From Lucas Moura to Moutinho: How the Premier League's summer transfer targets fared last week
Hugo Lloris saves two penalties for Lyon to claim silverware, Moussa Konate nets three in just two games at the Olympics and Alan Dzagoev sees red in Russia
30 Jul 2012 08:15:00
By Alex Young
With pre-season well underway and a handful of nations recruiting their younger stars for the Olympic Games, a number of rumoured targets may be using their minutes on the pitch to stake a claim for a move, with some faring better than others.
Goal.com brings you both the best and the worst individual displays from throughout the week as we track those who could be moving to the Premier League this summer.
| GOOD WEEK... |
Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Moussa Konate, a target for West Ham - and perhaps others now - has certainly enjoyed his time at the Olympics so far. Making his debut for Joseph Koto’s side against hosts Great Britain on Thursday, he snatched a late equaliser to share the spoils before notching a double against highly-fancied Uruguay to leave Senegal on the verge of qualification from the group stage.
Tottenham target Hugo Lloris could well be heading out of Lyon having secured silver for the French giants. The 25-year-old saved two penalties in the shoot-out victory over Ligue 1 champions Montpellier to lift the Trophee des Champions in New York City on Saturday night.
Brazil trio Hulk, Leandro Damiao and Lucas Moura were all also in London 2012 action as the Selecao won both of their opening two games against Egypt and Belarus.
Tottenham target Damiao netted the second against Hany Ramzy’s side, with Hulk combining well with both his Internacional counterpart and Santos star Neymar.
Lucas, a target for Manchester United, may not have played as many minutes as he would have liked so far at the Games, but has shown flashes of the genius which has persuaded Sir Alex Ferguson to bid £27 million for the midfielder’s services and the Sao Paulo starlet will decide his future after the Olympics.
| BAD WEEK... |
Javi Martinez, who has reportedly attracted interested from Manchester City, has not been at his best during the past seven days. In fact, none of those on show for Spain’s men’s football team were. Going into the tournament widely tipped to reach the final, La Roja ended up losing 1-0 to both Japan and Honduras in two shock defeats that sees them eliminated in the first round.
It may be just the beginning of pre-season for Lille, but right-back Mathieu Debuchy, who Newcastle hold a long-standing admiration for, managed just 30 minutes for the Ligue 1 side in their friendly against Athletic Bilbao. The France international has been heavily tipped to make the switch to Tyneside and join a number of his fellow countrymen, including Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye and recently voiced his frustration over delays in a possible switch.
Joao Moutinho has been linked to a reunion with Andre Villas-Boas since the former Porto man was announced as the new Tottenham manager at the beginning of the month. With current playmaker Luka Modric seemingly destined to join Real Madrid, the midfielder has been tipped to fill the Croatian’s boots. However, on his return to the Dragoes following his Euro 2012 exploits with Portugal, the 25-year-old missed the final penalty in a pre-season shoot-out loss to Valencia on Wednesday night.
Another midfielder linked with a move to White Hart Lane is Alan Dzagoev. After notching three times for Russia at the Euros, the winger must have been in high spirits heading into the new Russian Premier League season. Unfortunately, a tepid display in CSKA Moscow’s opener in the 1-0 win over Rostov was followed by a receiving a red card in the 3-1 loss to Amkar.