BBC
Manchester United want former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane to replace Jose Mourinho as manager if he leaves. (Sun)
Inter Milan are interested in Real Madrid's Croatia midfielder Luka Modric, 32, who is on holiday in Italy. (Gazzetta dello Sport, via Mail)
Chelsea hope to beat Real Madrid to the signing of 29-year-old Bayern Munich and Poland forward Robert Lewandowski. (Star)
Chelsea hope offering France midfielder N'Golo Kante, 27, a new £290,000-a-week deal helps persuade Belgium forward Eden Hazard, also 27, to stay. (Evening Standard)
However, Paris St-Germain are not giving up on signing Kante. (Mirror)
Tottenham want to sign Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha for £45m. The Eagles have already turned down a bid from Chelsea for the 25-year-old Ivory Coast international. (Sun)
Chelsea are not convinced Brazil winger Willian's late return to the club is because of passport issues. The 29-year-old, who interests Manchester United and Real Madrid is yet to report for pre-season training. (Times - subscription required)
Liverpool's 30-year-old Belgium goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is a target for Barcelona. (Sky Sports)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants to send 18-year-old forward Ben Woodburn to Sheffield United on a season-long loan. Klopp sees the Wales international as a future starter for the Reds, but wants him to get more playing time. (Sun)
Klopp wants to see more home-grown players come through the ranks at Liverpool and has been impressed with English midfielder Curtis Jones, 17, during pre-season. (Mail)
Defender Luke Shaw, 23, is happy to see out the final year of his contract at Manchester United, despite interest from German side Wolfsburg in the England international. (Mail)
Belgium forward Michy Batshuayi, 24, has been told by Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri that he has a future at Stamford Bridge, amid interest from Crystal Palace and Valencia. (RMC, via Sun)
Everton are interested in signing Russia midfielder Denis Cheryshev, 27, from Villarreal. (Marca, via Talksport)
Crystal Palace hope to sign Germany forward Max Meyer, 22, from Schalke and 29-year-old Brazil midfielder Josef de Souza from Fenerbahce. (Star)
Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain has agreed a season-long loan move to fellow Serie A side AC Milan, who will have the option to buy the 30-year-old Argentina international for £32m at the end of the season. (Guardian)
Real Madrid approached 26-year-old Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah about replacing Cristiano Ronaldo after selling the 33-year-old Portugal international to Juventus.(El Pais, via Star)
Former Arsenal and France forward Thierry Henry has agreed terms to become the new Egypt manager. (King Fut, via Talksport)
Sevilla president Jose Castro has made it clear he expects France midfielder Steven N'Zonzi to stay. The 29-year old is thought to be a target for Arsenal. (Metro)
Aston Villa want to sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham on a season-long loan but the 20-year-old English player is keen to stay in the Premier League. (Mail)
Spain striker Fernando Llorente, 33, says he wants to stay at Tottenham, despite being back-up to England captain Harry Kane, 25. (Evening Standard)
Newcastle offered manager Rafael Benitez to Spain for the World Cup after the sacking of Julen Lopetegui. (COPE, via Express)
The Football Association is fighting to keep hold of technical director Dan Ashworth, who is interested in a similar role at Premier League club Brighton. (Mirror)
Sampdoria are set to confirm the signing of Ronaldo Vieira, 20, from Leeds United after agreeing a five-year contract with the England Under-21 midfielder. (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Rob Bleaney
Not content with losing Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid could be about to complete an unthinkable treble by selling Luka Modric to Internazionale.
Fresh from winning the World Cup Golden Ball after driving Croatia to the final in Russia, Modric has opened the door to a move to Serie A. The move is said to have been worked upon with the utmost secrecy for weeks and Inter’s ‘great dream’ could be about to become a reality. A midfield pairing of Modric and the newly acquired Radja Naingollan would certainly get the juices flowing. The back-up plan isn’t bad either, with Italy’s hibernating giants having lined up the signing of Arturo Vidal from Bayern Munich if Modric falls through.
