|
BBC
Valencia and Germany defender Shkodran Mustafi has agreed personal terms with Arsenal, with the Spanish club prepared to accept a bid upwards of £25m for the 24-year-old. (Guardian)
Everton have explored the possibility of signing Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata, 28, with the Spain international apparently surplus to requirements at Old Trafford. (Times)
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho must sell players before he can buy another central defender. (ESPN)
Chelsea have made a £39m bid for 23-year-old Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Mario. (Jornal De Noticias, via Daily Express)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants a 'sweeper-keeper' and will look to replace Joe Hart, 29, with Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 24. (Daily Mirror)
Arsenal have made an improved bid of £35m for Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez, having had a £30m offer for the 25-year-old turned down. (L'Equipe via Sun)
West Brom are interested in striker Christian Benteke but will have to break their club transfer record to sign the 25-year-old Belgium international from Liverpool. (Guardian)
Inter Milan have made a bid for 19-year-old Santos striker Gabriel Barbosa, who has also been the subject of an approach from Leicester City. (Sun))
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte wants midfielder Nemanja Matic, 28, to turn down a move to Juventus and stay at the Stamford Bridge club. (Daily Mail)
But Chelsea forward Pedro, 29, wants to leave the club and Conte is open to offers for the Spain international. (Sport via Daily Star)
Everton are looking to buy a striker but Manchester City's Wilfried Bony, 27, is not a target. The Goodison Park club want to offload 26-year-old forward Oumar Niasse for £13.5m. (Liverpool Echo)
Toffees boss Ronald Koeman admits the club may not be able to resist an offer from Chelsea for Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku, 23. (Evening Standard)
Manchester City had some help from an unlikely source when signing 20-year-old Germany winger Leroy Sane - Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil. (Spox, via Manchester Evening News)
Aston Villa are ready to sell midfielder Ashley Westwood, 26, to Burnley and bring in Mile Jedinak, 32, from Crystal Palace. (Daily Mirror)
Forward Andre Ayew, 26, says his close friendship with 29-year-old midfielder Dimitri Payet played a big part in his decision to join West Ham. (Sky Sports)
Swansea City, Burnley and Hull City are all interested in signing Wales defender James Chester, 27, from West Brom. (HITC)
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, 44, told his players he wanted to "kill" them after their failed Premier League title challenge last season. (Times - subscription required)
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew has promised a new brand of football at Selhurst Park this season, with a view using to the style employed by Spanish champions Barcelona. (City AM)
Everton manager Ronald Koeman says his squad is only "70% fit" heading into their Premier League opener against Tottenham after being given too much time off this summer. (Daily Mail)
Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has told his players they must speak English in and around the club's training ground. (Daily Express)
Newcastle's attempts to sign another striker could see them make a move for Anderlecht forward Idrissa Sylla, 25. (Daily Telegraph)
Sheffield Wednesday are considering a move for 28-year-old Birmingham City midfielder Stephen Gleeson. (HITC)
Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino has sacked highly-respected lawyer Stephen Taylor-Heath in the wake of the club losing a sexual discrimination case against former employee Lucy Ward.(Daily Star)
Birmingham City have issued a warning to the club's shareholders after some were targeted in a phone and email scam.(Birmingham Mail)
Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah, 18, has agreed a new four-year contract with the Old Trafford club. (Daily Telegraph)
And finally
Former Croatia international Robert Prosinecki has called out Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain, labelling the Argentine a "little pig" and adding "he's even more fat than me". (Jutarnji List, via Metro)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Daniel Harris
Given the frequency with which his players to get injured, it is no surprise that Arsène Wenger is so keen on Shkodran Mustafi, who appears to have made a miraculous recovery following his brutal murder by Paul Pogba in the semi-final of Euro 2016 . “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” he reportedly said on coming round, and Arsenal and Valencia remain in negotiations for his services. But a fee is yet to be agreed, mainly because canny Valencia have noticed a) Arsenal bragging about cash in the bank and b) that Per Mertesacker and Gabriel are injured. Meanwhile, canny the whole world apart from Wenger deduced his need for a centre-back several years ago; the deal is expected to be done some time before the transfer window gently closes.
Also seeking a centre-back are Manchester United. Shockingly, José Mourinho is not altogether enamoured with the suave sophistication of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo, so would like to buy a replacement - but his his board have insisted that he must first bring in money via sales. In return, Mourinho informed them that he did not ask to be born before slamming the door and immediately offering Juan Mata a handshake, only to quickly withdraw and make long bacon at him instead.
