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BBC
Inter Miami have offered 35-year-old Argentina forward Lionel Messi 50m euros per year (£43m) to spend four seasons in the MLS after he leaves Paris St-Germain this summer. (Sport)
Former France forward Karim Benzema, 35, will join Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad when his Real Madrid contract expires this month. (ESPN)
Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, 37, has told Real Madrid he intends to accept an offer of 120m euros (£103m) to play in Saudi Arabia for the next three seasons. (Okdiario via Sport)
Newcastle United are set to rival Manchester United for the signing of Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 24, from Napoli. (Gazzetta dello Sport via Mirror)
Manchester United are expected to make a formal approach to Chelsea for 24-year-old England midfielder Mason Mount. (Sky Sports)
West Ham's Declan Rice would prefer to stay in the Premier League as he prepares to turn down a move to Bayern Munich. Arsenal and Manchester United are keen on the 24-year-old England midfielder. (Mail)
RB Leipzig could sell Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol for 100m euros (£86m). Manchester City are interested in the 21-year-old, who has a 114m euro (£98m) release clause. (Times - subscription)
Manchester City are close to finalising the signing of Chelsea's 29-year-old Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic. (Football Insider)
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou could be confirmed as Tottenham boss next week. (Sun)
Fulham manager Marco Silva and former Spain boss Luis Enrique are on Tottenham's shortlist alongside Postecoglou. (Telegraph - subscription)
Manchester City's 29-year-old Portugal defender Joao Cancelo is unlikely to make his loan move to Bayern Munich permanent this summer, although he does not want to play in England - for City or Arsenal. (Abendzeitung - in German)
Bayern will consider offers for Germany wingers Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane, both 27, this summer, as well as Senegal forward Sadio Mane - only a year after signing the 31-year-old from Liverpool. (Bild via Mail)
Chelsea have turned down a £30m bid from Brighton for 20-year-old English defender Levi Colwill, who spent the season on loan with the Seagulls. (Mail)
Inter Milan are pushing hard to sign Chelsea's 23-year-old English defender Trevoh Chalobah. (Standard)
Atalanta want 60m euros (£52m) this summer in order to part with 20-year-old Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund, who has been targeted by Manchester United. (Football Insider)
Roma are open to selling 25-year-old England striker Tammy Abraham. (Telegraph - subscription)Aston Villa will compete with Newcastle for Arsenal's 25-year-old Scotland defender Kieran Tierney. (Times - subscription)
Wolves have joined West Ham, Newcastle and Aston Villa in wanting Southampton's 28-year-old England midfielder James Ward-Prowse. (Sun)
Barcelona want to sell 20-year-old Spain forward Ansu Fati this summer, but he is against a move to Wolves in exchange for 26-year-old Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves and 30m euros (£26m). (Sport)
Napoli are ready to compete with AC Milan for Arsenal's 21-year-old American forward Folarin Balogun. (Mirror)
Spain forward Marco Asensio, 27, has decided to join Paris St-Germain when his Real Madrid contract expires this summer. (Athletic - subscription)
Sky Paper Talk
THE ATHLETIC
Manchester United have held detailed talks over potential deals for Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund and Eintracht Frankfurt forward Randal Kolo Muani.
Leeds United's chairman Andrea Radrizzani offered to use the club's Elland Road stadium as security for a £26m bank loan which his company, Aser, and a bidding partner, Gestio Capital, intended to use to complete a takeover of the Italian club Sampdoria.
UEFA is investigating after the referee due to take charge of the Champions League final was alleged to have spoken at a networking event organised by a far-right politician.
Newcastle United want back-up goalkeeper Loris Karius to remain at the club next season.
Trevoh Chalobah wants to stay and fight for his Chelsea place under incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino despite interest from Inter Milan in signing him this summer.
Ethan Brierley, Rochdale's highly-regarded 19-year-old midfielder, is expected to join Brentford in the coming days.
Southampton's move to hire Swansea City head coach Russell Martin has been delayed due to a disagreement over the required compensation fee.