Never one to be outgunned in the transfer market, Florentino Pérez’s grand rebuilding project will begin with the £65m purchase of Borussia Dortmund’s American whizzkid Christian Pulisic. Real will then step up their efforts to prize Robert Lewandowski and Eden Hazard from Bayern Munich and Chelsea respectively.
PSG chewed up and spat out Barcelona over the world-record signing of Neymar last summer and they are in no mood to give up their pursuit of N’Golo Kanté just because Chelsea are playing hard ball. The French champions are ready to blow Chelsea’s offer of £290,000 a week out of the water in a a bid to tempt the World Cup wining midfielder back to his home town during party season.
Luke Shaw’s home town is Guildford, and he’s probably spent the last four years wishing he’d never left it after the way José Mourinho has ruthlessly toyed with his emotions. Help could be at hand though, with Wolfsburg keen to sign the 23-year-old this summer. Shaw would rather stay apparently, having featured in José Mourinho’s plans on the US tour. That has nothing to do with the fact United currently have 713 players absent without leave of course.
Speculation is the one drug the Mill cannot do without so you can imagine the ecstasy when Mainz’s sporting director, Rouven Schröder, let slip that the Bundesliga side have rejected an “extraordinary offer” for their £30m-rated Ivorian starlet Jean-Philippe Gbamin – then refused to say which Premier League club had submitted. Arsenal are the hot favourites, having long been on the tail of the 22-year-old central defender who can also play in midfield.
Fulham want to sign Wolfsburg midfielder Joshua Guilavogui. Lazio are finalising an £18m deal for Sevilla’s maverick winger Joaquín Correa. Everton are still hoping to address their striking problems by signing £35m-rated Moussa Marega from Porto. And Ross Barkley has been pounding the streets in a bid to get his career back on track. Sorry, Ross who?
Mail
Mainz 1-1 West Ham United (West Ham win 7-6 on penalties): Hammers win pre-season Betway Cup in Austria
West Ham earned silverware to provide a boost ahead of the new league season
Toni Martinez scored as West Ham drew with Mainz before winning on penalties
Team featuring Marko Arnautovic overcame Bundesliga side in 32 degrees
By Matthew Smith
West Ham earned themselves some silverware to provide a boost ahead of the new season as they beat Bundesliga side Mainz on penalties in Austria.
The Hammers defeated the German side in the Betway Cup, their penultimate pre-season fixture before beginning their Premier League campaign against Liverpool.
They overcame Mainz at the Silberstadt Arena in Schwaz in sweltering summer temperatures of around 32 degrees Celsius.
West Ham earned themselves some silverware to provide a boost ahead of the new season
Toni Martinez scored as West Ham drew 1-1 with Mainz before winning 7-6 on penalties
Toni Martinez headed West Ham ahead midway through the second half, however Robin Quaison equalised for Mainz with a deflected shot.
The game went straight to penalties, with both sides missing their first efforts - Arthur Masuaku hitting the post for West Ham before Adrian saved from Pablo de Blassis.
The following 13 consecutive penalties were all converted before Gaetan Bussman shot over the crossbar to hand the trophy to West Ham.
It was the first time West Ham have won the pre-season tournament organised by their shirt sponsors, after being beaten in each of the last three years by Werder Bremen (twice) and Juventus.
Manager Manuel Pellegrini told the club website: 'I think we always had good build-up, recovered the ball well and pressed well and this is a Mainz team who try to have possession and we had more possession than them, so in a tactical way we improved a lot compared with the last game.
A Hammers side featuring Marko Arnautovic overcame the Bundesliga side in 32 degrees heat
ack Wilshere featured during the pre-season friendly clash with Mainz on Tuesday
Michail Antonio played 62 minutes before being replaced by Hammers goalscorer Martinez
'We had a lot more options than they had and Adrian really didn't have too much work during the game, so in the way that we improved from the friendly games, it's good for the team.'
West Ham play Ligue 1 side Angers on Friday, also in Austria, before starting their Premier League campaign at Anfield on August 12.
