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BBC
Manchester United have entered the race to sign Spain international Dani Olmo, who has a £52m release clause to leave RB Leipzig this summer. The 25-year-old winger is also interesting Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham. (Mail)
Liverpool are looking at Sporting Lisbon's Ruben Amorim and Brighton and Hove Albion's Roberto de Zerbi to replace outgoing manager Jurgen Klopp with top target Xabi Alonso set to stay at Bayer Leverkusen. (Telegraph)
Manchester United representatives have been to Spain to identify potential transfer targets and 34-year-old Spain striker Joselu, who is on loan at Real Madrid from Espanyol, is one of the names on their list. (Relevo - in Spanish)
United will have to pay at least 60m euros (£51.3m) for Brazil international Gleison Bremer, 27, who plays for Juventus, and the Red Devils' striker Mason Greenwood, 22, could be included in the deal. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Barcelona could miss out on Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich, 29, with Manchester United ready to make a move for the Bayern Munich star this summer. (Sport - in Spanish)
Manchester City and Newcastle United will rival Manchester United for the signing of Everton and England Under-21 centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, 21. (Football Transfers)
Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig are ready to battle it out for Juventus' Dean Huijsen, 18, with the Spanish defender catching the eye this season during a loan spell with Roma. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Italian club Genoa are expecting to receive bids in the summer for 26-year-old Iceland forward Albert Gudmundsson, who has been linked with Tottenham and West Ham. (Fabrizio Romano)
Newcastle United ran the rule over several Brazil players during their friendly against England last week, with Barcelona winger Raphinha, 27, and Juventus defender Gleison Bremer, 27, thought to be on their radar. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Manchester United and Tottenham target Jean-Clair Todibo, the 24-year-old France international centre-back, could be available for £40m from Nice this summer. (Talksport)
Crystal Palace want to sign 19-year-old Valencia defender Cristhian Mosquera in the summer but face competition for the Spain Under-21 international from Atletico Madrid. (Evening Standard)
Chelsea will replace Todd Boehly as chairman in 2027. (Mail)
There is a strong temptation for Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 30, currently on loan at Roma from Chelsea, to move to Saudi Arabia. (Calcio Mercato - in Italian)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY MAIL
Manchester United and Newcastle are refusing to compromise in the stand-off over Dan Ashworth, with both clubs planning for a summer transfer window without having a sporting director in place.
Chelsea will appoint a new chairman in 2027 to replace Todd Boehly. As part of an extraordinary agreement, the club's American co-owners can pass the chairmanship between themselves every five years.
Manchester United and Real Madrid are among the clubs maintaining a watching brief on Dani Olmo this summer. The 25-year-old Spain international is continuing to excel at RB Leipzig and has a clause that becomes active this summer where he can leave for £52m.
Bayern Munich have reportedly set their sights on former Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick if they are unsuccessful in their pursuit of Xabi Alonso.
The Premier League's sixth-placed team will qualify for the Champions League places for the first time next season if West Ham finish fifth and win the Europa League.
Alphonso Davies' agent has hit out at Bayern Munich for giving the full-back an "ultimatum" over a contract extension amid the player being linked with a move to Real Madrid.
The FA's review of the approval process behind England's controversial new Nike kit has already discovered that more rigorous checks and balances were in place under previous regimes at Wembley.
Former England rugby captain Phil Vickery has been made bankrupt, with documents showing he owes £100,000 to a company that is in liquidation.
Nearly half of all NFL teams showed an interest in signing former rugby star Louis Rees-Zammit following his shock switch to football. The 23-year-old has agreed a deal to join the Kansas City Chiefs, with his move to the Super Bowl champions set to be finalised on Friday.
The PFA is facing more accusations of overlooking potential conflicts of interest as board member Ebru Koksal is also working as an advisor to Mercury/13, an investment fund who have pledged to spend £85m on buying women's football clubs.
Manchester United reportedly want to buy Juventus defender Gleison Bremer for £51m - and could hand over Mason Greenwood in a shock exchange.
THE TELEGRAPH
Ethan Nwaneri, the youngest player in Premier League history, has formalised his commitment to Arsenal by signing his first professional contract at the club.
Former referee Jon Moss departed as the director of top Premier League officials after a fallout with some of the leading English referees.
Kyle Walker and John Stones were absent from Manchester City training on Thursday as their battle to be fit for the key Premier League clash against Arsenal this weekend cranks up.
