Paper Talk
Jose Mourinho fears Chelsea have stood still this summer - and opened the title door.
Mauricio Pochettino revealed that Tottenham could sign a striker in "the next few days".
David De Gea was aaxed for the rest of the month by Louis van Gaal yesterday and will be replaced by a youngster told he had no future with the club, Sam Johnstone.
West Ham are trying to hijack Fiorentina's bid to sign Fabio Borini from Liverpool.
Derby are going to war with bitter rivals Nottingham Forest by making a £5million bid for Michail Antonio.
Watford have made a Chinese takeaway their 11th deal of the summer after agreeing a season-long loan for Alessandro Diamnati.
Chelsea made a statement of intent on the eve of the new season as manager Jose Mourinho signed a new four-year contract.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has said he wants to stay at the club for the long term but is realistic enough to know that the shadow of Pep Guardiola will not go away.
West Bromwich Albion are about to smash their club transfer record by signing Venezuelan striker Salomon Rondon in a £15m deal.
Jamie O'Hara may not have kicked a ball competitively for Fulham yet, but he has stated his desire to see out the rest of his career at Craven Cottage.
Manager Aitor Karanka has signed a new four-year contract with Middlesbrough.
Bristol City have signed young Aston Villa forward Callum Robinson on a season-long loan.
Manchester United have left the No.9 shirt free - paving the way for a striker to sign before the transfer window slams shut.
David De Gea is set to be banished until mid-September - even if he stays at Manchester United.
Everton have launched a double bid to sign Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri and Argentina defender Ramiro Funes Miro.
Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has reportedly rejected a move to MLS side Los Angeles Galaxy.
Louis van Gaal claims Real Madrid's refusal to offer a realistic fee for David de Gea has left Manchester United in a goalkeeping crisis after insisting the Spaniard is too distracted to play in Saturday's Premier League opener against Tottenham.
Louis van Gaal has accused Real Madrid of trying to get David de Gea on the cheap and told the Spanish club they need to pay the going rate to persuade Manchester United to sell a goalkeeper who has been so distracted by the potential transfer he will not be trusted to play in their opening game against Tottenham Hotspur.
West Bromwich Albion are ready to smash their transfer record for the Zenit St Petersburg striker Salomon Rondon.
The Greek champions, Olympiakos, have signed the former Real Madrid and Internazionale midfielder Esteban Cambiasso.
BBC
Manchester City will have to pay Wolfsburg's asking price of £45m if they are to sign 24-year-old attacking midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, according to the Belgium international's agent. (Guardian)
However, Wolfsburg managing director Klaus Allofs says that former Chelsea player De Bruyne has not asked for a transfer. (Daily Express)
Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher believes Everton defender and Chelsea target John Stones, 21, should stay at Goodison Park and develop under manager Roberto Martinez. (Daily Mail)
West Brom are set to break their transfer record by signing Venezuela striker Salomon Rondon, 25, from Zenit St Petersburg for about £15m. (Birmingham Mail)
The agent of Bayern Munich midfielder Mario Gotze has hinted the 23-year-old could move to the Premier League during the transfer window, with Arsenal and Manchester United showing interest. (Tuttosport, in Italian)
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho does not believe it is possible to sign elite players from Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Real Madrid unless the club want to sell them or the players are frustrated. (Daily Telegraph)
Everton are preparing a loan move for 23-year-old Inter Milan midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, who was close to a £12m switch to Stoke City before the move fell through. (Daily Star)
England international winger Aaron Lennon, 28, appears to have no future at Tottenham after not being given a squad number. (Sun - subscription required)
West Ham, who could miss out on Atletico Madrid's 24-year-old striker Raul Jimenez to Benfica, will make a late move for 24-year-old Liverpool striker Fabio Borini. (Daily Mirror)
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew says the club have received no bids for 26-year-old winger Yannick Bolasie, who will cost at least £25m. (Evening Standard)
Bournemouth are expected to make an improved bid for Glenn Murray, 31, after their £3m offer was rejected by Palace. (Guardian)
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has set his defence a target of conceding no more than 31 goals if they are to challenge for the Premier League title. (Manchester Evening News)
Pellegrini, who signed a new contract on Friday, says he is confident the club's directors will tell him if they want to replace him with Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola. (Daily Mail)
Liverpool striker Christian Benteke will aim to prove his former manager Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa wrong by showing he does not need crosses to score. (Daily Telegraph)
Meanwhile, Sherwood has called Benteke "a dreamer" in response to claims he was critical of the Belgium forward's move to Anfield. (Daily Mirror)
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says bringing through successful young players is the club's "dream". (Times - subscription required)
Newcastle manager Steve McClaren believes the pressure of his spell as manager of England has made him stronger. (Daily Star)
Steven Gerrard may be at LA Galaxy now but Liverpool are still firmly in his thoughts. He posted a picture on Instagram of Liverpool players celebrating along with the message: "I just wanted to wish the Reds the very best of luck for the season ahead, all my ex-team-mates and to the new boys that have signed. I'm sure it's going to be an exciting one. I will be watching every match over here that I can."
Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale tweeted a picture of his dinner with #carbloading #preseason hashtags as he continues his preparations for the new season.
And finally...
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri says he was the original Tinkerman and that even Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola copied him. (Daily Mirror)
Sport Witness
Has agent's wedding ruined West Ham's latest transfer? Looks that way..
Raul Jimenez has agreed a five year contract with Benfica, say Portuguese newspaper Record on Saturday. Portuguese newspaper A Bola have the deal on their front page on Saturday and they say agreement has been reached and Jimenez will become a Benfica player.