THE SUN
Manchester United are set to offer Harry Maguire to Premier League rivals Chelsea as part of any deal to sign Mason Mount from the Stamford Bridge club.
Leeds are keeping tabs on Luton boss Rob Edwards and Lorient manager Regis Le Bris as they target a quick return to the Premier League.
Thiago Silva has all but confirmed Mason Mount's summer move to Manchester United with his latest Instagram comment.
Wolves are in the hunt for James Ward-Prowse.
DAILY MAIL
Declan Rice will prioritise a Premier League move this summer as he prepares to snub a move to Bayern Munich.
Lionel Messi wants to sign on for a sensational return to Barcelona after Paris Saint-Germain announced his exit on Thursday but the Catalan club are locked in a battle with LaLiga to see if a move is financially viable.
Ange Postecoglou is open to joining Tottenham after falling short of publicly ruling himself out of the running to become the club's new head coach.
Talented Liverpool youngster Lewis Koumas is at the centre of a tug-of-war between England and Wales over which country he should represent.
The Football Association has given the go-ahead for a celebration of the Windrush community's contribution to English sport, which will take place at Wembley on June 22 with Marcus Rashford, Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling expected to be on the invite list.
DAILY MIRROR
Harry Kane is making it clear his No 1 priority is to stay in the Premier League.
Liverpool are planning to play a 'home' pre-season friendly at the home of Preston North End, which has led the Championship club to ask if they can play their first fixture of the campaign away from Deepdale.
Newcastle are set to fight it out with Manchester United for Victor Osimhen.
Napoli are ready to go head to head with AC Milan for Arsenal prospect Folarin Balogun in the summer transfer window.
Premier League clubs including his former side Arsenal could make a move to sign Serge Gnabry, who has been made available by Bayern Munich according to reports in Germany along with Leroy Sane and Sadio Mane.
Mauricio Pochettino will give Levi Colwill a chance to cement a place in his Chelsea squad early next season with the former Brighton loanee set to replace Benoit Badiashile, who will miss the start of 2023-24 after having surgery on a hamstring.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Sam Allardyce will leave his role as Leeds United head coach following talks with the club in the aftermath of their relegation from the Premier League.
Manchester United have agreed personal terms with Mason Mount and are now expected to sign the Chelsea midfielder.
Roma will listen to offers for Tammy Abraham to return to the Premier League this summer as they look at options for next season after a return to the Champions League was ruled out this week.
Tottenham Hotspur are understood to be considering three candidates for their long-vacant manager's job: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou, Fulham's Marco Silva and the former Spain coach Luis Enrique.
Fulham are showing interest in £10m-rated Wolfsburg centre-back Sebastiaan Bornauw as they look to build on the squad that took them close to European football.
Arsenal's teenage defender Zach Awe is expected to leave the club this summer in search of first-team football.
Birmingham City are set to make a permanent move for Wolves centre-back Dion Sanderson after impressing while on loan with the club last season, but they will face competition from Sunderland and possibly Stoke City.
DAILY EXPRESS
Karim Benzema has reportedly decided to stay with Real Madrid for next season with plans to potentially take up a supposed mega-money offer from Saudi Arabia in 2024.
Aston Villa will be offered the chance to sign Joao Felix for a second time this summer by super-agent Jorge Mendes after Mauricio Pochettino opted against a permanent transfer following his appointment at Stamford Bridge.
Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris has praised the franchise's first-aid training after he was able to use a defibrillator to help save a child from drowning in a Las Vegas pool.
DAILY STAR
Brendan Rodgers has emerged as a shock target of Leeds.
THE TIMES
Josko Gvardiol will tell RB Leipzig he is open to a move this summer as interest in the defender from Manchester City intensifies.
Fiorentina's head coach has made the extraordinary admission that his team are prepared to employ tactical fouling against West Ham United in the Europa Conference League final on Wednesday.
Everton have decided not to trigger the £4.5m deal to turn Conor Coady's loan move from Wolves into a permanent transfer so he will return to Molineux.
SCOTTISH SUN
Ange Postecoglou could be confirmed as the new Tottenham boss as early as next week - with Celtic eyeing up West Ham boss David Moyes as his replacement.
