“Arsenal Vs Watford” (CC BY 2.0) by joshjdss

With 13 goals and 7 assists in 20 games this season, Alexis Sanchez has the best attacking output of anyone in Europe’s top five leagues. As the prolific Arsenal attacker enters his prime he is attracting the interest of top Premier League sides along with the European elite. Paris Saint-Germain have expressed their interest in penning a deal with the player in the summer, but would Unai Emery be wise to make a move for the Gunners’ main cannon in January?

In what has become a drawn out set of negotiations, Sanchez’s Arsenal future is still up in the air. The player has a year left on his current contract and is trying to reach an agreement with the London club for an improved deal to extend his stay. According to the Mirror the Chilean is holding out for a salary increase in excess of £200,000-a-week, but former Arsenal player Martin Keown also believes that Arsene Wenger’s unclear future with the club could also be a factor. The Match of the Day Pundit believes that if Wenger leaves in the summer his star player will seek pastures new as well.

There is also the fact that a player of Sanchez’s undeniable world class quality will desperately desire to challenge for titles year in, year out. The 28-year-old will be considering whether the Emirates is the place he can achieve this. PSG could not only offer the former Barcelona man much improved wages, they could also give him the opportunity to challenge for titles every season domestically and in Europe.

Ever since Zlatan Ibrahimović departed to Manchester United in the summer, PSG have been in desperate need of a strong replacement. Edinson Cavani has taken up the goal scoring mantle well (see video above) with 18 goals in Ligue 1 so far, but the Uruguayan needs someone to share the load and link up with. Jese Rodriguez, the summer signing from Real Madrid was acquired to fill this role, but Emery has admitted that the transfer has not gone according to plan and the Spaniard may be on the move again in this transfer window.

Although reports suggest that Emery will make a £60million swoop for Sanchez in the summer, many fans will be thinking that a shock move for the forward now would make more sense. Ahead of the Red and Blues’ crunch Champions League clash against Barcelona, Emery’s side are 40/1 with Betway to win the tournament. Although Sanchez would be cup-tied and ineligible to play for the Paris club in Europe this season, he would provide exceptionally strong cover to challenge in the league while Emery fields a full strength side against Barca.

PSG’s continued dominance of the French top flight may be about to suffer its first major upset this season as Nice and Monaco are currently ahead of the Paris club in the race for the title. Emery has brought in the attacking midfield pairing of Julian Draxler and Giovani Lo Celso already in 2017 as he seeks to gain ground on PSG’s main rivals. But many will be thinking that an out-and-out striker should be top of the agenda. Currently Cavani is the only specialist goal scorer in the squad, and should he suffer injury Emery won’t have many options. There is also the possibility of fatigue if PSG progress in Europe and also have to keep up the hunt in the domestic title race.

PSG should move for Sanchez now and beat their European rivals in singing the ferocious forward. The time seems ripe while his contract disputes are still unresolved, and the player is increasingly dissatisfied with Arsenal’s apparent lack of ambition. PSG need to sign a striker in the window anyway, so why not go for the Gunners man?

Money talks or money can’t buy me love; it depends on who you listen to as to the effect that cold hard cash has on people.

One thing is for sure: moolah turns heads in football. PSG are the French champions and, according to Forbes Magazine, the fourth highest grossing club on the planet. And yet they haven’t been able to translate such financial muscle to success in the continent’s premier competition, the Champions League.

So who are the new faces that could help push them forwards on Europe’s biggest stage?

Gonzalo Higuain

The beauty of being amongst the richest clubs in the world is that you can pick up the players of those who aren’t by dangling a blank cheque in the right place at the right time.

Napoli aren’t cash poor by any means, but even they would be vulnerable to a huge offer for their prized asset Gonzalo Higuain.

Rumour has it that the Argentine has a £75 million release clause written into his contract to cover for such an eventuality, and so then the choice would be the striker’s: does he want to leave the club that has been home since 2013?

The prospect of linking up with countryman Angel di Maria, and filling Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s big shoes, may prove tempting to a player who at 28 is yet to make his mark on the latter stages of the Champions League; an opportunity a move to Paris may just afford.