Mata is one of those free to leave Old Trafford, but United are keen to recoup as much as possible of the £37.1m they paid for him. As such, they have discussed the possibility of selling him to themselves, but are more likely to see whether David Moyes fancies adding him to a bargainalicious joblot which also includes Antonio Valencia’s left foot, a vat of fresh air, and a cuddly replica of the Charity Shield. A more likely destination for Mata is Evertonians, who are eager to add another attacking midfielder to their squad. And, with the fast, strong, inconsistency of Yannick Bolasie likely to arrive from Crystal Palace, Ronald Koeman has turned his attention to the slow, weak inconsistency of Mata.
Across Manchester, Pep Guardiola is unfathomably unconvinced by Joe Hart’s gurning and shouting, oddly prioritising a goalkeeper good at keeping in goal. In particular, he would like someone more comfortable on the ball, and with Claudio Bravo likely to keep his place at Barcelona, that man is likely to be Marc-André ter Stegen.
Elsewhere, the chase for Christian Benteke is hotting up with West Bromwich Albion joining Crystal Palace as an interested party. The problem is that Liverpool would like back the £32.5m they paid for him last summer and no one is prepared to refund it to them; on the plus side, their statutory rights remain unaffected.
And finally for today, Chelsea want to buy João Mário. Ever helpful, Kia Joorabchian has delivered their £39m offer to Sporting Lisbon, along with one from Internazionale which also included £4m in bonuses. Sporting are inclined to sell to Chelsea as they will pay more of the fee upfront, though Liverpool have not given up hope of buying the player, taking advantage of his desperation to earn less money living in a less renowned city; they may also include Mario Balotelli as part of the deal!
HITC
Jamie Redknapp says West Ham teenager Reece Oxford could be worth £50m
Jamie Redknapp compares West Ham's Reece Oxford to John Stones.
Dan Coombs
Reece Oxford was one of the stars of the opening day last season as he helped West Ham pull off a surprise 2-0 win over Arsenal.
The teenager was largely kept under wraps after that by Slaven Bilic, but pundit Jamie Redknapp is tipping him to have a big impact this season, hailing him as one of his 10 stars to watch this season, for The Mail.
Redknapp believes Oxford can continue his development this season, and in a few years even go on to be worth as much as £50 million man John Stones who has just clinched a move to Manchester City.
He said: "I might be going one year too early on this kid, but he’s a special talent. He has that Rio Ferdinand elegance about him with the ball.
"If John Stones is worth nearly £50m now, Oxford — remember he is still only 17 — can be worth the same to West Ham in three or four years. An England player of the future."
The man Redknapp also compared Oxford to, Rio Ferdinand, left West Ham for £18 million in 2003, but the way the transfer market has inflated since then, he would be surely worth even more than John Stones is today.
Oxford is a bright talent who shone in pre-season and all at the club have high hopes for him.
The only blot against him is the fact he is yet to sign an extended contract at the club, with The Mirror reporting in July that Manchester United are interested in him.
Mail
West Ham Premier League season 16/17 preview
By Martin Keown for the Daily Mail
WHO'S IN CHARGE?
Slaven Bilic
The 47-year-old former West Ham player led the club to their highest league finish since 2001-02.
REASON TO BE CHEERFUL
Slaven Bilic took West Ham from 12th to 7th in his first season and will be keen to push on even further. If Bilic can continue to put his mark on this team — through the transfer window and on the training ground — they may be able to maintain the form that saw them take four points off Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United, as well as six points off Liverpool.
REASON TO BE FEARFUL
Moving into the London Stadium will be an excellent launchpad for the modern West Ham, but it won't just be for nostalgic reasons that they'll miss Upton Park. I can't think of many other grounds where the crowd were so intimidating for visiting players. When the fans are really close to the pitch it makes you feel like you're running twice as fast — like driving a car through a built-up area. But they'll struggle to recreate that incredible atmosphere in their new, larger stadium.
WHO'S GOT A POINT TO PROVE?
Andy Carroll needs to be available more often and show more consistency when he does get on the pitch. He should be motivated on many fronts to become their main man up front — not least because he'll almost have a short cut back into the England squad while Sam Allardyce is the head coach.
KEY PLAYER
Who else but Dimitri Payet? It's impossible to do his ability justice in these pages! We saw a new side to him when he was overcome with emotion at the Euros after starring for France, and this will only endear him further to West Ham fans. If he harnesses that passion, he could be even better.
MAJOR INS
Andre Ayew (Swansea) £20.5m
Arthur Masuaku (Olympiacos) £6.2m
Sofiane Feghouli (Valencia) free
Havard Nordtveit (B Monchengladbach) free
Gokhan Tore (Besiktas) loan
MAJOR OUTS
James Tomkins (Crystal Palace) £10m
KEOWN'S VERDICT
I know they will want to kick on from last season but taking into account the stadium move and European games clogging up their fixture list, they'll be happy with the same again.
|
