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BBC
Wayne Rooney could be part of the bargaining tool to get striker Romelu Lukaku, 24, to Old Trafford, with United willing to pay a chunk of Rooney's wages to seal the deal. (ESPN)
The Red Devils have also made a £66m bid to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, 24.(Marca - in Spanish)
Paris St-Germain are ready to make a £70m move for Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, 25, who scored 13 goals in the Premier League last season.(Le10 Sport via Daily Express)
Atletico Madrid are preparing to make a first formal bid of £22m to re-sign striker Diego Costa, 28, from Chelsea. (Guardian)
Blues midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah, 22, is in talks about a £5m move to Watford, where he spent the 2012-13 season on loan.(Daily Mirror)
Brighton have their sights on Chelsea attacker Izzy Brown. The 20-year-old, who helped Huddersfield to promotion last year, is also attracting interest from Southampton. (Argus)
New Hull City boss Leonid Slutsky says he intends to make the most of his close relationship with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich as he looks to take the Tigers back to the Premier League. The Russian says he is in talks about a number of possible loan moves for players from Stamford Bridge. (Daily Star)
Former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier says Arsenal may have found their 'new Ian Wright' in club record signing Alexandre Lacazette, 26. (TalkSport)
Gunners forward Alexis Sanchez, 28, is demanding £400,000 a week in wages to stay at the club, an increase of £125,000 a week on his current deal. (Daily Mirror)
Bookies have slashed the odds on Riyad Mahrez heading to Arsenal from Leicester City. The 26-year-old forward, who has been on Arsene Wenger's radar for some time, could become the Gunners' third big summer signing. (Leicester Mercury)
West Ham are emerging as the frontrunners to sign Burnley striker Andre Gray, 26, for £15m. The player has one year left on his contract at Turf Moor and rejected the offer of a new deal. (London Evening Standard)
Premier League newcomers Huddersfield are close to signing defender Mathias Jorgensen, 27, from FC Copenhagen for around £3.5m. (Sun)
Newcastle United are still interested in trying to broker a loan deal for Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo, despite the Reds planning to take a look at the 20-year-old in pre-season. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Burnley have had a £3m bid accepted by Stoke for 33-year-old striker Jon Walters. (Sky Sports)
Championship side Birmingham are considering a loan move for Southampton striker Sam Gallagher, 21, who scored 12 goals on loan at Blackburn last season. (Birmingham Mail)
Meanwhile...
Manchester United forward Jesse Lingard surprised a group of young local fans by turning up in their neighbourhood unannounced and having a kickabout with them. (Daily Mirror)
Turkish side Galatasaray have rejected the chance to sign former Newcastle midfielder Vurnon Anita, 28, because he is too small. (Fotospor via Chronicle)
Aston Villa winger Andre Green has posted a video on Twitter of new signing John Terry singing 'Stand By Me' in front of the squad. (Twitter)
The best of Wednesday's transfer news
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney, 31, has been withdrawn from the club's tour of the United States and will complete a free transfer by the end of the week back to Everton, who are also looking to sign Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, 30, for £20m. (Sun)
Roma defender Antonio Rudiger, 24, arrived in London to complete a £36m move to Premier League champions Chelsea. (Daily Mirror)
Leicester boss Craig Shakespeare has made a £20m bid for Watford striker Troy Deeney, 29. (Daily Mirror)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Paul Doyle
The Mill has a recurring nightmare in which it shares an apartment with José Mourinho. In this ghastly vision Mourinho wakes up early every morning and goes to the bathroom. Then he stays sitting on the toilet for the entire day. The Mill’s frantic banging on the bathroom door is an epic symphony to his ears. The Mill ends up messing itself. Mourinho looks in the mirror and smirks. He is a champion again.