N’Golo Kante

Should France go deep into Euro 2016 and even win it, then mega bucks PSG will be looking to sign a key man or two from that side in an attempt to cash in on such national fervour.

One obvious candidate would be the metronomic midfielder N’Golo Kante, who again impressed in his usual low-key fashion in their 2-1 win over Romania in their tournament opener.

The Leicester man has been linked incessantly with a move away from the Premier League title champions in the past few months, and while the club would be loathe to lose such a key player ultimately they are ran rather shrewdly by their Thai owners; and selling a £6 million asset for in excess of £20 million clearly represents smart business.

It has been reported that the Foxes have offered Kante an improved contract of £100,000 – but even that may not be enough to ward off the interest of the Ligue 1 champions.

Dimitri Payet

Another French star who is sure to be on PSG’s radar is Dimitri Payet. An outstanding strike from the West Ham man sealed the deal for Les Bleus in that win over Romania, and it is not the first time that the 29-year-old has caught the eye with his ball striking abilities.

A vintage campaign for the Hammers has elevated Payet to national prominence in his homeland – he hadn’t really featured at international level prior to that – and so again PSG’s scouts are bound to have sat up and taken an interest.

As with Kante, you wouldn’t imagine there would be an inclination to leave his present employer, but money talks and the lure of Champions League football for Payet may well prove definitive in his decision.

Eden Hazard

Sometimes a rumoured transfer just looks a good fit, and Eden Hazard to PSG makes sense given the Belgian’s issues at Chelsea last season.

The winger was far from his best at the Blues, and was even partly blamed for the sacking of Jose Mourinho amid rumours of a dressing room rift. The Special One has gone of course to be replaced by the Italian One, Antonio Conte, but lest we forget that Stamford Bridge will not be seeing European football of any level next term; surely something of a turn off for their personnel.

Hazard continues to refute that a transfer elsewhere is imminent, but we’re savvy enough to not take a professional footballer’s public-facing virtuousness at face value these days.

Grzegorz Krychowiak

This is one of those potential deals in which we’re joining the dots a little, but given the news that the announcement of Sevilla boss Unai Emery as Laurent Blanc’s replacement in the Stade de France hot seat is imminent, we start to look at his present staff and who he might like to bring with him.

One option would be Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak, who starred in his country’s 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Euro 2016 just the other day. The marauding midfielder would be a fine addition in his own right or as a replacement for Marco Verratti, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, Juventus and a host of other clubs in recent times.

The Pole’s all-action style would prove a nice foil to Blaise Matuidi, and obviously the chance to link up with Emery at a club battling it out for Champions League honours will be a mighty temptation for the 26-year-old.

The future of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been the hottest topic around PSG’s headquarters these last few days. The Swede’s contract is up this summer, and speculation surrounding his future has been gathering pace for the last couple of months.

If you believe the player himself, then he is definitely staying in Paris beyond this season. He took part in PSG’s 1-0 friendly win over his former club Inter Milan in Doha on Wednesday, where he was booed by his former club’s supporters while he was leaving the field to be substituted. After the game the 34 year old striker said that ‘there was nothing on the table yet’ and that he has a beautiful relationship with PSG and has no intention of leaving the French club.

However, if you listen to the noises that his outspoken agent Mino Raiola has been making over the last couple of months you will definitely get the feeling that Zlatan’s entourage is leveraging their position, ahead of any negotiations which are going to take place before the summer transfer window. In his latest interview with Sky Sports, Raiola has claimed that his client will stay in PSG for the remainder of the season and that he won’t leave the club in January.

His next quotes, though, are sure to spark speculation because he basically left the door open for any of the Premier League’s top clubs to start wooing the Swedish international. In short, Raiola said that his client’s playing style and the passion he has for football are shared by Premier League clubs and supporters respectively. He claimed that by being a free agent, Zlatan can mule over all the offers he gets and then choose which he thinks is the best one. This was a loud and clear ‘come and get him plea’ issued towards whoever was willing to pay attention and listen.