The Athletic
West Ham’s player of the season: Declan Rice, before he says goodbye
Roshane Thomas
“I love this club, I love my team-mates, the manager and I get on excellent. That’s what I’ll always do; I’ll always play with a smile on my face. You want to look back (on your career) and see some special things you can show the grandkids and your kids and if I can add a couple more of them to my list during my career, I’ll be delighted.”
This was Declan Rice, aged 21 and sounding like a seasoned professional after winning West Ham United’s player of the year award in 2020. He was presented with the award by Sir Trevor Brooking at the London Stadium, but having received nearly 50 per cent of the votes, Rice was unable to thank supporters due to lockdown restrictions during Covid-19.
Three years on, the midfielder lived out his own prophecy, having also won the player of the year awards in 2022 and 2023. He joins an illustrious list — with Geoff Hurst (3), Scott Parker (3), Alvin Martin (3), Billy Bonds (4), Bobby Moore (4), Julian Dicks (4) and Trevor Brooking (5) having won the club honour three or more times.
He was a deserved winner this campaign and The Athletic can’t look past Rice when it comes to dishing out our gong for player of the year.
After the final home game of the season against Leeds United, Rice applauded supporters along with his team-mates. He then went and applauded the crowd once more across all sections of the ground after being announced as the player of the year. Was it his way of saying goodbye? Only Rice will know, but the England international has remained a positive influence despite speculation over his long-term future.
Rice, whose contract expires in 2024, has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Newcastle United and Manchester United. But the midfielder has one objective in sight.
“My main focus this season, from the World Cup onwards, has been getting us out of a relegation battle and, of course, having one eye on winning this trophy (Europa Conference League),” he said. “Everything else is just noise and speculation. Obviously, I can’t help that, it comes with playing. But my main focus is playing for West Ham and winning this final.
“My heart’s set on that — doing it for the club, for my family, for the fans — and that’s my only focus. I think all of us have dreamed about it with the journey we’ve been on. We’re one game away from lifting something for West Ham, which would go down in history.
“I don’t think about those things too much because I’ve been in finals before and obviously lost — the highs and lows of the game are really minimal. But I think we’re all dreaming, the fans are all dreaming, and I think we have a right to, but it’s down to us to get it done.”
Rice, most importantly, has grown as a player and a person this season. His terrific solo goal against Gent silenced the doubters, he has grown in his role as captain despite criticism earlier this season, he helped improved camaraderie in the group during the poor run of form in the league, he has equalled his goals and assists record from 2021-22, and his appreciation for supporters has not gone unnoticed.
West Ham have not won a major competition since the 1980 FA Cup victory over Arsenal. Winning in Prague against Italian side Fiorentina means Rice would follow in the footsteps of Moore and Bonds, both of whom lifted trophies as captain of the club.
“When you hear the words ‘Bobby Moore’… I’m speechless,” he said. “Everyone talks about Bobby all the time. His name lives on forever. I’m trying to write history with West Ham, to be the captain who lifts this trophy and do that as well. But also for the lads. All our names will be written into history if we do this. One more game now.
“I feel unbelievably fit. I’m ready for anything in that final — whether it’s going to go 90 minutes or 120 minutes, I feel I’ll be able to play any minutes that are required. It’s been a long season with the World Cup, but the way I’ve kept myself has probably been the key to being able to play so many games and keeping myself fresh. I want to play every game as well; I want to rack up as many appearances as possible and it’s been good to do that.
“In terms of goals, I’ve been trying to break into the box a bit more. I’ve definitely got it in my legs to get into more advanced positions, but it’s about learning it as well — you can’t just run into the box and get marked, it’s about arriving late and trying to be free. All that will come but I’m enjoying this more advanced scoring role, so hopefully it can continue.”
Many will remember Rice’s brilliant goal against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-final victory last season. He ran the length of the pitch and kissed the club badge during his celebration in front of the away enclosure. A magical moment in Prague in what promises to be his final game for West Ham would be a fitting way of saying goodbye.
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