BBC
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has promised returning manager Zinedine Zidane £300m to spend this summer, with the Spanish giants interested in a number of players, including Chelsea and Belgium forward Eden Hazard, 28, and Tottenham's Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, 27. Wales forward Gareth Bale, 29, and 33-year-old Croatia midfielder Luka Modric are among those set to leave the Bernabeu in the summer. (Independent)
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez also says he would like to sign both France forward Kylian Mbappe, 20, and 27-year-old Brazil international Neymar from Paris St-Germain.(Goal)
Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho missed out on a return to Real Madrid because senior players at the club did not want the Portuguese in charge. (Mail)
Manchester United want to confirm Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as their new permanent boss during the forthcoming international break. The former United and Norway striker is now the only contender for the post. (Mirror)
Solskjaer is prepared to let Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, 30, leave United on loan. (Sun)
Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 28, says he will not be pressured into signing a new contract with Manchester City and refused to rule out leaving the club in the summer. (Telegraph)
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu is preparing to step up his bid to sign Ajax and Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt, 19. (Goal.com)
Chelsea's legal battle with Antonio Conte over the Italian former head coach's severance package could end up in the High Court. (Times - subscription required)
Arsenal club bosses say that players who only have two years left on their contracts and refuse to sign new deals will be sold. Gunners midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 28, will be leaving the club for free at the end of the season, with Arsenal keen to avoid repeat situations. (Metro)
Arsenal scouts were again spotted watching AC Milan's Spanish former Liverpool midfielder Suso, 25. (Caught Offside)
England boss Gareth Southgate is considering a call-up for in-form Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, 24. Southgate names his squad on Wednesday for this month's opening Euro 2020 qualifiers with Czech Republic and Montenegro. (Mirror)
Celtic want to sign Chelsea's Czech defender Tomas Kalas, 25, in a £5m move but will also move for Red Star Belgrade's Serbia Under-21 centre-back Srdjan Babic, 22, as an alternative. (Star)
Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan have all scouted 21-year-old PSV Eindhoven winger Steven Bergwijn, with the Dutchman valued at more than £30m. (De Telegraaf, via Team Talk)
Besiktas manager Senol Gunes says the two-year loan deal for Liverpool's German goalkeeper Loris Karius, 25, "hasn't worked out" and he would be dropped if a suitable replacement was available. (Liverpool Echo)
Michael Appleton is open to a return to West Brom after the sacking of Darren Moore, saying the club "have his number". (Sky Sports)
Major League Soccer side Sporting Kansas City have signed defensive midfielder Gedion Zelalem, 22, on a free transfer from Arsenal. The USA Under-23 international made four substitute appearances in cup competitions for the Gunners and also had a season-long loan spell at Scottish Premiership side Rangers in 2015-16. (MLSSoccer.com)
Crystal Palace are still planning to start work on the redevelopment of Selhurst Park this summer - despite uncertainty over the club's ownership. (London Evening Standard)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Michael Butler
“I am not thinking yet about signings.” Zinedine Zidane could not have been clearer in his Monday night press conference after accepting the Real Madrid job for the second time that his mind was on the final 11 matches of the season and nothing else. But that didn’t stop the Mill (and other notable gossip outlets) from creaking into action, with most speculating that Florentino Pérez has promised the Frenchman the proverbial war chest to spend this summer, as well as a week’s stay in his ski chalet and a lottery ticket every week for the rest of his life in order to convince the Frenchman to return.
Zidane did appear to offer an olive branch to Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Isco although most still expect the estranged trio to depart in the summer as the club plan an overhaul of the squad. The first name to be mentioned? “Zidane is French so he could do something with Kylian Mbappé,” laughed Pérez, a sort of chuckling veiled threat normally used by Bond villains at the start of the movie. Pérez might be a ringer for Jean-Claude Juncker, but he’s got the swazz of Donald Tusk, so that’s £250m-ish to get the ball rolling, you would think.
