to secure a deal. It’s also suggested the Rossoneri’s city rivals Inter Milan are interested. A valuation of €30 million (approximately £21.4 million) is discussed.

Kondogbia posted some highly impressive performances throughout the 2014-15 Ligue 1 campaign and also starred in the Champions League. His goal against Arsenal at the Emirates was just reward for his dominant display, in which his size and physicality overpowered the north London side’s midfield.

B/R UK’s Jonathan Johnson recently discussed how Kondogbia would adapt to life under Arsene Wenger’s guidance:

The Gunners’ need for a specialist defensive midfielder has lessened with the emergence of Coquelin. Even so, a world-class alternative is needed. Too often Wenger has been forced to deploy Mikel Arteta—whose instinct isn’t to defend—or Mathieu Flamini, who is an underwhelming performer at the top level.

Bender or Kondogbia can fulfill important roles for the club. It’s been years since Arsenal possessed genuine physicality through the centre—the kind Patrick Vieira used to add—highlighted by Abou Diaby’s constant injuries at the club.

For all of the squad’s technical prowess, a midfield enforcer should remain top of Wenger’s shopping list.

As highlighted above, the kind of stars he’ll be looking at will receive plenty of interest throughout the summer. The French boss shouldn’t be afraid of spending handsomely to improve his squad, who are on the verge of offering a genuine title challenge.

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Philippe Coutinho enjoyed an outstanding individual campaign in 2014/15, despite the woes of his club side, and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will be looking to the 23-year-old Brazilian to help arrest the Reds’ slide into mediocrity in the upcoming 2015/16 season.

Coutinho was awarded the Players’ Player of the Year, Player of the Year, Goal of the Year and Performance of the Year accolades by the club at the end of the season, as confirmed by Liverpool’s official website in May. The awards served a symbol of his overriding brilliance in a season that saw Rodgers’ side crash miserably out of European competition, fail to achieve any domestic silverware and finish a dismal sixth in the Premier League.

Collecting his awards, Coutinho looked to the future:

It’s very important for me because these awards were chosen by my fellow teammates and the supporters. 

My teammates are the people I work with all year round, so being recognised by them makes it an important award for me which I treasure a lot

[…]

Hopefully we will fight for the first four places and the title [next season], like [in 2013/14]. Unfortunately, things didn’t go our way this season but we hope that next season we will be there or thereabouts.

Having pledged his future to Liverpool with a new long-term contract back in February, again as reported by the club’s official website, Coutinho looks set to outlive wantaway team-mate Raheem Sterling as the pride of Anfield, and his words on the signing of his new deal point to a positive future:

I‘m really happy. It’s a dream come true playing for this great club and being part of this squad.

Today I’ve committed my future to the club and for this I’m feeling very pleased. 

This club is great and the fans have always supported me, so I’ve been eager to sign this new deal since conversations started. Today is a very happy day.

Coutinho clearly sees himself central to any future success for Liverpool, and this hope will be mirrored by the club’s supporters, who had a hand in deciding three of his four end-of-season awards.

But how can Liverpool get the best out of Coutinho in 2015/16?

Receiving his own award at the club’s end-of-season ceremony, departing captain Steven Gerrard chose to divert attention from himself and focus on the majesty of his Brazilian team-mate, as reported by James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo. As he picked up his Outstanding Achievement Award, Gerrard said:

I’m bored of speaking about myself, I want to pay tribute to Philippe. 

This is his night. I think he’s cleaned up tonight on the awards and deservedly so.

I’m privileged to share a dressing room with him. He’s the next big thing for me. 

I hope he stays here for a long time and can help the club win more trophies.

Gerrard has worked with a plethora of world-class players, with Xabi Alonso, Luis Suarez, Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Sami Hyypia, Jamie Carragher and Robbie Fowler to name eight, and this praise for Coutinho could see him edging towards this prestigious group. The former Inter Milan midfielder clearly has the talent.

This is evidenced by his recent call-up to Dunga’s Brazil squad for the 2015 Copa America in Chile, and he is set to play a starring role alongside the majestic Neymar Jr., who reserved special praise for his longtime friend, as relayed by the Mirror‘s David Anderson, back in February:

He can be the star player in England. This season I think everybody in England is seeing how talented he is—and I know he has a lot more to show.

[…]

I think since Luis [Suarez] joined us at Barcelona, Liverpool have not had that one player they can look to for that special moment.

Couto can be that player for them I’m sure. When he has the ball at his feet, he can make things happen for himself and he can make things happen for other players. He is a very special player.