Concern over the environmental impact of 'Parkrun tourism', where participants visit locations beginning with every letter of the alphabet, has been revealed among the reasons for deleting an all-time record list from the charity's website. Completing an 'A-Z' of Parkrun locations comes with considerable kudos in the running community.
THE TIMES
Premier League clubs are under fire for using fan boards for their own PR. Sixteen months after Fan Advisory Boards became mandatory in the wake of the failure of the European Super League, there are questions about the control some top-flight clubs have.
THE INDEPENDENT
Paolo Maldini and Hugo Viana are among the candidates identified as part of Newcastle's search for a sporting director to replace the Manchester United-bound Dan Ashworth.
Uefa could expand the size of squads at Euro 2024 after saying they will listen to managers who want to take more players.
DAILY MIRROR
Wrexham have disclosed that Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney more than doubled their investment in the club last year. The Welsh club have fallen further into debt despite their promotion to the EFL.
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher believes working with "best in the world" Alisson has made him a better player.
Bukayo Saka is among a host of Arsenal players facing a race against time to be fit for Sunday's titanic clash with Manchester City.
Belgian prosecutors have slammed a display of "blatant cheating" as top-flight teams Genk and Westerlo played out a 1-1 draw which saw the ball passed around for the final few minutes with the scoreline suiting both teams.
THE SUN
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag's assistant Mitchell van der Gaag is in the frame for the vacant manager's job at their former club Ajax.
David Sullivan has blasted Championship clubs who pay players £40,000-per-week and managers £1m-per-year.
Southampton midfielder Joe Rothwell cannot quite believe the quality of the Championship top four going all-out for promotion.
Manchester United are reportedly eyeing a shock transfer move for former Stoke flop Joselu.
Arsenal face a battle with bitter rivals Tottenham to land Pedro Neto
THE ATHLETIC
Tottenham are letting go five of the club's longest-serving scouts as part of the ongoing restructuring of their football staff.
Willian will not make a decision on his Fulham future until the end of the season, according to head coach Marco Silva.
DAILY RECORD
Everton boss Sean Dyche has hit out at claims that he slapped Nathan Patterson during the club's recent trip to Portugal - insisting he merely "tapped" the Scotland star, who didn't get the joke.
Andy Robertson has received an injury boost after news that his ankle knock picked up on Scotland duty is not serious.
The Athletic
Vladimir Coufal has been key for West Ham – at 31, should they offer him an improved deal?
By Roshane Thomas
On the field, the past 12 months have been rewarding for West Ham United’s Vladimir Coufal.
Having helped West Ham win the Europa Conference League in his native Czech Republic in May, he has retained the backing of manager David Moyes into this season and been a key performer.
However, off the field, the 31-year-old defender remains frustrated.
In January, West Ham activated a one-year option in Coufal’s contract, so it now expires in the summer of 2025. But he was annoyed at not being offered improved terms — which he felt he deserved. Then this month, the club did propose a two-year extension that included a pay rise but they have so far failed to reach an agreement with his representative.
The right-back, who had interest from an unnamed Premier League club during the recent winter transfer window, intends to reassess his long-term future in the summer.
Coufal’s importance to Moyes’ side has only increased during the current campaign. He is the first-choice right-back and has already equalled his highest number of assists in any single league season — seven, also for West Ham, in 2020-21.
Unsurprisingly, the player’s representative in his homeland, Karol Kisel, believes Coufal — nicknamed ‘Cuf’ — has an importance that should be rewarded.
“Cuf certainly deserves a better salary from the club, and a new, improved, longer-term contract for his long-term performances in the West Ham jersey, in addition to the title in the Conference League,” Kisel told Czech site inFotbalu in January. “So far, even after negotiations, West Ham’s management sees it differently and has only exercised the option of a one-year extension. Cuf is not happy about it, as we expected a better offer.”
West Ham plan to discuss new terms with Coufal’s camp this summer, but the 40-cap Czech international intends to explore all his options. In January last year, he considered leaving after interest from current German league leaders Bayern Leverkusen. The Athletic revealed how a phone call from Moyes convinced him to stay.
Moyes still values Coufal greatly over a year on and hopes he will stay at West Ham for the foreseeable future. Since joining from Slavia Prague in his homeland in October 2020 for around £5million ($6.3m at today’s rates), Coufal has 20 assists across 144 appearances in all competitions, though he is still waiting for his first goal for the club.
Despite the attacking attributes of team-mates Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen, Coufal is second to James Ward-Prowse (11) for West Ham assists in all competitions this season.
