Bayern Munich has the highest average player value (APV) index in Germany's Bundesliga and the 4th highest in Europe's top 5 leagues

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Bayern Munich has the highest APV in the Bundesliga at 17.4M Euros, which is 325% higher than the overall Bundeliga APV of $4.1M Euros
• Bayern's 325% APV index is fourth highest in Europe behind PSG, Real Madrid and Barcelona
• Borussia Dortmund (10.9M Euro APV) comes second highest (166% higher than Bundesliga APV)
• 3 other clubs (Schalke, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg) make up the 5 Bundesliga clubs with an APV above the league's average (See chart below)
• Borussia Monchengladbach's APV is closest to the Bundesliga APV at 3.7M (10% below Bundesliga APV)
• Eintracht Braunschweig has the lowest APV in the Bundesliga at 0.95M Euros, 77% below the Bundesliga's average

Bundesliga Average Player Value Index (Market Value data from Transfermarkt.com):

Real Madrid and Barcelona have the highest average player value (APV) Index in Spain's La Liga: Not the highest APV Index in Europe's top 5 leagues

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Real Madrid (25.4M Euro APV) and Barcelona (23.3M Euro APV) have the highest average player values in La Liga with APV indices respectively at 379% and 340% to the league's APV of 5.3M Euros
• Even though PSG's absolute APV is  significantly lower at 15.7M, PSG has a higher APV index at 44.4%
• Atletico Madrid (11.1M Euro APV) and Valencia (6.5M Euro APV) are the only two other La Liga clubs with an above average APV  with 109% and 23% indices respectively
• Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao are closest to the La Liga APV of 5.3M Euros at 5.35M (1% higher) and 5.24M (1% lower) Euro APV's respectively
• Almeria has the lowest APV in La Liga at 1.35M Euros, 74% below La Liga's average

La Liga Average Player Value Index (Market Value data from Transfermarkt.com):

PSG has the highest average player value (APV) index of any club in Europe's top 5 leagues

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Big spending PSG has built a squad with an average player value (APV) of 15.71M Euros, which is a staggering 444% higher than the Ligue 1 APV of 2.89M Euros. This represents the highest index to average in any of Europe's top 5 leagues
• Monaco and Marseilles come 2nd and 3rd with APVs of 6.77M (134% above Ligue 1 average) and 5.66M (96% above Ligue 1 average) respectively 
• 6 out of 20 Ligue 1 teams have an above average APV (see chart below)
• Rennes has the highest APV of clubs with a below average APV (2.6M Euros, 11% below Ligue 1's average)
• Lille's APV is closest to the Ligue 1 APV at 2.91M, (1% above Ligue 1 APV) 
• Guimgamp has the lowest APV in Ligue 1 (and in Europe's top 5 leagues) with an APV of 0.65M Euros, 77% below Ligue 1's average

Ligue 1 Average Player Value Index (Market Value data from Transfermarkt.com):

Serie A follows similar trend to EPL as Roma has the most improved points total so far this season due to stronger defense

Key Soccerlytics insights:

• 13 games into the season, Roma has the most improved points total in Italy's Serie A compared to last year 
• Roma has 13 additional points (33 points this year vs. 20 points last year) moving them 4 places up the table (2nd place this year vs. 6th last year)
• Similar to the trend with Southampton in England, Roma has conceded 20 less goals (3 goals conceded this year vs. 23 last year). Also similar to Southampton, Roma has actually scored 4 fewer goals this season (26 this year vs. 30 last year)
• Once again, a transfer market strategy focused on improving team balance and defense solidity seems to be paying the most dividends. Key signings such as Mehdi Benatia, Kevin Strootman and Maicon as well As De Rossi's return to his best form have been key to Roma's turnaround
• Genoa has the second highest total points improvement in Serie A with 9 more points (18 points this year vs. 9 last year) after matchday 13. Genoa is ranked 7th this year vs. 20th last year scoring 1 more goal this year than last and conceding 7 less goals
• Catania has the worst record in this category with 10 less points than last year, and Lazio has the second worst record with 6 less points than last year
• Interestingly, Milan's poor start to the season has earned them only 1 less point than they had at the same time last season when they ended up in 3rd. Conversely, Inter, a team widely considered to have improved drastically under Mazzarri has only 1 more point than Stramaccioni's Inter at the same time last year

Serie A Points Difference vs. last year ranked from highest to lowest as of 11/29/2013 (not including 3 newly promoted sides):