That nightmare story may sound like a trumped-up excuse for wetting the bed and, OK, fair cop. But it is also true that Mourinho’s approach to football matches seems to be about frustrating and humiliating the opponent, as if all Mourinho really wants to do is stop the other team from doing what they want to do. Bearing that in mind, Manchester United’s latest manoeuvre in the transfer market might really tickle him. Because word is that United are going to disburse a world record fee to sign Romelu Lukaku, solving their striking problems and, crucially, thwarting Chelsea’s plans. Could Lukaku turn out to be a more mobile version of Zlatan Ibrahmovic? Don’t be silly. Could he at least lead the line well for United and convert some of those chances that they kept missing last season? Probably. Could he score for someone else if United have him? Absolutely not. Result!
Thus United may make getting Lukaku one of the conditions of allowing Wayne Rooney to go on his Proustian tour of Goodison Park.
To be honest, the Mill has been expecting United to wade in with a bid for Virgil van Dijk this summer just to annoy Liverpool but there’s no indication of any such move just yet. Mourinho isn’t even making a move for Philippe Coutinho but that sure doesn’t mean that Liverpool can rest easy: because Paris Saint-Germain are said to be preparing a bumper bid for the Brazilian. The French club is trying to sweeten the deal by chucking in Lucas Moura, knowing that Jürgen Klopp can’t resist a nimble winger.
Speaking of French clubs, Bordeaux are hopeful of ending Nampalys Mendy’s short stay at Leicester. And Marseille want to continue their revamp by prising Munir El Haddadi from Barcelona and Carlos Bacca from Milan.
Sean Dyche’s attempt to turn Burnley into the 27th county of the Republic of Ireland will continue apace as he completes the signing of Jon Walters, who will join Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick, Stephen Ward and Kevin Long on the playing staff at Murph Moor. On the way out of Burnley, meanwhile, is Andre Gray, presumably to make room for Niall Quinn. Gray is expected to resurface at West Ham.
Huddersfield’s preparations for their first top-flight campaign since before Britain joined the European Economic Community will continue with the capture of the defender Mathias Jorgensen from FC Copenhagen.
Watford want to rekindle their relationship with Nathaniel Chalobah, who previously won hearts at Vicarage Road during a loan spell away from Chelsea, who continue to like him at arm’s length.
Birmingham are hopeful the esteem in which Southampton hold Harry Redknapp will help smooth through a loan bid for the striker Sam Gallagher. The Mill fancies that it might be wise to have a back-up plan for that one.
Turkish Football
£33m Chelsea striker ‘likely’ to leave, Turkish giants rival West Ham to clinch deal
By Emre Sarigul
Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi is likely to be able to leave this summer according to the Telegraph.
Per the source, the 22-year-old could end up being loaned out if a replacement is found.
The report claims that West Ham are keen on the young striker despite also being in the race for Chicharito.
The Hammers could however, face competition from Fenerbahce who have also joined the race.
A source close to the club revealed to Turkish-Football that they have made an enquiry for Batshuayi.
Fenerbahce are keen on signing the forward on a loan deal.
The club are under the watch of Financial Fair Play (FFP), making loan deals a more attractive opposition this summer.
The Yellow Canaries have made strengthening their forward line a priority.
Fenerbahce sold Emmanuel Emenike to Olympiakos and Moussa Sow has returned to his parents club after his loan deal finished.
The Istanbul giants currently only have Robin van Persie and Fernandao available heading into the pre-season.
Fenerbahce would be able to make Batshuayi assurances of first team and European competition football next season if he were to make the move.
Chelsea signed Batshuayi for £33 million (BBC) just last summer but he struggled for regular first-team football last season playing just 235 minutes of Premier League football.
IBT
West Ham urged to pursue £50m deal for Arsenal strikers Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott
Nigel Winterburn believes the London Stadium could offer both players a possible exit route.
By Nick Howson
Arsenal strikers Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott must consider their futures at The Emirates Stadium and should contemplate moves to West Ham United, according to Nigel Winterburn. With Alexandre Lacazette having joined the Gunners for a club-record fee both players are expected to find regular first team football hard to come by, particularly if Alexis Sanchez remains beyond the end of the summer transfer window.
Goal.com reported in June that the Hammers are interested in moves for both Giroud and Walcott, neither of whom were first choice last season under Arsene Wenger. The pair managed 48 starts between them, scoring 35 goals, yet there are few guarantees over their role next season.