And it’s difficult to see which Premier League club wouldn’t benefit from having Ibrahimovic in their ranks. Several weeks ago, while Mourinho was still at Chelsea, there were reports Zlatan’s agent could engineer a move for the Swede, a self-declared Mourinho disciple, to Stamford Bridge. But now that Mourinho is gone, the Blues interest seems to have waned. However, should Mourinho be reappointed at Old Trafford, we could expect for the rumor to be resurrected again, especially with United’s misfiring attacking options inability to find the back of the net.

Even if any of these two aren’t interested, there are always Arsenal and Man City, both sharing the need of a quality striker and having the resources to afford one. But buyer beware, even though Zlatan is a free agent and no transfer fee will be needed for his purchase, his astronomical wages are sure to be a heavy burden even for financially healthy clubs. And this is without mentioning the bonuses that he will be asking for. They will probably be as high as the mobile bonus offers found in Bonus Wire’s list of casino match bonuses in their online casinos.

If there are no buyers from England, however, there is always the option of joining, the so called retirement home for European stars, the MLS. Clubs in the MLS have the option to have a marquee player in their ranks, meaning that this signing is considered outside of the team’s salary cap and can be given higher wages than other players. This rule was first implemented for Zlatan’s old team mate, David Beckham, and is informally called the Beckham rule.

And rather symbolically, Beckham has joined the bandwagon as well, and invited Ibrahimovic, through the media of course, to join the MLS franchise that he has been building in Miami. However, since the team Beckham has founded will start competing in 2 or 3 years time at best, Ibrahimovic might still have to stay in one of Europe’s top leagues for now.

So whether Ibra stays in Paris or leaves for pastures greener in the summer, this whole thing has the words ‘transfer saga of 2016’ written all over it.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – PSG

While Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have polarised opinion throughout his career, few can argue with the pedigree of clubs that he has represented. With a resume that includes successful stints at Inter Milan, Barcelona and now French champions Paris St. Germain, the man known simply as ‘Zlatan’ has amassed an array of winners’ medals and an enduring reputation for moments of individual brilliance. While his perceived arrogance and occasional lack of work rate may detract slightly from his appeal, there is no doubt that both PSG and the Swedish national team have come to rely on his extraordinary ability.

Sweden

Both teams are being forced to do without the talismanic frontman at present, however, as he remains side-lined with a seemingly innocuous heel injury incurred during the home league clash with Olympique Lyonnais at the beginning of the season. Having initially been ruled out for a couple of weeks, it appears as though the severity of the injury has been underestimated and experts are predicting that Ibrahimovic may miss many more key games in the coming weeks. While the French newspaper Le Parisien claims that he is highly unlikely to require surgery, he is expected to be unavailable for clashes with Bordeaux, Lorient and APOEL in the UEFA Champions League.

If his injury persists, Ibrahimovic may also miss the top of the table league clash with leaders Olympique Marseille and Sweden’s crucial European Championship qualifier with Montenegro. This may have a devastating impact on both PSG and Sweden, with the former seven points off the pace in the French League and the latter having collected just five points from their first three qualifying matches. With Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani now controversially suspended for PSG and Sweden lacking a world class striking alternative, both teams will be praying that their frontman makes a quick and total recovery.

Both PSG and Sweden have struggled noticeably without Ibrahimovic’s presence up front, and this should come as no surprise given his pedigree and experience as an international forward. PSG look particularly lightweight in Europe without Ibrahimovic leading the line, and this is confirmed by the Freebets Champions League infographicwhich suggests that the Swede is the clubs best performing player in the competition. With his absence likely to extend beyond the next two weeks and well into November, however, both club and country will need to find a viable alternative if they are to achieve their short-term goals.

Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani has admitted he could be tempted to leave the French champions unless the club adapt their tactics and give the Uruguayan a more attacking role. Cavani became the most expensive player in French football history following his £60million move to Paris from Napoli last summer, but the 27-year old has been forced to play the majority of the season on the right wing.