Southampton has the most improved points total in the Premier League so far this season: Improved defense has been the key

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Twelve games into the season, Southampton FC has the most improved points total in the Premier League compared to the same time period last season
• The Saints have accumulated 22 points thus far vs. 8 points last year (+14 points or 175% increase in points total) taking them up to 5th in the table (tied on points with Man City in 4th) vs. 19th in the table at the same time last year
• Interestingly, while three attacking players (Lambert, Rodriguez and Lallana) have recently been rewarded with England Call-ups, it's in fact the Saints' defensive record that's been key to their success 
• Mauricio Pochettino's men have conceded a significant 23 less goals compared to last year (7 this year vs. 30 last year). In fact, the Saints have actually scored 3 less goals (15 this year vs. 18 last year), so their overall improvement is entirely down to the work they've done on the defensive side of the ball. Southampton's GSGC (goals scored to conceded) ratio has improved from 0.6 last year to 2.14 this year
• Defensive signings such as Victor Wanyama (22 year old Kenyan International) and Dejan Lovren (24 year old Croatian International) have been key to Southampton's turnaround this season
• Arsenal and Liverpool come second in terms of points improvement vs. last year with 9 more points each
• Both Manchester clubs have 6 less points than they did at the same time last year
• West Ham has the worst record in this category with 9 less points than last year

EPL Points Difference vs. last year ranked from highest to lowest as of 11/27/2013 (not including 3 newly promoted sides):

Average Goals Per Game (AGPG) Report: Germany's Bundesliga boasts highest AGPG rate in Europe so far this season

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Germany's Bundesliga has the highest average goals per game (AGPG) of the top 5 leagues in Europe with a ratio of 1.64 so far this season
• Interestingly, Borussia Dortmund (2.46 AGPG) has a higher goals per game average than Bayern Munich (2.31 AGPG). Perhaps without the key defensive injuries suffered by Dortmund, they would be much closer to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga standings 
• Spain's La Liga comes second (1.45 AGPG) led by Barcelona and Real Madrid
• Barcelona (3.00) and Real Madrid (2.86) have the two highest AGPG ratios in Europe's top 5 leagues driven largely by the massive resource gap between the two clubs and the rest of the La Liga
• Perhaps against popular perception, Italy's Serie A comes in third with a higher AGPG ratio (1.37) than the English Premier League (1.26)
• Inter Milan has the highest AGPG (2.31) in Serie A ahead of Juve (2.15) and Roma (2.00), and equal to Bayern Munich's AGPG
• The English Premier League comes in fourth with an AGPG ratio of a 1.26
• Man City has highest AGPG (2.83) in the EPL and the third highest in Europe behind Real Madrid and Barcelona
• France's Ligue 1 has the lowest AGPG in Europe (1.2)
• PSG and Monaco have the highest Ligue 1 AGPG ratios with 2.14 and 1.57 respectively

Average Goals Per Game League Rankings (As of 11/26/2013):

2 highest AGPG ratios in each of Europe's 5 top leagues (ranked from highest to lowest) as of 11/26/2013:

Roma has lost its lead in Italy's Serie A, but still has the best Soccerlytics GSC (Goals Scored to Conceded) ratio in Europe

Key Soccerlytics Insights:
The Soccerlytics GSC ratio is a ratio of goals scored to goals conceded. Roma's ratio of 8.67 (the highest among Europe's 5 major leagues) tells us that Roma has scored 8.67 times for every goal they've conceded so far this season (26 goals scored, 3 conceded)

• Among the top 2 GSC ratio leaders in each of Europe's 5 major leagues, Lille (4.00 GSC ratio) and Manchester city (2.83 GSC ratio) are the other clubs currently failing to lead the standings despite having the highest GSC ratio in their respective leagues
• Bayern Munich (4.29 GSC ratio) and Barcelona (5.25 GSC ratio) on the other hand have the highest GSC ratios and lead the Bundesliga and La Liga standings respectively

2 highest GSC ratios in each of Europe's 5 top leagues (ranked from highest to lowest) as of 11/26/2013:

Alexandru Maxim: Value for money

Key Soccerlytics Insight:

