With Yohan Cabaye vying for more first team football at Paris Saint-Germain, winter transfer talk surrounding the French internationalist has reached boiling point. 

With that in mind, I thought I’d look at various options that could be open to the midfielder. 

Manchester United:

Louis van Gaal’s squad are still missing a midfielder or two. With Cabaye they would be getting a player with plenty of Premier League experience and he’d be able to offer some creative passes for the forwards as well as do more to help out defensive midfielder Daley Blind.

One major problem could be that Van Gaal sees this window as his chance to rebuild the defence and decide to concentrate on that area of the park. But another Ligue 1 loan deal could tempt the Dutch manager.

Arsenal: 

When you look at the Gunners you still see the midfield duo of Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini as the weak-links. Bringing in Cabaye, could relieve Arteta of his deep-lying playmaking duties in the really big Premier League ties. Yohan should settle in at the Emirates straight away as he is close friends with Mathieu Debuchy and Olivier Giroud. Plus we all know that Arsene Wenger is a big fan of Cabaye’s abilities.

One issue could be that Yohan is cup-tied for the Champions League. That said, maybe Arsene would like the fact that he could rest Arteta more before and after tough European fixtures.

Liverpool: 

The Anfield club have lacked plenty of creativity and experience this season and Cabaye could be seen as a tonic that spurs the club on. The red side of Merseyside still rely too much on Steven Gerrard and Yohan could help take on some of that creative responsibility. Current midfield stars Joe Allen and Jordan Henderson are both tidy players but the Frenchman would add more assists and at the moment Liverpool need that desperately.

There’s already plenty of midfield talent at Anfield and one or two might need to be offloaded before Brendan Rodgers thinks about going after Cabaye.

Roma:

Rumours continue to swirl around Kevin Strootman, suggesting the Dutchman could leave Italy’s capital city this winter. If that were the case then possibly Roma could swoop for Cabaye in a cut price deal. A move to Italy would see the twenty-eight year old once again link up with former Lille boss Rudi Garcia. The French coach has already helped former Lille man Gervinho rediscover his form and could do the same for Yohan.

I would imagine Cabaye would prefer a return to the EPL rather than try his hand in Serie A. But I am sure he could be convinced if no English suitor comes forward.

PSG:

Maybe PSG will decide that they want to keep their £19m man. First team midfielders Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi have recently suffered from injuries and Thiago Motta isn’t getting any younger. The French champs are also fighting on two fronts in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. So they might want to keep an experienced, creative pro in their pool.

That said they also still have Adrien Rabiot, Javier Pastore and Clement Chantome as well as the others mentioned in the previous paragraph. The PSG hierarchy might want to get rid of at least one midfield man to help balance the books. So Cabaye might be the easiest non-essential asset to get off the wage bill.

So as you can see, it’s all still clear as mud. A lot of Europe’s elite sides have plenty of midfielders in their squads at the moment, so his options might be limited. PSG really shouldn’t have signed Yohan Cabaye in the first place and will probably have to take a loss if they are to sell this January.  

If I had to put money on a destination it would be between going to Arsenal or staying in Paris. 

Posted on November 14th, 2014 by scott
Filed under: Article