While the Uruguay international has impressed with 21 goals to his name this season, playing an important role in PSG being the overwhelming Betfair favourites to defend their Ligue 1 title, Cavani has made no secret over the fact that he isn’t able to get forward more and show off the abilities that convinced PSG to splash out a record transfer fee to acquire his football talents.

After starting the season with a traditional 4-4-2 system, PSG head coach Laurent Blanc has changed his tactics and switched to 4-3-3, forcing Cavani to do much of his work on the flanks with Zlatan Ibrahmovic leading the attack for the French giants.

And Cavani has revealed that he is not happy with his current situation, making it clear he wouldn’t rule out a possible summer move to the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, who have all been tipped by Betfair punters to be in the race to sign the forward.

“I am fine in Paris, but obviously there are things we have to talk about with the club, things we need to do in a different way. For a forward used to scoring and which has to do defensive tasks now, it is not easy,” said Cavani.

“Playing in 4-4-2 was my vision of the team when I joined Paris. It is one of the arguments that motivated me to sign in that club.”

With the World Cup coming up this summer, Cavani will be forced to leave thoughts of his long-term future at the back of his minds. With Uruguay being backed by a number Betfair fans to cause a surprise in this summer’s tournament, Cavani will be a crucial part of the South American’s hopes.

Paris Saint-Germain chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has poured water on rumours that Javier Pastore would want to leave the French champions during the January transfer window. The Argentinean playmaker has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that have surrounded him since his big-money move from Palermo in 2011.

With PSG rumoured to be open to the idea of selling the Argentina international, a number of European clubs are been linked with Pastore, with Liverpool, now 4/6 to finish in the top four, rumoured to be very interested in taking the midfielder to the Premier League.

However, despite the rumours, Al-Khelaifi believes Pastore is happy in Paris and insists the 24-year-old has played an important role in the club’s recent history, in which the midfielder was one of the first major players signed by the ambitious Qatari owners.

“I am not sure Pastore wants to leave. When a player is unhappy it is difficult to keep him. But it is not the case with Pastore. We will never forget he was one of the very first key players to join our project,” said the PSG chairman.

“We are loyal to our players as we ask them to be loyal to the club. Pastore is both a man and player of quality. Maybe he is in a difficult period, but he remains one of the biggest talents in the football world.”

After a somewhat disappointing opening season in Paris in which he managed to muster just four goals and eight assists for a side consistently favourite in the French football odds, Pastore hasn’t been as important a member of the PSG side as he would have liked. After a modest first half of the season in Ligue 1, Pastore opened his account for the campaign with the opening goal in his side’s 3-1 League Cup victory against Bordeaux.

Paris St Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi has admitted he is still keen to agree fresh terms at the club despite talk over a new contract continuing to drag on. The tough-tackling France international has been linked with a move to the Premier League since the summer, with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea closely monitoring the situation at PSG.

There are a number of Premier League clubs in the market for a midfielder of Matuidi’s calibre, and current Betfair favourites Manchester City reportedly in the lead to sign the Frenchman if no new deal at PSG is agreed.

While speculation in France suggests a deal is close, with Matuidi set to prolong his stay in the capital until 2018, the 26-year old has admitted he doesn’t know for certain whether he’ll sign a new contract with the current Ligue 1 champions, who are firm favourites with Betfair to defend their title this season. PSG know they need to move quickly, well aware that Matuidi will be free to discuss pre-contract terms with interested parties in the new year.

The France international claims ‘anything can happen’ from this point, but has insisted he would be more than happy to stay in Paris if a suitable offer is put to him in.

“I am really at ease at PSG. My first wish would be to stay. But you can wish for something and sometimes it doesn’t happen,” said the former Saint-Etienne star.

“The club has a special place in my heart, but anything can happen in a career.”

Matuidi has been an ever-present in the PSG side this season, playing a key role in the club’s sensational start to the season that sees them odds on favourites with Betfair to retain the title. The midfielder has also managed to establish himself as an important part of the France side that clawed their way into next summer’s World Cup, and Matuidi will be hoping to be on that plane to Brazil next year.