Black Friday 2016 bargains in the Premier League: Cesc Fabregas, Daniel Sturridge and Manchester United stars Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin on offer
Ahead of the pre-Christmas sales, SunSport looks at the best deals in the division like Yaya Toure, Olivier Giroud and Kevin Wimmer
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BLACK Friday is here and we have the ultimate guide to who the best bargains are in the Premier League with the January transfer window looming and a number of top-flight stars set to be moved on.
Manchester United have way too many players to keep happy while the likes of Daniel Sturridge, Kevin Wimmer and Olivier Giroud are not happy being bit-part players at Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal, respectively.
So, while the high-street stores and websites have slashed the prices of fashion, toys, consoles, TVs, laptops, gadgets and even flights – here’s where the best offers are in the Premier League…
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport's daily LIVE blog.
Daniel Sturridge
The unfancied Liverpool striker is cutting a sorry figure jogging up the touchlines of Anfield and other Premier League clubs around the country. And there is little chance a player with such a high opinion of himself will be happy as a sub.
Jurgen Klopp – like the rest of us – can't be in doubt that the left-foot striker has class. The issue is whether the former Chelsea and Manchester City man has the style to fit in the German’s system.
The current trio of attackers ripping up trees – Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Philippe Coutinho – are so fluid and seem to share a brilliant understanding of each other’s movement.
Whereas Sturridge has demonstrated before a rigidness about wanting to play as a central No9 striker and simply not having the all-action attributes that the three fellas ahead of him have in abundance.
Plenty of teams would still take a punt on Sturridge – despite his busy injury record – front of the queue is apparently West Ham who are already nursing £100k-a-week sicknote Andy Carroll. Southampton are also keeping a close eye on the striker’s situation with the hope of grabbing him on loan in January.
Verdict: Rip-off
Kevin Wimmer
The Spurs man is sick of sitting on the fringes of Mauricio Pochettino’s side and has been brutally honest about it.
He’s not interested in sitting safe in the Premier League and collecting his dosh.
But to keep his place in the impressive-looking Austria national team he is going to have to see a lot more action than the 90 league minutes he has got so far this season.
Sadly he has one of the best centre-back partnerships in the division keeping him rooted on the bench.
And even when Toby Alderweireld or Jan Vertonghen are injured, midfield anchorman Eric Dier slots back a space with ease and class.
Now Spurs have dropped miserably into the Europa League, Wimmer could face the ignominy of being ferried all over Europe to play for the reserves in the second-rate competition that Spurs – and most other decent sides around the world – are not too keen on being in, let alone winning.
You can imagine Wimmer adding steel and style to any top-flight English side he joins but Daniel Levy is bound to demand a lofty figure for the former Koln man that could scare some sides off.
Pochettino has claimed his fourth-choice centre-back is going nowhere but a few sides should test their resolve in January.
Verdict: Bargain
Memphis Depay
The damage done to the little Dutchaman’s confidence and reputation at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal and now Jose Mourinho looks irreparable.
There are so many players ahead of the former PSV man in the pecking order that it seems like a move away would suit everyone.
The transition from the Eredivisie to the Premier League is usually a pretty smooth one – with the language and lifestyle posing limited problems – but Depay has been a blatant dud.
Even if the man-management skills of the previous and current United boss could be scrutinised in regards to a player who clearly needs TLC, Depay has done little to make himself appear loveable.
Despite repeat warnings he has turned up to Carrington in outrageous cars and clothes, certainly unbefitting of a misfit who struggles to get in the reserves.
The 22-year-old looked such a tasty prospect before his move – racking up goals and assists like they were going out of fashion – but filling his garish wardrobe with his massive wages now seems to be the only thing he’s focussed on.
United will struggle to recoup all of the £30m they splurged on him but a successful loan spell away might raise his profile ahead of a sale. But he’ll probably only get returned.
Olivier Giroud
In his last five Arsenal games, Olivier Giroud has scored five goals.
Crucial strikes too against the likes of PSG, in the Champions League, and Manchester United in the final moments of their recent Premier League clash.
That terrific record, however, still does not convince Arsene Wenger to start the Frenchman, certainly not when main man Alexis Sanchez is fit.
No-one who spends as much time on their perfectly coiffed hair as the former Montpellier man should be forced to hide it away in the dark enclave of a subs’ bench.
The slick bouffant and designer stubble deserve centre-stage – not to mention the healthy goals-to-game ratio.
But the 30-year-old has still started seven league games on the bench this season behind the brilliant Chilean who offers more pace and verve.