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo say that despite the interest of West Ham United, Benfica have agreed to pay for half of Jimenez's rights and will complete a deal. It's also being reported throughout Jimenez's native Mexico that the player will be joining Benfica, with the amount for 50% of his registration valued at €3m.
The short of it: The Mexican, Spanish, and Portuguese media are all saying the British media and Slaven Bilic are very wrong indeed and Raul Jimenez will not be signing for West Ham but will move to Benfica instead, and that deal is now agreed.
It must be hugely annoying for West Ham, who had been working on talks for some weeks, but perhaps it's a lesson in getting deals done quicker before other clubs can come in and use connections to get it done themselves.
Last weekend saw the wedding of super-agent Jorge Mendes, he owns 50% of the player and is the key man in any deal. At the wedding just happened to be the president of Benfica Luís Filipe Vieira and president of Atletico Madrid, and it would appear that over the finest champagne the subject of Jimenez came up.
It's hard to compete with that really.
West Ham given huge boost for defender after snub, more talks due
West Ham United have been given another indication that Inter Milan defender Danilo D'AMBROSIO doesn’t have a future at the club after he was left out of Roberto Mancini’s squad to play Athletic Bilbao today. The left back is expected to exit the San Siro this summer and West Ham are in pole to sign the player after weeks of talks with his agent.
Mancini was installed as the Inter Milan coach last December for his second spell with the Serie A side and one of his first signings was Davide Santon from Newcastle United in January. This has resulted in D’Ambrosio becoming surplus to requirements at Inter Milan and he could be looking to move this summer. Along with winger Xherdan Shaqiri the defender has been excluded from this weekend’s game against Athletic Bilbao which puts huge questions marks over the future of the two players under Mancini. Both have been linked with a move to England and could exit the Italian club before the transfer deadline.
This week West Ham offered the Inter Milan ace a four year contract after agreeing to pay the Italian side a transfer fee between €8m to €10m for the player. However, the Hammers have yet to convince the defender to sign for them but they have planned for more meetings in the coming weeks. These latest developments could give the player a nudge he needs to find a new club during this summer transfer window or risk watching from the side-lines for the next six months.
HITC
West Ham prepare bid for PSG defender Lucas Digne
Subhankar Mondal
West Ham United and Liverpool are reportedly interested in signing Lucas Digne from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
West Ham United have prepared a bid of €8 million (£5.7m) to sign Lucas Digne from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, according to Sport Italia.
It has been reported by the Italian news outlet that the Premier League outfit have already prepared the bid and will present it to Ligue 1 champions PSG soon.
The Hammers are not the first team from the Premier League to be interested in Digne, though, as The Daily Mail reported last month that Liverpool are tracking the 22-year-old left-back.
Good signing for West Ham United?
Digne is a very talented young left-back who showed his potential during his time at French club Lille.
Things have not gone according to plan for the youngster at PSG, whom he joined in the summer of 2013.
The France international is not guaranteed a place in the PSG starting line-up, and it make sense for him to leave the French champions.
Digne would be a good signing for West Ham, but the London outfit would have to be patient with him and not rush him.
ESPN
Kevin Nolan's West Ham future uncertain ahead of talks with boss Bilic
Slaven Bilic plans to hold talks with skipper Kevin Nolan over his future at West Ham United.
The 33-year-old is likely to become a peripheral figure this season as Bilic has brought in a number of his own players he hopes can help propel the Hammers into the top 10.
Nolan, who captained an inexperienced side that lost their Europa League qualifier against Astra Giurgiu on Thursday night, will probably be amongst the substitutes from West Ham's opening Premier League fixture at Arsenal.
Having joined the club under former boss Sam Allardyce in 2011, Nolan has made well over 100 league appearances but has struggled for a constant run of form in recent months and has also been on the receiving end of negativity from the stands.
After the defeat in Romania, Nolan admitted he wanted to speak to new boss Bilic to find out where he stands -- with reports linking him with a number of clubs including Leicester and former side Bolton.
"The gaffer has been great with me this summer," Nolan told BT Sport.
"I will probably sit down with him between now and the end of the window and have a chat. I love the club, I am 33, I have got a lot of years left in me. I would like to stay."
And Bilic, talking ahead of the Arsenal clash said he would talk to the former England under-21 international to straighten out his situation.
"Of course I'm going to speak with Kev," the Croatian said.
"He is a major player and I'm the first one to admire his career, we have already had a little chat and we will talk more. I will sort it out with Kev."
Bilic could have opened his league account as manager of the Hammers with an easier game but he does not intend to make the short hop to Arsenal just to sit back and try and escape with a draw.
He added: "You can say 'okay, we are going to defend, we are going to say in England we will park the bus and hope you have that magic moment.'
"But we have a team, when we are fit, that has got a lot of creative players.
"Basically, we have to defend as a unit. You cannot have two or three bodies staying up front, and resting, against teams, especially with Arsenal you cannot get away with it. You have to be as a unit, defend with numbers, attack with numbers."
Teamtalk
HAMMERS BACK IN FOR BORINI
West Ham are trying to hijack Fiorentina's bid to sign Fabio Borini from Liverpool, according to the Daily Mirror, but could be gazumped themselves by Benfica for Atletico Madrid striker Raul Jimenez.
The Hammers were linked with Borini earlier in the summer, but Fiorentina have been in talks with Liverpool to sign the striker on loan with a view to a permanent transfer.
They may yet face competition from the east London club, though, who are said to be willing to match the offer on the table from Viola.
