Shay Says - Episode 26
Welcome to Shay Says, the latest football betting blog from LeoVegas’ Irish ambassador, Shay Given.
This week, the Republic of Ireland legend discusses two more big transfer rumours from the Premier League this summer.
We’ve also got his memories of the transfer market from his time as a player, including the ‘craziest’ signing he experienced during his career.
Let’s see what Shay Says!
Kyle Walker
I’d be surprised if he leaves, to be honest. I think the frustrating thing for Kyle would have obviously been not being picked in the Champions League final. For me, he was one of the best players in the semi-final – Vinicius Jr. barely got a kick in both ties!
I’m not sure if that will play on his mind over the summer and encourage him to think he can be the first choice right-back somewhere else – I saw he was linked with Bayern Munich, and his old club, Sheffield United, too.
I’d be surprised if City let him go – I think he’s a top player. He’s shown again this season when he got back into the team how good of a player he is and the levels he can reach.
I think he’ll stay at Manchester City next season after the window closes, but if he went to Bayern Munich, he’d certainly strengthen them as well.
David Raya
David has had a brilliant time at both Brentford and Blackburn – as a former goalkeeper, I’m a big fan of him.
You talk about what’s needed to be modern day keeper – how good they are with their feet – and he’s certainly good at that, but he’s made some big saves as well for his club this season.
From a Tottenham perspective, Hugo Lloris has come out and said he wants to leave, so they need to sign a replacement. Raya would probably but on their radar, but Ange Postecoglou might have someone else in mind that he wants to try and bring into the club.
You look at what Joe Hart’s done at Celtic over the last couple of seasons with Postecoglou – maybe he’s got someone in mind with a similar style and calibre to Hart to build his team around.
Spurs definitely need to sign someone, there’s no getting away from that. Can Raya make the next step up from Brentford? We’ll see over the next couple of months.
Transfer Memories
Obviously I was at City at the time when we were signing lots of different players, but I think signing Carlos Tevez from Manchester United was the one that stood out for me. That was a transfer that made me think, “wow”!
What a player he was as well by the way, he was absolutely brilliant. He brough so much to the club at the time – he wasn’t the best trainer, but as soon as the match whistle went, he was on a different level. He was such a huge signing for us.
I never actually had an agent looking after me when I was playing, so there was a lot of stuff that came out throughout the years. I think I was linked with Turkey at one point, then I was linked with Arsenal quite a few times!
I didn’t know this at the time but now I do, because now everybody has an agent who will speak to the club that they’re supposed to be going to, but Arsene Wenger met him once after one of the games we played and said that he had a look at me but didn’t commit to wanting to sign me.
It was shortly after David Seaman had left and they were looking for a goalkeeper. I think they had a look at me, but never got the deal done.
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*all odds correct at the time of writing and are subject to change