Chelsea and Real Madrid have been linked with a swoop for Inter forward Mauro Icardi, but they could be dealt a real blow in their reported pursuit.

As noted by Football London, the Blues have been paired with a move for the Argentine ace, while Goal.com note that he has also attracted interest from Real Madrid with both sides looking to add a clinical presence in attack.

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Chelsea have scored 40 goals in their 23 Premier League games so far this season, giving them the lowest tally of the top six sides, while Madrid have managed 30 goals in 20 outings, the joint-worst of the top four in Spain.

It would appear as though Maurizio Sarri will see a solution arrive this month with Gonzalo Higuain tipped to join the Blues, although it’s noted by Sky Sports that he will initially join on loan until the summer, with conditions needing to be met in order to see it extended for just another year.

With that in mind, whether or not he emerges as the long-term frontman at Stamford Bridge remains to be seen, hence why transfer rumours linking Icardi with Chelsea are refusing to go away.

However, if either Chelsea or Real Madrid still hold an interest in Icardi, then they could be set for a major blow as Sportmediaset note that if the 25-year-old agrees to a contract renewal with Inter, it could include a whopping €180m release clause which would seemingly make an exit from the San Siro highly unlikely.

Icardi has established himself as one of the most prolific forwards in Europe since moving to Inter in 2013, scoring 121 goals in 206 appearances for the Nerazzurri.

In turn, it’s easy to see why top clubs from around Europe would see him as a possible solution to their problems in the final third, but if he puts pen to paper on the touted extension, it will force any interested party to splash out big money to prise him away.

Liverpool have confirmed that Lazar Markovic has left Anfield, joining Fulham in a permanent deal on Deadline Day.

The 24-year-old joined the Merseyside giants in 2014, but made just 34 appearances for the club while scoring three goals.

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Markovic ultimately failed to make an impression at Anfield, as he spent most of his time with the Reds out on loan, with stints at Fenerbahce, Sporting, Hull City and most recently Anderlecht.

With that in mind, Liverpool will arguably be pleased to have now found a long-term solution for all concerned, with Claudio Ranieri hoping that the Serbian ace can prove his worth with the Cottagers as they bid to avoid the drop from the Premier League this season.

As noted in Liverpool’s official statement, it is a permanent transfer, and so given that Markovic was never able to make his mark at the club, it will surely come as a slight relief that they’ve now been able to remove him from the wage bill.

Time will tell if he is still able to prove to be a success in England as he now has a fresh opportunity to do so, but with Liverpool boasting such a dangerous attacking line-up with quality depth, Markovic has steadily fallen further down the pecking order at Anfield and so an exit is undoubtedly the right decision for all concerned.

As for Fulham, they sit in 19th place in the Premier League table, six points adrift of safety. Ranieri will hope that Markovic can offer a different dynamic in the final third and help a side which has only scored 25 goals in 24 league games so far this season.

Chelsea will have to splash out if they wish to extend Gonzalo Higuain’s stay at Stamford Bridge beyond this season, as confirmed by Juventus.

As noted by BBC Sport, the 31-year-old has joined the Blues on loan for the rest of the season, after his previous agreement with AC Milan was cut short.

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In turn, Maurizio Sarri will hope that his former Napoli star can fire them towards their objectives over the next few months, with Chelsea looking to secure a top-four finish in the Premier League as well as claim trophies both domestically and with the Europa League still on the agenda.

However Juventus have released a statement confirming the fees involved in the Higuain deal, albeit they haven’t clarified how much the Argentine international will cost Chelsea for this season alone.

As per Sky Sports, Milan were set to pay €18m for the season-long loan deal with Juve, and so perhaps with half the season remaining, Chelsea may have essentially picked up that same agreement and will pay the remaining €9m. However, that is merely speculative at this stage.

What has been confirmed though via Juve’s official press release, is that if Chelsea wish to extend Higuain’s loan move for another season this summer, that will cost them €18m, or they could choose to sign Higuain on a permanent basis for €36m, which would be paid over two years.

It remains to be seen if the prolific striker delivers at Stamford Bridge in the next few months to warrant an extended stay with Chelsea, but if he does score regularly and prove that he’s capable of leading the line successfully, it sets up an interesting decision for the Blues as to whether to exercise one of those options on a player well into his 30s.

Having bagged a staggering 38 goals in just 42 games under Sarri in the 2015/16 campaign in Naples, the Italian tactician will be hoping they can enjoy similar productivity this time round, which would surely make signing the Argentine a no-brainer from Chelsea’s perspective.

Barcelona will have to pay £17 million to land Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud during the January window, as the Frenchman pushes for a move.

According to Don Balon, Giroud has grown frustrated by his lack of playing time at Stamford Bridge recently and he is thusly hoping for a transfer this month.

Don Balon reports that Barcelona are interested in securing his services but they will have to meet Chelsea’s £17 million asking price or risk missing out on the deal completely.

Another issue which may hold up Giroud’s departure is the future of Alvaro Morata, who has also been tipped to leave Chelsea and join Atletico Madrid.

The Blues cannot afford to lose both strikers and at the moment Morata looks the more likely to leave, as negotiations with Atletico approach their latter stages.

Sky Sports states that AC Milan’s Gonzalo Higuain is still expected to join Chelsea before the transfer window closes and if the club are also able to keep hold of Giroud their prospects going forward will look much brighter than before.

Morata has been the biggest underperformer for Maurizio Sarri’s men this term, often anonymous in matches and guilty of missing clear cut chances on a consistent basis.

giroud chelsea

Giroud has been similarly ineffective in front of goal, but he offers Chelsea so much more in their build-up play, with his physical style and aerial prowess which helps the team progress in the final third.

