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BBC
Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is almost 100% certain to return to former club Real Madrid this summer, having left in 2013 to rejoin Chelsea. (Telegraph)
Real president Florentino Perez considered sacking manager Santiago Solari straight after their Champions League defeat by Ajax on Tuesday but feels there is no-one capable of leading the team for the rest of the season. (Marca)
Perez held crisis talks with club directors in the Bernabeu until 02:00 after the defeat. (AS)
Wales forward Gareth Bale, 29, could stand to lose up to £70m in salary if he leaves Real this summer. (Sun)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will reject any offer from Real to take over at the Bernabeu this summer. (Telegraph)
The Reds have contacted RB Leipzig to signal their interest in signing Germany striker Timo Werner, 23, this summer. (Bild, via Liverpool Echo)
RB Leipzig are looking to sign Chelsea's English forward Tammy Abraham, 21, who is on loan at Aston Villa. (Sun)
Juventus are considering pairing former boss Antonio Conte with ex-Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo as his assistant if current manager Massimiliano Allegri leaves. (Tuttosport - in Italian)
However, even if Conte takes the job, he will still seek compensation from Chelsea following his departure from Stamford Bridge. (Express)
English winger Jadon Sancho, 18, is set to snub Manchester United and stay in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. (Sun)
Everton have no plans to sell English centre-back Mason Holgate this summer despite interest from Championship side West Brom, where the 22-year-old is on loan. (Liverpool Echo)
Newcastle's Spanish forward Ayoze Perez, 25, says the club should offer manager Rafael Benitez a contract extension, with discussions on hold until Premier League survival is secured. (Chronicle)
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri is confident he will not be sacked before next season and has started planning the Blues' pre-season tour. (Mirror)
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confirmed the club are interested in Ajax and Netherlands centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, 19, having already signed team-mate Frenkie de Jong, 21. (SER, via Independent)
Leicester could ask Monaco to make 29-year-old Portugal playmaker Adrien Silva's loan move permanent in order to bring down the upfront price of £40m-rated Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans, 21, who is on loan at the Foxes from the Ligue 1 side. (Leicester Mercury)
Borussia Dortmund youth chief Lars Ricken says the club will continue to target young English talent after the successful signing of England winger Jadon Sancho, 18, from Manchester City. (Evening Standard)
Chelsea's France midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, 24, says he is unsure of his next move after his season-long loan at AC Milan ends. (France Football - in French)
Hull are interested in signing English Reading keeper Luke Southwood, 21, who is on loan at National League side Eastleigh. (Mail)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Stuart Goodwin
Real Madrid’s golden spell continues with A-list managers lining up to indicate their willingness – or otherwise – to waggle the joystick in an attempt to arrest the tailspin at the Bernabéu. Zinedine Zidane is simultaneously being lined up while having pre-emptively declined the opportunity to witness first-hand the thing he saw a mile away before running several more. Jürgen Klopp meanwhile, has politely shrugged an amiable “waddyagonnado” shrug while pointing resolutely to his contractual obligations. Mauricio Pochettino’s odds of taking the job have remained high, because he said stuff about a referee and is therefore probably done with Spurs. Reports in Spain have him as the “big favourite”. However, flavour of the month April-May 2010 José Mourinho is more obviously game, willing to overlook the poisonous atmosphere that saw him depart the role six years ago after what he then described as “the worst season of my career”.
Mr Cheerypants’s former stomping ground Manchester United has a feelgood air this morning, and they’re looking to throw as much as £50m in the direction of Bruno Fernandes, the goalscoring Sporting Lisbon midfielder who is also having eyelashes fluttered in his direction from Liverpool and Chelsea.
Moneymen at Old Trafford have eyed a solution to the imminent Antonio Valencia-sized hole in their squad too: doing their scouting via last April’s Mill. And so Portugal international João Cancelo is once more linked, no doubt to the annoyance of his compatriot Diogo Dalot, who was seemingly days ago being touted as the long-term future resident of the club’s right-back slot. Given the fact Juventus paid €40m for his services last summer, Luke Shaw may soon be taking him to one side to talk over correlations between big price tags, millstones and necks.
Hugo Lloris is that rarest beast – a goalkeeper too quick off his line – and he could soon be yesterday’s man twixt the sticks at various north London venues. Reports in Italy link Tottenham to Lazio’s 23-year-old stopper Thomas Strakosha, and Daniel Levy’s eyes will no doubt have widened at news that the Albania international currently plies his trade for “a mere” £17,000 per week. The Mill is very much enjoying its shop’s own-brand yogurt for brekkie, ta very much. Spurs are also looking into Patrick Cutrone’s availability, the Milan forward having grown weary of doing the kind of support role Fernando Llorente does, and which he’ll almost certainly be asked to do if the move happens.
Finally, in near-daily Adrien Rabiot corner, Barcelona have reportedly ended their interest in nailing down the PSG playmaker, who is free as a bird come season’s end. This, obviously, means Arsenal’s chances of securing him have increased, while Liverpool’s ears have also pricked up once more.
OS
Nasri: The quality in our squad has really impressed me
Having played for Marseille, Arsenal, Manchester City and France, Samir Nasri knows a thing or two about being a member of a strong and multi-talented squad – and the No18 believes he is part of another one at West Ham United.
With the squad interpreting manager Manuel Pellegrini’s ‘big team’ approach ever more impressively and senior players returning from injury, the Hammers are primed to launch a late-season assault on the Premier League’s top seven.
Such is the number of match-winners in the squad that Nasri believes there is no reason why the Irons cannot finish 2018/19 strongly, leapfrog Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford and potentially secure European qualification.
“It’s good for the manager to have many, many options because, at the end of the day, we all look to achieve the same thing and be in the top seven of the league,” said the attacking midfielder.
“This week it can be me, the next week it can be another player. When I came in I played well, then I got an injury and now Manu has come back and is performing well, as is Snoddy, so I just think we have to push each other every day to bring the best out of each other.”
Upon joining the Club on a short-term contract in January, Nasri spoke to fellow Premier League title winner Patrice Evra, who had himself spent time with the Hammers last season and trained at Rush Green earlier this team.
The full-back told his former France teammate he would be pleasantly surprised by the quality in the West Ham squad – and that is exactly what happened.
“I am not surprised we are playing like this,” Nasri confirmed. “Even before Manu came back, when I first trained with the team, I said to Patrice Evra that I was surprised by the level of the training. I knew some of the players from before, but I didn’t expect the quality and intensity to be that high. Patrice agreed and said the training at West Ham was more difficult than at Marseille, who reached the final of the Europa League when he was there.
“That’s the conclusion that he made and that’s what I realised too. The level was and is really impressive.
“Now we’re playing a certain way and getting results and I think it’s an exciting end to the season.”
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