Neymar’s outlining of Coutinho’s talents points towards his key strength: creativity.

He averaged 1.7 key passes per game in the league in 2014/15, with only Sterling (2.1), Gerrard (1.8) and Jordan Henderson (1.8) producing more in the Liverpool squad; he played 0.4 through balls per league game, the most of any Liverpool player; and he made 3.1 successful dribbles per league game, also the most of any Reds player.

One convincing argument for why he is behind three of his team-mates in terms of key passes played is the way in which Coutinho was utilised by Rodgers throughout last season.

With much of the first half of the season spent wasted in a wide-left role, Coutinho didn’t truly blossom until Rodgers introduced his successful 3-4-2-1 formation towards the end of 2014, which saw the No. 10 take up an advanced playmaking role behind a lone striker.

In Liverpool’s subsequent switch to a 4-3-3, Coutinho continued a central role—this must be continued in 2015/16 if he is to reach his best form.

His performances in the second half of the season drew further praise from another major Brazilian star, Ronaldinho, with the 35-year-old even suggesting he could be a future Barcelona player—much to Liverpool supporters’ ire—as reported by Nicholas Godden of MailOnline:

He has had a fantastic season—he has been one of the best midfield players in Europe—and when you think he has been playing in a team that has not been performing well that is an even bigger achievement.

I can’t speak for him and I can’t speak for Barcelona—but I know what Barcelona look for in a player and he has all those qualities

[…]

Playing with great players makes you better, I know that. Not only would he win trophies with Barcelona, but playing with Neymar, Messi, Suarez, Iniesta, is going to make him a better player.

As both Neymar and Ronaldinho attest, Coutinho is the player who makes Liverpool tick, and this became even more apparent as he grew in a more natural role in the second half of the season. The latter’s suggestion that Coutinho would flourish with better players around him is similarly astute, and it is something Liverpool should heed as they approach the 2015/16 season.

“The Brazilian maestro that is Philippe Coutinho has captivated the Liverpool faithful since his move from Inter Milan. He mesmerises fans and players alike with what he does with the ball, and it’s little wonder he’s nicknamed The Magician,” Sam McGuire wrote for AnfieldIndex this month, before analogising: “Unfortunately though, for both the player and the fans, he currently lacks a magician’s assistant, which is a key part of turning a successful magician’s act into a mind-blowing one.”

“The assistant draws the audiences gaze which allows the magician to do what’s needed…That right there is what Liverpool lacked last season…Someone who could draw the attention away from our No. 10,” he continued.

McGuire makes a shrewd point here, one that aligns with the sentiments of Ronaldinho about Coutinho potentially flourishing among the myriad talents of Barcelona: Coutinho can’t do it all, and he shouldn’t be expected to at Liverpool.

Rodgers should take note of this as he plots to get the best of the Brazilian in 2015/16. Liverpool need another player to lighten the load currently burdening the 23-year-old on Merseyside, another playmaker to complement Liverpool’s chief technician, another cerebral lobe to accent Coutinho as the Reds’ “brain,” as Rodgers so lavishly acknowledged him last summer.

McGuire’s words preface an examination of what widely reported Liverpool target Mateo Kovacic would bring to Rodgers’ squad if he were to make the move from Inter Milan this summer. The Reds reportedly had a bid for the Inter man turned down back in May, according to Ben Jefferson of the Express.

Like Coutinho, Kovacic is a creative talent, averaging 1.8 key passes per Serie A game last season; like Coutinho, he loves threading a through ball, with an average of 0.3 per game in Italy’s top flight; like Coutinho, he is an astute dribbler, making 2.6 dribbles per league appearance on average.

Importantly, too, the 21-year-old midfielder operates in a slightly different position to Coutinho, taking up a more central midfield role compared to the Brazilian’s traditional No. 10. If Kovacic were to join Liverpool this summer, he would, in theory, lighten the creative load currently weighing Coutinho down and would intertwine well with his dynamic style of play.

However, if Dominic King of the Mail is correct, and Liverpool have no current interest in the Croatian midfielder—is there an option within the current Reds squad who could help relieve the burden next season?

Adam Lallana, a £25 million signing from Southampton last summer, would surely like to think so. He told Andy Hunter of the Guardian last month that he is ready to take up more responsibility in light of Gerrard’s move to LA Galaxy this summer, declaring:

There shouldn’t be any responsibility on anyone to solely fill Steven’s boots. It is going to have to be a contribution from the team.