• Alexandru Maxim (Stuttgart's 23 year old Romanian International) is an attacking central midfielder currently valued at about 6 million euros. He leads the BSports "best dead ball passers" category (through 11/11/2013) with 5 assists via free-kick or corner, 15 accurate corners into the box and 4 accurate free-kick crosses
• So far this season Maxim has racked up 11 Bundesliga appearances, 924 minutes, 4 goals, 8 asssists, 1.2 tackles per game and 0.5 interceptions per game
• Recent reports in the press have linked Liverpool FC with an interest in his services
• His strengths lie in his passing ability, dribbling ablility and his ability to take set-pieces, while his main opportunity to improve is in aerial duels

Manchester United has more Facebook fans in the USA than in the UK

Key Soccerlytics Insight:

• Indonesia (12.5%), Mexico (8.0%), India (7.0%), United States (5.2%) and United Kingdom (4.4%) respectively have the highest share of Manchester United Facebook Fans around the world
• Relative to Real Madrid and Barcelona, Manchester United's facebook presence is stronger in India, but weaker in Brazil 
• Manchester United's facebook presence in the US is higher than that in the UK

Barcelona and Real Madrid dominating current Facebook Soccerlytics European Super League (ESL) standings; United States has the 4th highest share of Real Madrid and Barcelona Facebook Fans around the World!

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Barcelona and Real Madrid lead the Facebook Soccerlytics standings with 47.2M and 44.4M fans respectively
• 5 English Premier League clubs make the top 10 led by Manchester United at 3rd with 36.9M facebook fans
• Milan (5th with 18.1M fans) and Juve (8th with 8.1M fans) represent the Italian Serie A in the top 10
• PSG are the only French League 1 club in the top 10 (10th with 5.3M fans)
• No Bundesliga club makes the curent top 10
• Outside of Europe's top 5 leagues, Galatasaray (8.9M fans) and Fenerbahce (6.8M fans) of the Turkish Super League would make the top 10 hypothetically (8th and 10th respectively) 

Demographic Distribution of Facebook Fans:

• Indonesia (9.5%), Mexico (6.9%), Brazil (5.0%), United States (4.4%) and Turkey (3.6%) have the highest share of Barcelona Facebook Fans
• Real Madrid follows an almost identical trend of demographic share of Facebook fans

• Galatasaray on the other hand has a more concentrated and local Facebook following with 82.9% of its Facebook Fan Base in Turkey
• Germany comes in second with 3.2% of Galatasaray's Facebook Fan Base due to the significant Turkish community residing in Germany

Full Facebook Soccerlytics ESL Standings:

Barcelona and Real Madrid dominating current Twitter Soccerlytics European Super-League (ESL) standings

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• With full implementation of UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules on the horizon, generating revenue off the pitch will become more important than ever before, and Europe's Elite clubs who want to stay relevant will have to develop a sound social media strategy. With this notion in mind, Soccerlytics introduces the Facebook and Twitter Soccerlytics European Super-Leagues 
• Today's focus is on the current Twitter Soccerlytics ESL standings led by Barcelona FC (10.6M followers) and Real Madrid (9.5M followers)
• 5 English Premier League clubs make the top 10 led by Arsenal (3rd with 3.1M followers)
• Milan (6th with 1.6M followers) and Juve (10th with 867K followers) represent Italy's Serie A in the top 10 
• PSG is the only French Ligue 1 team in the standings (9th with 930K followers)
• Surprisingly, no German Bundesliga clubs make the current top 10
• Outside of Europe's top 5 leagues, both Galatasaray (3.3M followers) and Fenerbahce (2.5M followers) of the Turkish Super League would make the top 10 hypothetically (3rd and 6th respectively).

Full Twitter Soccerlytics ESL Standings:

Kevin Strootman is currently providing strongest Transfer Market SROI (Soccerlytics Return on Investment) in Europe (Season-to-Date)

Key Soccerlytics Insight:

• Of all summer 2013 transfer market deals worth 15 million or higher, Kevin Strootman (who transferred from PSV to Roma for 16.5 million Euros) has provided the most value-for-money on the field (11 appearances, 1231 minutes played, 2 goals, 5 assists, 3.5 tackles per game and 1.3 interceptions per game)

Soccerlytics ROI (return on investment):

Examples of Strong Returns:

• Henrikh Mkhitaryan (transferred from Shakhtar D to Borussia Dortmund for 27.5 million Euros)
• 15 appearances, 1246 minutes played, 5 goals, 5 assists, 2.2 tackles per game and 0.4 tackles per game) 
• Isco (transferred from Malaga to Real Madrid for 30 million Euros)
• 14 appearances, 911 minutes played, 5 goals, 3 assists, 1.3 tackles per game and 0.6 interceptions per game)
• Other strong returns: Cavani, Falcao, Neymar and Ozil (See transfer details in "Top 5" section below)

