The Liverpool Offside's Transfer Round-Up: Poor Yaya Edition

A done deal and a canny one at that.

Swansea City have signed Łukasz Fabiański on a four-year deal after his contract with Arsenal expired. He's a good goalkeeper who will offer reliable service as a number one and let's not kid ourselves, the former Arsenal goalkeeper has moved to be first-choice so it is a question of where and when Michel Vorm will go this window. Liverpool on the horizon for the Dutch keeper? Getting a fee for Vorm and signing Fabiański on a Bosman would be good business by Swansea. Interestingly, the transfer is Garry Monk's first as Swansea manager.

Birthday bruises and a new club to cuddle.

Yaya Touré was unhappy that he was not given the respect he deserved on his birthday, to the amusement of Paul Scholes in his fantastic blog for attention seeking British bookmakers Paddy Power. The Manchester United legend's take on the Touré birthday issue was a particular highlight.

As for Yaya Toure sulking because Manchester City didn't mark his birthday with sufficient respect, it was comical. Quite embarrassing, really. I can't remember Man United players acting like this. We still came back for pre-season. Poor Yaya, maybe the big lad just needs a cuddle.

Does a cuddle translate to a move to Paris Saint-Germain? The world-class Ivorian midfielder has talked of how "it would be"an honour to play for PSG" as a fitting follow-up to his birthday blues. What does he want? More money? More love? He would improve PSG just as he would improve most clubs in midfield but surely this is a ploy for a lucrative contract renewal. If Yaya wants a bit of love and is willing to track back for it then he should join Liverpool but since his comments have been taken out of context, we can all assume it was just a misunderstanding.

PSG just cannot stop spending money.

On the subject of PSG, the Parisian club made an incredible deal to sign David Luiz. He's a real footballer in the truest sense but once a club is paying over £30 million for his services, it becomes difficult to understand. Over £40 million would be more perplexing but talk of a £48/£50 million deal is staggering.  What happens to the expensively acquired Marquinhos now? I suppose Thiago Silva, Marquinhos, David Luiz, and Alex represent an impressive collection of Brazilian centre backs.

PSG have a habit of picking up talented young players for exorbitant fees only to use them somewhat sparingly but perhaps that's the nature of playing for a club loaded with wall to wall money. Javier Pastore, Lucas Moura, and Marquinhos have all made a number of appearances this season but have their respective developmental targets been met this past season? Perhaps but it seems that Adrien Rabiot, Lucas Digne, and Marco Verratti have made more progress this season even if all three have been linked with moves away from Paris.

Mourinho doesn't like footballers but likes FFP.

Kevin De Bruyne, Juan Mata, and now David Luiz have departed to fund a host of Chelsea deals. All three weren't essential to José Mourinho's way of working but have left for exceptional fees in what can only be described as sterling work by the London club. The Portuguese "specialist" in hypocrisy may spend the proceeds on a host of Atlético Madrid players including Tiago and Filipe Luís.

The deals make sense because Chelsea need players to help Diego Costa settle in London when he eventually moves to Chelsea and they're all accustomed to a disciplined and hard-working counter attacking system. Filipe Luís brings defensive, technical, and composed excellence on the left side of defence. Tiago would bring concentration, consistency, and composure in midfield along with successfully fulfilling many disciplined defensive duties that would warm Mourinho's heart.

Louis van Gaal wants players, apparently.

There have been two managerial changes of note, at Tottenham and Manchester United, that have brought much transfer speculation. The successor to David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, is targeting a pair of rising Dutch stars in Jordi Clasie and Bruno Martins Indi according to latest reports. The Manchester Evening News claims that Mats Hummels and Bruno Martins Indi are the preferred centre back targets of the experienced Dutch manager. The idea of Mats Hummels going to Manchester United isn't one that will warm the heart of any opponent of Manchester United wellbeing.

A new talisman arriving in the Premier League?

One deal that has not been focused on much is the one that unites Mauro Zárate with West Ham United. Whatever many think of Sam Allardyce's excessive hubris and muscular footballing philosophy, he can utilise erratic talents in a workmanlike team to good effect. This may be a deal that could blow up spectacularly or prove to be one of the transfer window's low-key successes. Whatever transpires over the course of next season, the talented Zárate should be one to watch. His relationship with Allardyce and his performances on matchdays could be a highlight.