If everyone gives two, three per cent extra then hopefully we can half fill that spot. It is going to be tough but we will be working hard.

I’m 27 and I feel that responsibility. I’m a leader and I feel responsible in the group but we have a lot of leaders in the team. We have good team spirit as well. I just hope we can build on this season. There are a lot of ups and downs but plenty of positives to be had. We need to learn from it, take it into next year and definitely build on it.

Lallana operates in a similar attacking midfield role to Coutinho but was deployed alongside him regularly within Rodgers’ 3-4-2-1, proving that they can work well together. He contributes an inventive one-touch game within pockets of space in front of and between opposing defences and looks to charge forward with the ball whenever possible. He could prove the perfect foil to Coutinho’s talents next season, if he remains fit and is truly capable of stepping up, as he attests.

However, with all the help that Kovacic or Lallana would provide, Liverpool would still struggle to get the best out of Coutinho next season if their goalscoring woes continue in the forward line. 

Speaking after making a hero’s return to the Liverpool first team, with a goal just 12 minutes into his return from a long spell on the sidelines with injury in January’s 2-0 win over West Ham United, star striker Daniel Sturridge professed his joy at playing alongside a playmaker like Coutinho.

“It was great play by Coutinho. We have a great relationship—he knows my runs and I know the types of passes he likes to play as well. He makes my job easier,” Sturridge told Neil Jones of the Liverpool Echo. “Once I saw him cut inside, I knew the ball would come and it was just a case of getting it under control and hitting the target.”

These words evoke a near-telepathic relationship Sturridge has with Coutinho—the pair both joined Liverpool in January 2013—and the combination of the Englishman’s intelligent runs and Coutinho’s perceptive ball-playing has been at the fulcrum of Rodgers’ success on Merseyside. With Suarez gone, Coutinho is the player Sturridge has the most chemistry with on the field of play. This points to a hugely important move that Liverpool must make this summer, in signing a new striker.

Disappointingly, the centre-forward that Rodgers has seemingly made his top priority this summer is £32.5 million-rated Christian Benteke, of Aston Villa, as reported by John Percy of the Telegraph. But this battering-ram specification of striker is not what Liverpool should be looking for.

Instead, Liverpool should be looking to sign another dynamic, pacy forward, with similar qualities to Sturridge, this summer. A player like Luciano Vietto, Javier Hernandez or Carlos Bacca, who will run the channels, latch onto the Brazilian’s through balls and terrorise defenders with pace would fit the bill.

Benteke is so far from this calibre of striker, as Belgium manager Marc Wilmots underlined following his side’s recent loss to Wales in their 2016 European Championships qualifier, according to Tom Dutton of the London Evening Standard: “I changed my system [after Wales scored], because Benteke was isolated. I then played with two strikers, but they need more crosses. We asked them to get to the front post, but they stand there like two poles. We still have work to do.”

As discussed, Coutinho is Liverpool’s best player, their creative talisman and the player whose qualities they need to magnify next season in order to achieve success. This will not be accomplished by forcing him to provide cross after cross for a static Benteke, and instead a more suitable, Sturridge-esque striker must be signed.

With this help from the midfield and with a more worthy target to provide for in attack, Coutinho can look to build towards his best in 2015/16.

Speaking to the club’s official website following a 6-0 win away to Newcastle United back in April of 2013, Rodgers praised Coutinho following an outstanding performance but was quick to point out there was much progress to be made. After the victory at St. James’ Park, the manager professed:

We build up players in the country and put them on a pedestal and then quickly nail them down.

He’s had an outstanding performance and people can see why we brought him in. He’s 20 years of age and fits the culture of what we’re trying to do here. 

He’s technically strong and he’s a very humble boy. He works hard, you can see the effort in his game, the pressure, the intensity, so he fits in really well, but there’s a long way to go.

Coutinho finished his first half-season on Merseyside with three goals and five assists from 13 Premier League appearances, averaging at a goal contribution every 117 minutes. He joined Sturridge as the spark that revitalised a flagging 2012/13 season, full of energy and creative inspiration.

But Rodgers was right: He still needed to develop his game, namely in improving his defensive work—an aspect of his game that was prominent from the start of the following season.

The Brazilian is seemingly a very swift learner when it comes to on-field improvements, as he outlined with a remarkable development in his efforts in front of goal in the second half of 2014/15. In January, Coutinho told Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo that he was working hard to improve his shooting accuracy, among other areas, saying:

There are always so many things to improve.

I’ve been working on assisting my team-mates even further and improving my goal tally as I understand this as being part of my role. I expect to do better on this. 