Examples of Weak Returns:

• Erik Lamela (transferred from Roma to Tottenham Hotspur for 30 million Euros)
• 4 appearances (0 premier league starts), 1 goal, 3 assists, 0.9 tackles per game, 0.4 interceptions per game)
• Stevan Jovetic (Transferred from Fiorentina to Man City for 26 million Euros)
• 4 appearances (1 premier league start), 2 goals (league cup, 0 in the premier league), 0 assists, 0.7 tackles per game, 0 interceptions per game 
• Other weak returns: Willian (transferred from Anzhi to Chelsea for 35 million Euros)
• Weak returns due to injury: Mario Gomez (transferred from Bayern to Fiorentina for 15.5 million Euros) and Thiago Alcantara (transferred from Barcelona to Bayern for 25 million Euros)

Soccerlytics key example of Transfer Market Inefficiency: Fernandinho Vs. Paulinho

• Fernandinho transferred from Shakhtar D to Man City for 40 million Euros, while Paulinho transferred from Corinthians to Tottenham H for 19.7 million Euros
• Fernandinho is 28 years old with only 5 Brazilian caps, while Paulinho is 25 years old with as many as 24 Brazilian caps and is currently a part of the Brazilian National Team setup
• Luis Gustavo (transferred from Bayern to Wolfsburg for 17.5 million Euros) was also available this summer, even though he was rumored to be unwilling to leave Germany. He is 26 years old with 16 Brazilian caps to his name and also currently a part of the Brazilian National Team setup

Top 5 Transfer Market Deals (all in Euros)

• Gareth Bale (100 million) : Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid
• Edinson Cavani (64.5 million) : Napoli to PSG
• Radamel Falcao (60 million) : Atletico Madrid to Monaco
• Neymar (57 million) : Santos to Barcelona
• Mesut Ozil (50 million) : Real Madrid to Arsenal

**Monaco, Manchester City and PSG had the highest net spend in Summer 2013

Top European Club Net Transfer Market Spending from World Soccer:

Wayne Rooney and Yaya Toure are currently the most efficient Dead Ball Specialists in Europe

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• While Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Daniele Conti (Cagliari), Yaya Toure (Manchester City) and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) have all scored three direct free-kicks this season (the most in Europe's top 5 leagues), Toure and Rooney have done so with only 4 attempts (75% success rate), while Pirlo has had 12 attempts (25%), and Conti has had 11 attempts (27.27%)
• While Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) has yet to hit the back of the net directly from a free-kick, he has the best free-kick shot accuracy (83.33%) in Europe. With improved placement and power, he may score one soon

Potential Transfer Market Steal in this category

• Alexandru Maxim (Stuttgart's 23 year old Romanian International) valued at about 6 million euros. He leads the "best dead ball passers" category with 5 assists via free-kick or corner, 15 accurate corners into the box and 4 accurate free-kick crosses
• For context, Ever Banega (Valencia's 25 year old Argentine International is valued at about 18 million Euros), while Rafael Van Der Vaart (Hamburg's 30 year old Dutch International) is valued about 13 million Euros

Dead-ball Specialist Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013)

Defensive Prowess by the metrics: Shots blocked, Aerial battles Won, and Tackles successfully executed

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Steven Caulker has blocked more shots than any other defender in Europe's top 5 leagues (19 shots blocked)
• Artur Boka (Stuttgart) has not lost a single tackle so far this season (100% win tackle percentage with 25 tackles won, 13 one v one wins and 17 fouls)
• Jonathan Mensah (Evian II) has the highest percentage of aerial battles won (86.67% / 39 duels won)
• Barcelona's Daniel Alves (38 fouls / 9.5 fouls per yellow) and Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy (21 fouls / 5.25 fouls per yellow) are among the worst offenders in this category

Potential Transfer Market Steals in this Category:

• Jonathan Mensah (Evian's 23 year old Ghanaian International) valued at 0.6 million Euros
• Steven Caulker (Cardiff's 21 year old English International) valued at about 8 millions Euros

Most Prolific Defender Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013)

Vincent Enyeama and Hugo Lloris are currently most well-rounded goalkeepers in Europe