At Barcelona, the World Cup-winning centre-forward would again play second fiddle to Luis Suarez in the attack, which makes it a strange move for him to contemplate at this stage of his career.

Giroud still has a lot to offer Chelsea and they would be well advised to keep hold of him heading into a crucial period of the season, regardless of whether or not Higuain arrives at Stamford Bridge in the coming days.

Manchester United are reportedly ready to pay as much as £120million for the transfer of Barcelona attacking midfielder Philippe Coutinho.

The Brazil international has been linked with other top clubs in recent times after struggling at the Nou Camp, with a potential return to the Premier League making sense for the former Liverpool star.

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Coutinho’s best form of his career came in his time at Anfield and Don Balon claim United are now convinced he could be ideal for their team as well alongside other quality attacking midfielders like Paul Pogba.

The Spanish outlet claim the Red Devils could be prepared to pay as much as £120m for Coutinho, which follows a recent report from the Express also linking the 26-year-old with Chelsea.

With Don Balon and others strongly linking Chelsea with being set to lose Eden Hazard to Real Madrid, Coutinho makes sense as an ideal replacement for the Belgian at Stamford Bridge.

Philippe Coutinho to Manchester United or Chelsea?

Real Madrid are reportedly considering a major squad overhaul with up to six players being offloaded this summer to rebuild the squad.

Things haven’t gone well for the Spanish giants so far this season, as they remain in third place in La Liga, 10 points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

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Further, they haven’t entirely convinced in Europe in defence of their Champions League crown, while Julen Lopetegui has been sacked already with interim boss Santiago Solari in charge until the end of the season.

In turn, there are changes expected on the bench as well as in the squad, with Calciomercato noting via TV show ‘El Chiringuito de Jugonese’, that Marcelo, Isco, Jesus Vallejo, Lucas Vazquez, Keylor Navas and Dani Ceballos could all be moving on at the end of the season.

That is a significant number of players who make up a crucial part of the squad both in terms of offering quality and depth, and so there will surely be significant spending at Real Madrid this summer too to fill those voids and ensure that they aren’t left short in their bid to compete on multiple fronts.

Marcelo and Isco are of course the stand-out names given their influence in the side over the years, while the other quartet are arguably less of a surprise given that they’ve struggled to cement their place in the starting line-up for some time.

It promises to be a fascinating summer in the Spanish capital if such an overhaul is undertaken, with the club under pressure now to replace several stalwarts such as Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema who aren’t getting any younger either, while it could be argued that they have failed to efficiently replace former talisman Cristiano Ronaldo too.

Juventus winger Douglas Costa is a very lucky man after reportedly escaping unscathed from a high-speed car crash in Italy.

Corriere Torino reports that the Brazil international had been travelling in his jeep before colliding with another vehicle, with the pictures showing the scale of the damage.

The person in the other car is reported to have had to go to hospital, though it’s unclear how severe their condition is at this time.

It’s also not entirely clear who was at fault in this collision, but Juventus fans will hope Costa can stay out of this kind of situation and keep himself safer in the future!

Arsenal may have potentially received a transfer boost after Paris Saint-Germain announced the signing of Leandro Paredes on Tuesday.

As per the tweet below, the reigning French champions have officially confirmed the arrival of Paredes, with Goal.com reporting that they’ve splashed out €45m to sign him from Zenit.

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That in turn offers them an important midfield reinforcement, although with Adrien Rabiot’s current contract set to expire this summer, it seems likely that Paredes has been brought in as a long-term replacement for the French international.

While that addresses a key issue for the Ligue 1 giants, it could also be of serious interest to Arsenal, with ESPN linking them with a loan swoop for PSG youngster Christopher Nkunku.

It’s specifically added in that report that the 21-year-old would only be allowed to move on if the club signed two midfielders and he penned a new contract.

They’ve added one now at least who can offer an immediate impact, so it remains to be seen whether or not Thomas Tuchel will realistically have a role for Nkunku to play for the remainder of this season.

The Frenchman has made 17 appearances so far this year, and so evidently he will be pleased with the progress he is making. Nevertheless, by adding more competition for places, it could push him down the pecking order which in turn could force him to consider his options.

With Arsenal looking to bolster their midfield to help shore things up under Emery, it could certainly be worth their while to make a fresh enquiry for Nkunku following the Paredes announcement as they could be given hope of reaching a deal before the deadline.

Liverpool have reportedly joined Bayern Munich in the running to seal the transfer of Chelsea wonderkid Callum Hudson-Odoi.

German outlet Bild report that Bayern have competition for Hudson-Odoi, with the Blues youngster’s brother and advisor holding talks with Liverpool over a possible move that could keep him in the Premier League.

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The 18-year-old looks an exciting talent, and it would make sense for him to seek to follow in the footsteps of players like Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson in moving abroad to play more often.

Hudson-Odoi doesn’t look like getting many opportunities at Chelsea, who are known for often snubbing top young talent in favour of bigger names.

This has proven costly for them in recent times, with elite young players like Kevin De Bruyne and Mohamed Salah allowed to leave Stamford Bridge before going on to become leading performers for Premier League rivals.

Callum Hudson-Odoi could leave Chelsea for Liverpool or Bayern Munich

Hudson-Odoi could now be the latest if he can be persuaded to swap Stamford Bridge for Anfield, though one imagines Chelsea would much rather sell abroad.

Sky Sports previously stated Bayern had bid as much as £35million for the England youth international, and it remains to be seen if Liverpool could afford to compete with that kind of money for a relatively unproven player.