Giroud is a fine centre forward in the classic No9 mould and would provide the ideal pivot for a side eager to play to his strengths.
The deal he signed in 2015 means he tied to the club until 2018 but he could be prised away by any number of clubs before he enters the final stages and leaves for peanuts.
Verdict: Bargain
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Henrikh Mkhitaryan
The Manchester United midfielder has gone from hero to zero in rapid time at Old Trafford without the obvious transgressions of fellow Jose Mourinho ne’er-do-wells Luke Shaw and Chris Smalling.
The two United defenders have fallen out with the demanding Portuguese over what he believes is an unwillingness to play through the pain barrier – that’s been made clear.
The maverick Armenian, however, doesn’t appear to have committed any crime.
The goal-scoring midfielder's strike rate at Shakhtar Donetsk and Borussia Dortmund made him a fans’ favourite and a transfer target for most clubs, until United won the race for the man who looked capable of filing the Paul Scholes-shaped hole in the team.
But he’s been repeatedly blanked and embarrassed – paying the price for a poor performance in the derby defeat to Manchester City way back in September when he was directly culpable for a goal in the 2-1 defeat.
The shock start he got in the Europa League win over Feyenoord on Thursday might have helped his cause but he could do a lot better at a different club.
Verdict: Bargain
Cesc Fabregas
The tragic little Spaniard must be the only Chelsea star not bowled over by Antonio Conte’s brilliant tactical switch to a 3-4-3 formation as he’s been axed ever since the drastic change.
It was away at his former club Arsenal, already 3-0 down at half time on September 24, that the Italian made the drastic switch and then hauled Fabregas off on 55 minutes.
And that was the last we saw of the playmaker in the Premier League.
The former Barcelona star even had to play the full 90 minutes of the under-23 match against Southampton at the club’s training ground on Monday, making him feel like an old dad at the disco.
The 29-year-old has been an un unused sub four times in the top flight this season – most recently in the away wins over Hull and Middlesbrough – but it’s getting to the stage now where the one-time Gunners Invincible is struggling to even get on the bench.
Serie A side AC Milan are interested in Fab but Conte has insisted he won’t part with him or Oscar, he said: “It's gossip, I'm not going to send them away”.
With a bundle of Premier League experience and eye for a breath-taking pass, the midfielder would still attract the attention of most clubs but he is one-paced and would struggle to fit into fashionable high-pressing sides like Man City and Liverpool.
Arsenal are quiet fond of bringing back old heroes but that bridge would appear burnt. Someone should snap up his talents and hand him a free-role.
Verdict: Bargain
Morgan Schneiderlin
When the Frenchman chose to join United back in July 2015 he turned down the chance to follow Mauricio Pochettino to Tottenham and at the time it looked a sound piece of judgement.
Then Spurs went calling again in August 2016 and this time they were rebuffed by Jose Mourinho without the French midfielder being called upon for his opinion.
Things could have been so different for the 27-year-old who could have been chasing down titles instead of ambling around in the Europa League with the rest of the Special One’s rejects.
The ex-Saint has played just 11 minutes of league football this season, split even more embarrassingly over three token performances.
And he is wheeled out for cup games when the likes of Paul Pogba needs a rest.
St Mary’s regulars will be gutted – or perhaps a little smug – to see their former starlet reduced to such a marginal figure.
Across seven seasons through League One and up to the Premier League, Schneiderlin never started less than 23 league games and even last season under the much-maligned Louis van Gaal he got 25.
The four year deal he penned must be dragging along painfully slowly for a player so integral to his former sides and he needs to snapped up by someone, anyone, the second the window opens.
Verdict: Bargain
Yaya Toure
Finally brought in from the cold by Pep Guardiola for the 2-1 Premier League win over struggling Crystal Palace last weekend, it remains to be seen whether the Ivory Coast star has really regained the trust of the Spanish boss.
He was humiliated by being left out of the Champions League squad so played no part in the 1-1 draw with Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday but the true test of his status will come at the start of December when his side faces Chelsea.
A trip to Burnley is before that but a squad with City’s quality should steamroll Sean Dyce’s side with Kolo Toure playing in the free-role, let alone his superior brother.
So the visit from Conte’s pace setters will be the litmus test that reveals whether all the damage done by the player’s big-mouth agent Dimitri Seluk has healed.
Or if he’ll be shipped out in January to any other side able to pay his crazy wages and remember to grace his birthday with a cake.
Verdict: Rip-off