Giroud has also emerged as a target for Everton, who have reportedly made the France international their main target during the remainder of the summer window. The 30-year-old is valued at £20m and Winterburn believes that despite being outside the top six he could consider a move to the London Stadium.
"I think he's done a very good job and I just wonder whether Arsenal want a little bit more mobility going forward," the former Arsenal and West Ham defender told the betting website bwin. "He found himself on the bench at the end of the season and he obviously wouldn't want that to happen. It's again whether the player feels that he is going to play enough games or is it time to make the break? I think there would be a lot more offers from abroad if he did move from Arsenal.
"He might also be settled in London and if that is the case, West Ham have a good link with Arsenal and if he wanted to stay in London that could be a good opportunity for West Ham to get a very good striker. I could see it happening but you have to think whether the player believes he is capable of playing for a top-six club and West Ham are not a top-six club. It'll be a case of whether West Ham can convince the player to join them."
West Ham could yet be priced out of a move for Walcott with Arsenal valuing the forward at £30m. Slaven Bilic's side are nevertheless desperate for a new frontman and Winterburn accepts that with Wenger having adopted a new system Walcott's days in north London are numbered.
"The problem for Theo is that Arsenal switched the system at the end of last season and that system doesn't suit him, not at Arsenal anyway," he added. "Theo will think that if Arsenal are trying to limit his game time, he'll feel like 'where do I fit in? Is it time for a new challenge?' I think when players of that quality become available, it's natural to say that they would say they are interested.
"West Ham playing with two up front including [Andy] Carroll with Theo, I can see that working very well. Then you also have the option of playing him off the striker or playing right left, so you're getting a fair bit for your money. The problem for Theo at Arsenal is where do they see him playing if they stick to a back three or back five?"
C&H
Irons admit they can wait no longer for Giroud
The quest to sign Oliver Giroud from Arsenal appears to be in trouble with the Hammers learning the striker genuinely wants to stay in North London.
Wehave learned this morning that despite the Gunners landing their primary striker targetof Alexandra Lacazette for a record fee of £46.5m from Lyon yesterday, the Giroud deal is no closer for the irons.
It had been hoped that the incoming striker would free up Giroud but the player has now indicated to his agents and the Gunners he wants to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place.
The Hammers are growing impatient and don’t believe they can wait for a possible change his mind later in the summer and as a result are moving on to alternative striker targets.
It appears to be a re-run of the Carlos Bacca saga last summer where we were waiting for a phone call that never came. The board appear to have learned their lesson from that situation and want to be in more in control this summer.
A senior club source told ClaretandHugh “Giroud, who we were very hopeful of getting, looks like staying at Arsenal or making no decision till mid August and we can’t wait that long”
The chances of West Ham signing or loaning Michy Batshuayi from Chelsea took a setback today as Romelu Lukaku has reportedly rejected a return to Chelsea.
According to breaking news this morning Manchester United have agreed a fee of around £75m with Everton for striker Lukaku and they hope to complete the transfer by Sunday so he can join them on a Pres-season tour of the US. The 24-year-old Belgium international scored 25 Premier League goals last season.
The striker was sold to Everton for £28m by Mourinho during the Portuguese manager’s second spell in charge of Chelsea in 2014.
Hammers transfer budget revealed
West Ham’s summer transfer budget is around £62m mark rising to as high £80m if further players are sold this summer.
The Hammers have averaged £45m spend each summer which appears to be base Summer transfer budget.
Surplus left over from the £25m sale of Dimi Payet after buying Snodgrass and Fonte adds £7m to the pot.
The sale of Nordveit adds another £4m while the imminent sale of Enner Valencia will add another £6m.
That adds up to £62m with the club said to be prepared to spend up to £50m on one exceptional player.
The £20m amount saved from not buying Simone Zaza is not factored in as we understand it would have come out of this summer’s transfer budget.
If further players depart the Hammers this summer could have more funds available
A Fehougli departure could add £4m, Robert Snodgrass might add £10m and Ashley Fletcher as much as £4m adding another £18m to the transfer pot.
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