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Vincent Enyeama and Hugo Lloris are the only two goalkeepers in Europe to feature among the top 5 in the "top shot stoppers," "most clean sheets" and "least goals allowed" categories
• Enyeama has obtained 11 clean sheets and conceded 4 goals in 13 starts, making 8.75 saves per goal conceded
• Lloris has obtained 7 clean sheets and conceded 5 goals in 10 starts, making 5.2 saves per goals conceded
• Manuel Neuer and Gianluigi Buffon are the best distributors of the ball
• Neuer has obtained 90.65% passing accuracy and 100% throw accuracy (73 accurate throws)
• Buffon has obtained 78.23% passing accuracy and 100% throw accuracy (58 accurate throws)

Potential Transfer Market Steals in this Category:

• Vincent Enyeama (Lille's 31 year old Nigerian International) valued at about 3 million Euros
• Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Monchengladbach's 21 year old German International) valued at 11 million Euros)
• For context, David De Gea (Man U's 23 year old Spain Youth International) is valued at about 17 million Euros, Samir Handanovic (Inter's 29 year old Slovenian International) is valued at 24 million Euros, and Manuel Neuer (Bayern's 27 year old German International) is valued at 30 million Euros

Most prolific goalkeeper charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013)

Xavi is still king when it comes to overall passing ability!

Key Soccerlytics Insights:

• Xavi is the only player in Europe's top leagues to make the top 5 in the categories of top through ball passers (6 with 37.5% accuracy), most accurate passers (92.99% accuracy) and most accurate final third passers (86.59% accuracy)
• Even though he's played out of position so far this season, Philipp Lahm makes the list of top 5 most accurate passers (91.92% accuracy)

Potential Transfer Market Steals in this category:

• Luca Cigarini (Atalanta's 27 year old Italian former Youth-International) valued at about 7.5 million Euros
• Aaron Hunt (Werder Bremen's 27 year old German International) valued at about 6.5 million Euros 
• James Ward-Prowse (Southampton's 19 year old English Youth international) valued at about 2 million Euros
• For context, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich's 29 year old German International) is valued at about 40 Million Euros, while Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona's 26 year old Spanish International) is valued at about 45 million Euros

Most Prolific Passer Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013)

Sidney Sam among most creative players in Europe's top 5 leagues (through 11/11/13)

Key Soccerlytics Insight:
Of the most efficient dribblers in Europe's top 5 leagues, Sidney Sam (51 1v1 successful dribbles at a 67.11% success rate) has the most assists (5) as well as the most total shot assists (38)

Potential Transfer Market Steals in this category:

• Sidney Sam (Bayer Leverkusen's 25 year old German International) valued at about 10 million Euros
• Raffael Caetano (Borussia Monchengladbach's 28 year old Brazilian) valued at about 6 million Euros
• For context, Neymar (Barcelona's 21 year old Brazilian International) is valued at about 50 million Euros, Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund's German International) is valued at about 32 million Euros, Julian Draxler (Schalke's 20 year old German International) is valued at about 30 million Euros and Diego (Wolfsburg's 28 year old Brazilian International) is valued at about 12 million Euros

Most Creative Player Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013):

Diego Costa: Wondering what all the fuss regarding his international future is about?

Key Soccerlytics Insight:
Not only is Diego Costa the 2nd highest goal scorer in Europe's top 5 leagues with 13 goals, but he is also 2nd on the list in the "Big Chances Missed" category (11 misses). This tells us a couple of things:

• Perhaps he is not as efficient in front of goal as you'd want
• He is very good at getting himself into good goal scoring positions

Atletico Madrid's Brazilian Born Spanish International is currently valued at about 24 million Euros. The good news for Spain and Atletico Madrid is that there's so much upside to Costa's potential as a striker. No wonder two of the world's top soccer nations (Spain and Brazil) have been battling for his services.