In training, I’ve been working with our coaches on specific tasks to better my final touch. 

Whenever possible, I have post-training sessions to work on improving my shooting accuracy.

This end-of-month concession was followed by his two-assist performance at home to West Ham in the Premier League and by scoring the winning goal in early February’s 2-1 away win over Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup with a last-minute, long-range curler. Five more great goals came between then and the end of the season, all near-identical to that Macron Stadium stunner.

Coutinho was on the money with his words on development, but to become the world-class player that Liverpool know he has the potential to be, he must continue to improve. Chiefly, this must come with finding consistency on the pitch—the way in which he drifted into the periphery in April’s 4-1 league loss away to Arsenal will have concerned Rodgers, who was without a number of key players for that clash.

But that low-squad-depth caveat should underline just how Liverpool will get the best out of an ever-improving Coutinho in 2015/16. He must be played in his best position, in the central playmaking role; he must be supported by a similarly able creative talent, be that Lallana or a new signing such as Kovacic; and he must be deployed behind the right specification of striker—hopefully that is Sturridge, but if not another intelligent, dynamic and pacy forward in-sync with Coutinho’s style of play must be acquired.

Those three conditions are vital to Liverpool finding success with Coutinho as their inspiration in 2015/16.

Give him the right tools, and Coutinho can become world-class in the coming season with Liverpool.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

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Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez has told Florentino Perez he wishes to sign Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi, according to Italian website Sport Mediaset (h/t AS).

The new boss is hoping to “increase” Karim Benzema’s competition in the squad and will look to Icardi “if the club finally decides not to exercise their option on Chicharito Hernandez,” per the aforementioned report.

Icardi netted 22 goals to finish joint top-scorer in the 2014-15 Serie A season, joined by Verona‘s evergreen Luca Toni. The Argentinian also provided seven assists in 36 appearances and remained creative despite Inter’s continued struggles, per WhoScored.com.

It would be a major challenge for him to maintain a starting spot at the Bernabeu, though. This is particularly true if Benzema remains at the club, because neither are likely to accept a rotational role. AS (h/t Adam Shergold of the Daily Mail) recently reported that Benitez will hand Cristiano Ronaldo a lone No. 9 role, an obstacle that will render other strikers nothing more than back-up.

Icardi would likely be utilised in the same manner as Javier Hernandez, who managed just seven La Liga starts during the recently concluded season.

This wouldn’t help the 22-year-old’s development—Icardi needs to be given responsibility to hone his talent—nor would it greatly improve Madrid’s chances of success. There’s little point spending big on Icardi if he’s to fulfill the Alvaro Morata role—remaining a peripheral figure until he heads back to Italy to find success.

Icardi also recently signed a new four-year contract, tweeted by Inter:

His valuation will be at its absolute highest with this in mind. Although Benitez will understandably want to make an impact on the Los Blancos squad, spending heavily on a striker who is improving—yet nowhere near the complete package—makes little sense. The Real Madrid manager’s attacking options are vast and other areas must be balanced first.

Marca‘s J.L. Calderon believes Manchester United are waiting with “open arms” for defender Raphael Varane. It is suggested the Red Devils asked about the Frenchman’s availability during negotiations for United stopper David De Gea, but that Madrid made it clear “there is absolutely no way” Varane will leave.

The 22-year-old defender could be given greater opportunities to impress under Benitez. He has remained reliable cover for Sergio Ramos and Pepe, but he needs greater playing time to develop into one of the world’s best.

B/R UK’s Ryan Bailey and Jonathan Johnson recently discussed plenty of questions that Benitez will face in his first transfer window with the club:

Varane is immensely talented, an excellent reader of the ball and quality in possession. He could make United fans very happy, even though the likelihood is that he remains in Madrid until his time to shine finally arrives.

Benitez is expected to take a pragmatic approach to getting Madrid on track. It would be a huge call to sell Varane, particularly after the centre-back’s terrific stand-in performances over the years.

Yet, the Spanish manager must make sure everyone within his squad is contributing and genuinely adding to Madrid’s quality. It’s questionable whether Icardi would be able to achieve that just yet.

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Manchester City will begin their 2015-16 Premier League campaign with a tricky fixture against West Brom at The Hawthorns.

Manuel Pellegrini‘s side finished second last season, eight points behind champions Chelsea, and will play host to Jose Mourinho’s team at the Etihad Stadium in the second match of the season on Aug. 15, per the official Premier League website.

