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Thursday Kickoff: PSG plots double swoop for Milan stars, Forest fires Cotterill, and more

ZlatanSilva (Getty)

French powerhouse Paris St. Germain has already spent big money this summer in landing Argentine star Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli with a €26 million transfer, but the big spenders from Paris have their sights set on even bigger targets.

Reports out of Italy have PSG making a combined €65 million transfer bid for AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Thiago Silva. The transfer, coupled with the wages Milan would remove from their payroll, would make the deal a potential nine-figure windfall for a club struggling financially. On the bright side for Milan, Carlos Tevez is reportedly being lined up to replace Ibrahimovic.

For PSG, the transfer would give the attack another top player to add to Lavezzi and Javier Pastore, and a centerback anchor for the back-line in Silva.

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani did nothing to shoot down the rampant rumors, essentially telling media that anything is possible.

Here are some other stories to get your Thursday going:

NOTTINGHAM FOREST DUMP COTTERILL

It didn't take long for Nottingham Forest's new owners to decide that they needed a new manager to carry out the owners new plans.

With that in mind, Forest has let go of manager Steve Cotterill, with his replacement yet to be chosen.

QUICK KICKS

Rafael van Der Vaart could be headed for a return to Hamburg now that Schalke is no longer interested.

Reading is plotting a £5million transfer bid for Jermain DeFoe.

Rafa Benitez is in the running for the vacant Russian national team coaching job.

Hugo Rodallega's wage demands have cost him a move to Everton.

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What do you think of these developments? See Paris St. Germain being a Champions League contender if they can add Silva and Ibrahimovic? See Forest hiring a high-profile manager?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. dude, you realize Ibra said he would love to move to Paris, right? so despite what you think, Ibra can see himself there.

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  2. That is some serious money for 2 players, one of whom is on the wrong side of 30. I’d make the deal, knowing full well that it’s going to take time to recover from losing players of that calibre. But you get Tevez, and you buy a stable of good defenders and still have a lot of money leftover.

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  3. Oh yeah, and let’s be honest, absolutely none of the players City have signed would have ever considered playing for City if not for the money and because they had a “project” so to speak, which of course was to build a team to win the EPL and more. Obviously every team wants to build a team that can do that, but City didn’t have the means until they had the money. There is no way you can deny that. That’s no slight on City, it’s not like you can blame the club for being bought by a billionaire…

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  4. I’m not saying it hasn’t brought success, obviously it has, but there are numerous City players that have said they joined the team because they liked City’s project they had going. I’m not really saying it’s any different than the early United years when they were building the most dominant team in the EPL. Of course City were able to do it much faster with the ridiculous amount of money they had. I’m not using project as an insult, but there are now several teams that are instantly contenders solely because of money, and I guess my main point was that Paris as a city is miles better than Manchester, and if as a player I thought PSG was going to be a powerhouse just like City, I’d pick PSG. I think that’s a fair point. And I hope you mean City is one out of many favorites for the CL, because they are definitely not THE favorite. They have one season’s experience and they haven’t improved their squad at all yet…

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  5. I think they’re on their way to having as much talent on their roster as any team in the world, but not necessarily being one of the elite teams. Talent doesn’t always equal success. Even with a billion dollar roster it’s still difficult for me to imagine them competing with Real, Barca, Chelsea and the other top teams in the immediate future. 3 years from now, who knows?

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  6. According to L’equipe, Ibrahimovic has agreed to the deal “in principle”. This was posted to their site a few minutes ago. So who knows what in the hell’s going on. It’s the Mercato, so nothing’s done til it’s done.

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  7. Zlatan can be bit of a headache but he carried Mlan’s offense last season. He made up for the fact that Milan had no creativity in the midfield. Pato, Robinho and Cassano are good but none of them can really lead a line and all have injury concerns.

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  8. That is true Boateng is a good player. So are players like Montolivo, Nocerino, Cassano, Abate and Robinho. My point was Zlatan and Silva were the only players on the team who could be considered elite players at their position.

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  9. They’d be foolish to sell Silva, but selling Zlatan makes sense. He will turn 31 this year, does not work hard on defense, and is a total jerk in the lockeroom. These factors, plus the money Milan could get by selling him, start outweighing Zlatan’s talent. Even after trading him, they will still have players that can play forward (Pato, Robinho and Cassano).

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  10. Disagree with the first comment, most teams would love to have KPB.

    Agree with the second, Milan would be in trouble without Ibra and Silva.

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  11. Let’s see if Mikey’s agent is blowing smoke. I hate these long drawn-out rumor mill. Come on, Roma, I have had a scarf from Roma for a decade and finally it can get some use!

    From asromanews.it via ESPN Soccernet’s transfer blog:

    Alberto Faccini: “I am confident because I have been given assurances. I am convinced that, in 24 hours, all will be resolved.”

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  12. If would be foolish to for Milan to sell Zlatan and Silva. They are the only elite players Milan got. They have no chance at winning the Scudetto or making a deep Champions league run without those 2.

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  13. I don’t see Ibra wanting to go there, but I think Silva could go. Honestly if I was the kind of player that was more interested in money and a “project” (like City), then I would totally go to PSG. It would awesome to be filthy rich and live in Paris. I’d take that over Manchester any day. But of course you’d be playing a less competitive league. But they are still some ways to having the most talented roster in the world. They have relatively few world class players. Obviously they are buying more each season, but to say they are well on their way is a bit much, in my opinion at least. They are nowhere close to having rosters like Real, Barca, Bayern, Chelsea, and the two Manchester clubs, yet…

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  14. Wow! if PSG land those two then they are officially a European powerhouse. They’re well on their way to becoming a team with most talented roster in the world. Barca, beware!

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  15. when i’m in europe later this year PSG plays at home then i travel to Barca… it’s all aligning perfectly. now i must go to both games!

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