Highest Goal Scorer Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013):

Philipp Lahm: Mr. Versatile

Key Soccerlytics Insight:

• Philipp Lahm is proving to be as efficient in holding midfield as he is at full-back evidenced by his selection in the starting eleven of the ESM October Team of the Month
• Javier Zanetti (Inter's 40 year old Argentine former International), Michael Essien (Chelsea's 30 year old Ghanaian International), and to a lesser extent, Pablo Zabaleta (Man City's 28 year old Argentine International) are other players with a similar level of versatility across right-back, left-back and holding midfield

October 2013 Team of the Month - European Sports Media

3-4-3 Formation 

Goal Keeper:

• Morgan De Sanctis

Defenders:

• Mats Hummels (B Dortmund)
• Mehdi Benatia (Roma)
• David Alaba (B Munich)

Midfielders:

• Miralem Pjanic (Roma)
• Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)
• Franck Ribery (B Munich)
• Philipp Lahm (B Munich)

Forwards:

• Diego Costa (A Madrid)
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG)
• Luis Suarez (Liverpool)

Transfer Market Rumors - 11/17 Highlights

• The Sunday People reports that Manchester City is willing to offer Sergio Ramos up to 8.5 million euros a year to join the club. According to the report, the Citizens are preparing an initial offer of 39 million euros to Real Madrid for the 27 year old. Ramos' current contract expires in 2017. Given the recent injury to Vincent Company and the sub-par performances of City's alternative options at center back, a theoretical move for Ramos would make sense. It's hard to imagine Ancelotti's side letting Ramos go for any fee. More to come...
• Pellegrini's side is also in the hunt for a new keeper following Joe Hart's recent errors and highly publicized exclusion from the starting line-up. Willy Caballero (32 year old Argentine) and Julio Cesar (34 year old Brazilian) are some of the names that have been touted as potential transfer targets. It'll be interesting to see whether or not Joe Hart will be able to keep his England place ahead of the World Cup in Brazil.
• According to the Daily Star, Juventus is closely monitoring Anders Lindegaard (29 year old Dane). The Manchester United keeper is also being followed by AC Milan who are searching for a replacement for Christian Abbiati. Lindegaard could be an interesting back-up option for either club, but is probably not up to the level required to hold down a starting position for either Juve or Milan.
• SSC Napoli is considering making an offer for Danilo D'Ambrosio according to calciomercato.com. Bigon is apparently a fan of the player with Neopolitian origins, whose contract expires in June 2014. Napoli is in desperate need of a full-back following recent injuries to Mesto and Zuniga, and D'Ambrosio (25 year old Italian) would make a solid addition.
• According to the Spanish paper El Mundo Deportivo, Marco Reus (24 year old German), who is being followed by several major clubs, would favor a move to Barcelona, to the extent that his agent has made this clear to Barcelona Sporting Director Zubizarreta. The Borussia Dortmund player who is under contract through June 2017 is also being followed by Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Reus is a very good player, but he'd struggle to hold down a starting spot in the current Barcelona set-up. He'd probably get significantly more playing time at Man U, for instance. Having said that, none of those clubs are bad options!
• TMW reports that Galatasaray's Italian manager, Roberto Mancini is keeping close tabs on El Sharaawy's situation at AC Milan. The Turkish giants may make an offer over the coming weeks. The 21 year old Italian is probably better off staying put at AC Milan to develop a potentially devastating trio alongside Kaka and Balotelli.
• According to the Daily Star, both Manchester United and Chelsea are interested in Italian international Alessio Cerci. The 26 year old Torino man whose contract expires in 2015 is valued at about 20 million euros.
• Il Corriere Fiorentino reports that Fiorentina is interested in Thomas Vermaelen (28 year old Belgian), whose contract is up in 2014. The Arsenal skipper who is currently locked out of the the Arsenal starting line-up by Mertesacker and Koscielny would make a good fit for Fiorentina, and the Serie A, where his ball-playing skills would probably be more appreciated. Fiorentina are also rumored to be looking at Davide Astori (Cagliari) and Martin Skrtel (Liverpool). 
• Tuttosport reports that Inter Milan is following Manchester City's Edin Dzeko (27 year old Bosnian), who is also interesting Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund. Inter's interest makes sense considering current injuries to both Icardi and Milito. From Dzeko's vantage point, given what he produced in the Bundesliga, you'd have to say it just hasn't quite worked out at City the way he would have hoped. Serie A could be worth a shot!
• Tuttosport also reports that Napoli is interested in Tottenham's Younes Kaboul (27 year old Frenchman) whose contract is up in June 2014. Benitez also has Agger, Mascherano, and Skrtel on his radar, all whom he's worked with in the past at Liverpool.
• According to the Daily Star, Manchester United is determined to extend Javier Hernandez' contract on improved terms. The 25 year old Mexican International joined United from Chivas Guadalajara for 7.5 million euros in the summer of 2010, and has mostly been an impact player off the bench. His current contract expires in June 2016, and now might be the time for Chicharito to make a move to club where he can be a regular starter and fulfill his potential.