He has missed only two of their 29 Premier League games this season, and his form resulted in fellow defender Thilo Kehrer departing on loan to Monaco of France’s Ligue 1 in January due to lack of game time. Another rival for the position, Ben Johnson, has also struggled to dislodge Coufal and has recently been used by Moyes as a midfielder. Coufal is more attack-minded than Johnson, who this season has registered only one assist in 16 first-team appearances in all competitions, while Kehrer’s best position is in central defence as he struggled with his decision-making when playing as a full-back.
Moyes supported Coufal when he had a bad run of form in the league last season while playing through an ankle injury, which restricted his impact. And with the board set to review Moyes’ future this summer, Coufal has come to his manager’s defence and outlined why he deserves respect.
“I don’t read papers or discussions on Twitter,” Coufal said. “Fans always have some opinions and they have the right to say what they want, but it is up to us on the pitch. He is doing an excellent job, he won the first trophy for West Ham after almost 50 years. He finished sixth and seventh in the league and now we are in seventh place. The results are behind him.
“We are not playing the best football sometimes but, in terms of the results, everything is right.”
Coufal’s age, he turns 32 in August, could have been a factor in the club’s decision not to offer improved terms in January.
West Ham rewarded midfielder and Coufal’s countryman Tomas Soucek, then 28 and now 29, with a four-year deal on improved terms last August while reserve goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, 39 next month, will remain at the club for another season after his one-year option was activated.
It is rare for West Ham to offer deals longer than two years to players in their thirties. The last exception was centre-back Winston Reid, who signed a six-year deal when aged 29 in 2017. But four years later, that contract was terminated by mutual consent.
Coufal is at his best when he has a chip on his shoulder, and it is not just West Ham’s board he will set out to prove wrong during the remainder of the season.
Czech national-team manager Ivan Hasek left him out of the squad for friendlies this month against Norway and Armenia after Coufal was one of three players sent home during the previous international break last November for breaking team rules, having visited a nightclub before their decisive final European Championship qualifier against Moldova.
Coufal apologised to Hasek, whose team won without him, and it’s expected he will be in the squad at the tournament in Germany this summer. An important member of the Czech side, Coufal had started six of their first seven Euro 2024 qualifiers before the above incident, played every minute of their five matches at the previous Euros in 2021 and has been the side’s captain in the past.
With no games to play as he served his punishment, Coufal opted not to go abroad for some sunshine during the two-week break between club games. Instead, he focused on his fitness, going on runs with his wife Hana.
As it stands, West Ham are not in the market for another right-back. But failing to address Coufal’s long-term future would bring challenges of replacing a fan favourite.
His work ethic, determination and winning attitude have rubbed off on others in the squad: when Ukrainian forward Andriy Yarmolenko was at the club, he would rarely stay behind after training, or go in on his days off, until he was influenced by Coufal and Soucek to do so.
Coufal is deserving of an improved deal, and his track record highlights why. He has been a near ever-present figure under Moyes and no other right-back at West Ham has his offensive attributes. He has endeared himself to supporters with his personality and his contributions on the field.
He is going to play the waiting game, and in the end, this will come down to which club make him feel most appreciated.
Sport Witness
Player ‘especially liked’ by West Ham United – €15m for relatively easy summer signing
On March 5th, Tutto Juve stated West Ham United are one of the clubs chasing Juventus’ Samuel Iling-Junior.
Calciomercato now have a report on the 20-year-old’s current situation, the Serie A side’s plan for his future and the interest he has received from the Premier League.
For the latter, West Ham are tagged, and it’s claimed David Moyes’ side are in the picture to sign the player in the summer.
The England U21 international has managed a goal and two assists from 19 games this season, and Massimiliano Allegri has mainly used him as a left wing-back.
Filip Kostić’s poor performances have allowed Iling-Junior to get opportunities and he seems to have convinced Allegri. The Englishman’s contract lasts until 2025 and the report claims the Old Lady are now a step away from renewing his contract.
Calciomercato state it’s not ruled out for Juve to sell him in the summer even if he were to sign an extension. As well as West Ham, Brighton & Hove Albion, Tottenham Hotspur and Everton are also named as his interested parties from the Premier League.
Over at Tutto Juve, they also state the West Ham target is ‘expendable’ for the Turin club.
Juve have to make a decision on whether to renew his deal or cash in from his sale. They are inclined towards a transfer and are requesting €15m to part ways with the player.
It’s claimed Iling-Junior is ‘especially liked in the Premier League’ by West Ham, who are one of his contenders. It’s not made clear if they will pay the required fee to sign him.
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