City started the last campaign with a 2-0 win away at Newcastle United. Pellegrini‘s side followed this with victory over Liverpool, but then lost their third match against Stoke City.

City’s objectives for the season should be competing to take Chelsea’s crown while maintaining their presence in cup competitions. Most notably, the side must improve in the Champions League after annual struggles on the continent since receiving investment from Sheikh Mansour.

Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero finished five goals ahead of Tottenham Hotspur‘s Harry Kane last season, topping the scorers chart with 26 strikes. He remains City’s most important player—a continued match-winner across all fronts—and vital to the side’s potential success.

Maintaining the presence of powerhouse midfielder Yaya Toure—who was linked with a move to Inter Milan, reported by Simon Jones of the Daily Mail—should also be seen as pivotal to City’s hunt for silverware.

Notable dates for the season include both Manchester derbies, which will go ahead on Oct. 24 at Old Trafford and Mar. 19 at the Etihad.

Pellegrini will be hoping to employ a more exciting and lethal brand of football, having watched on as his side struggled through important matches last season.

City should be considered the next likely team beyond Chelsea to take the title, having won the trophy twice in the last four years.

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In what can only be described as a “nomadic existence” during his professional football career, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has found some semblance of calm at Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG‘s mammoth Swede has never played longer than three seasons (plus four games) at the same club, meaning the 2015/16 season would be the centre-forward’s longest stint at any destination. Malmo FF, Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and AC Milan over 14 seasons saw various versions of Ibrahimovic, but he has consistently produced his best work in France.

The now-33-year-old striker has directly contributed to 149 goals in 129 appearances at PSG over three seasons, but, despite his success, there appears to be—as ever—speculation surrounding his future.

Entering the last year of his contract, Ibrahimovic is being seen across Europe as a possible target, as the French champions could be persuaded to end their marriage rather than proceeding onward.

Bought for £15.7 million in 2012, the Daily Express‘ Charles Perrin, via Metro, suggests PSG have put an £11 million price tag on their talismanic striker, with Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Milan monitoring the situation.

Furthermore, ESPN FC’s Ian Holyman reported on 16 June: “Ibrahimovic and [his] agent Mino Raiola have travelled to Qatar to meet Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi to discuss his future.”

This development is of import because the veteran centre-forward told the media last week, via Eurosport’s Maxwell Ward:

I belong to PSG. I have one year left on my contract and there is no truth to these stories. I’m a PSG player.

I really don’t think I will leave. We won everything at PSG this season. I have no idea where the stories come from, but I guess people need something to write about.

Ibrahimovic could be toeing the company line and attempting to avoid creating waves, but when has “the Zlatan” ever shied away from speaking his truth? If the Swedish international has no desire to leave the Parc des Princes, it stands to reason he has flown with his agent to Qatar for (if not a holiday) contract negotiations/assurances.

The question for PSG then becomes: “If clubs are interested in Ibrahimovic, do we hold on to a depreciating asset or shall we cash in whilst we still can?”

An argument could be made at 33 years old the best of Zlatan has passed, and having never won the Champions League—or even played in a Champions League final—during his numerous pit stops around the European continent, Ibrahimovic may not be the footballer to carry a club to European glory.

Add 22 missed games last season (from red-card suspension, a four-match ban from the French league’s disciplinary committee and then general injury/fatigue) and cutting bait seems an optimal outcome; especially considering taking a £4.7 million loss for 149 goals after three seasons is actually fantastic business.

The argument is sound, but not without complication.

Ibrahimovic is a worldwide attraction, whose fans extend into the millions—PSG cannot afford to lose their star and place their marketing burden on Edinson Cavani, David Luiz, Thiago Silva or Marco Verratti?

Paris Saint-Germain’s (and French football’s) greatest fear would likely be losing global popularity were Zlatan to leave for the Premier League or Serie A, as UEFA Financial Fair Play ramifications exist.

Therefore, while solid reasoning exists to end the relationship, if the player wants to stay in the French capital and the fiscal element is included, PSG could be better off long-term keeping their larger-than-life centre-forward into his retirement and making him an ambassador.

What cannot happen, however, is allowing Ibrahimovic carte blanche. He must understand his powers will begin to fade further, and he should not expect the same wages or salary moving past 2015/16.

PSG‘s “Zlatan experiment” has largely been successful—excluding the Champions League—so another season would not be the worst outcome, but extending aging footballers is not progression, more maintenance.

Follow @danieltiluk

Stats via WhoScored.com; transfer fees via Soccerbase where not noted.

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