MATCH FACTS
West Ham: Adrian; Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku; Rice, Noble; (Cullen 76), Snodgrass, Wilshere (Obiang 62), Antonio (Martinez 62); Arnautovic
Subs not used: Fabianski, Fredericks, Ogbonna
Goal: Martinez 69
Mainz: Zentner (Muller 69); Donati, Bussmann, Niakhate (Gurleyen 46), Holtmann (Brosinski 63), Baku, Kunde (de Blasis 63), Bungert (Burkhardt 63), Maxim (Mateta 46), Ujah (Bell 63), Onisiwo (Quaison 63)
Goal: Quaison 79
Referee: Walter Altmann
Football Espana
West Ham want Celta's Maxi Gomez
West Ham United have made a €30m bid for in-demand Celta Vigo striker Maxi Gomez, according to reports in the Spanish press.
The Uruguayan striker enjoyed a productive first season at the Galician side, hitting 17 La Liga goals in 35 starts having signed from Defensor Sporting last summer in a €4m deal.
The 21-year-old is said to have a €40m release clause in his contract and the club are not willing to his asking price, although an agreement may yet be found.
The report is outlined in Radio Galega’s Galician Goles programme, which talks of the Hammers interest and the expectation of a deal being done.
The striker was top scorer in the Uruguayan domestic league and his fine start to life at Estadio Balaidos – including a brace on his debut against Real Sociedad – earned him a first international call-up.
Gomez signed a five-year deal at Estadio Balaidos but was reportedly close to leaving the club in January but a proposed €25m move to Beijing Guoan broke down.
This is Futbol
West Ham secure capture of Charlie Nystrand-Sacaneno
West Ham have secured the capture of young midfielder Charlie Nystrand-Sacaneno from Swedish side Hittarps IK, as confirmed by the selling club.
The club, which are based in Helsingborg, revealed on their official website that the 15-year-old starlet would be making the move from southern Sweden to east London this summer after impressing the Irons during a one week training camp last summer.
The midfielder is set to join up with the Hammers’ under-16 set up after working with Hittarps’ youth system during his time at the club, with the Swedish side sending him off with a heartfelt message for the future.
Opinion
After the vast amount of senior signings made at the London Stadium, it is good to see that they are not giving up on their proud tradition of developing young talents into first team stars. Whether Nystrand-Sacaneno has what it takes to become one of the Hammers’ heroes in the future remains to be seen, but it demonstrates just how wide reaching the club’s ambitions to be the best are, scouting out the most talented youngsters not only in England and central Europe but Scandinavia as well. The midfielder now faces a fight to make his way through the youth system with the Irons, in what will be a huge change of scenery for him. Going from Helsingborg, an old medieval town just across from Denmark, to the hustle and bustle of London will take some getting used to, but so long as he puts his head down and focuses on becoming the best footballer possible, then he stands every chance of becoming a future star in the next decade.
DZ Football
West Ham in talks with Yacine Brahimi
By Dean Ammi
Premier League side West Ham are in negotiations with FC Porto for Algerian international Yacine Brahimi, according to Portuguese media outlet O Jogo.
Porto have already sold several players to the Premier League this summer, such as Diego Dalot to Manchester United and Ricardo Pereira to Leicester City.
Brahimi has just enjoyed winning his first trophy in Portugal, lifting the Liga NOS league title. The left winger is renowned for his dribbling ability and quick feet, and he scored 12 goals in all competitions during the 2017/18 campaign.
Joining from Granada in summer 2014, the Algerian international has enjoyed a few years now in Portugal and may seek a new challenge for next season. Porto may also prefer to let him go this window, rather than for free next year.
He also has 11 goals in 42 appearances for the Algerian national team, and would be a fantastic addition to the West Ham squad. However, this would mean giving up the Champions League football that he just helped Porto qualify for.
According to the report, Porto want West Ham to meet the release clause for the player. The Hammers have already signed the likes of Felipe Anderson so far this summer in the left wing position.