Next? Neymar of course. When asked if we would prefer to sign the Brazilian or Mbappé, Pérez simply replied “both”. Stick another £200m on the bill, garçon. If all this does seem a remote possibility, it is worth remembering that PSG are perennial bottlejobs incapable of winning anything in Europe and that Neymar has also recently expressed an interest in joining the club which has won four Champions Leagues in the last five years. “Real is one of the biggest clubs in the world,” Neymar told O Globo only last week. “Everyone that is followed by Real Madrid would feel attracted to play there, but I am happy in Paris.” The other names mentioned, which seem to the Mill small-fry in comparison, are Chelsea’s Eden Hazard and Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen. There is little doubt that money will be spent.
One player that could be leaving La Liga for pastures new is Philippe Coutinho which could deprive Liverpool of up to £17.6m in bonuses, according to the Mirror. The Reds currently receive £4.2m for every 25 La Liga appearances Coutinho makes, and also have additional clauses linked to whether Barcelona win the league or Champions League in the next couple of years. All the more reason for Manchester United to stick the boot in, then.
One problem Ed Woodward does continue to have is David de Gea. With his contract up at the end of next season, United are scrambling to get a new deal signed and have offered him £350,000 a week, which would comfortably make him the world’s best remunerated keeper. David wants more money to spend on gig tickets and is holding out for a little more, the cheeky so and so.
Mo Diamé could be set for a move to Turkey this summer, but only if he fails to make three more league appearances for Newcastle – that would earn him a one-year extension to his existing deal, something the club are apparently keen to avoid. Besiktas have been mentioned as a destination.
Incidentally, the manager of Besiktas, Şenol Güneş, has hung Loris Karius out to dry after his latest blunder against Konyaspor on Sunday. “Karius has gone a bit stagnant, something is wrong with his electricity, motivation, enthusiasm for the game,” said Güneş. “He was at fault for the goals he conceded. “Let me put it this way, if I still had Tolga [Zengin] available I would play him.” Do not be surprised to see the German back on Merseyside this summer.
Finally, Leicester and West Ham are battling to sign exciting Portuguese winger Nuno Moreira. The 19-year-old is out of contract this summer at Sporting, where he plays for the Under-23 side.
Telegraph
Tony Carr - the best developer of young talent in English football - keen to rebuild bridges at West Ham
Tony Carr is former head of West Ham's Academy Credit: JULIAN SIMMONDS
By William Pugh
Scan the walls of Tony Carr’s impressive home in rural Essex, and you would be forgiven for thinking you had wandered into football’s equivalent of the National Gallery. On one wall, you can find Carr pictured with an immaculate Bobby Moore; nearby, there he is smiling alongside Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.
They are testament not just to a life spent immersed in football, but the esteem in which he is held. And not simply at West Ham United, the club he served for more than 40 years: the English game as a whole owes him a debt, as the man who helped shape the stellar careers of Lampard, Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe – a golden generation whose CVs bear comparison with any English players since 1966.
Carr is 68 – three years younger than Roy Hodgson, the evergreen manager of Crystal Palace – and hardly looks it. So why is arguably the best developer of young talent English football has seen in the past three decades now in semi-retirement, limited to occasional work helping develop young coaches for the Premier League?
The answer lies partly in Carr’s departure from West Ham after 43 years of service in 2016. He had been moved into an ambassadorial role in 2014, making way for Terry Westley to take over the club’s famed academy, and relations with board members Karren Brady, David Gold and David Sullivan had broken down. He left shortly after, and labelled his treatment “disrespectful” in a newspaper interview.
Despite continued friendships with current captain Mark Noble and club legend Sir Trevor Brooking, in the absence of an official link to the club Carr now attends matches only with friends and family who have spare tickets.
Carr would be forgiven for feeling bitter, and yet there is no trace of it as we sit down to talk. He has no interest in dragging up the past or creating any new ill feeling, even if there is a twinge of regret in his voice as he reflects on the ending of his association with West Ham, whose old Boleyn Ground stadium was just four miles from his childhood home in Bow.
“The club decided they wanted a clean break and I just got the impression I had to leave,” he says. “I’ve got no animosity towards anyone there, everyone moves on with their lives and I see things a lot differently now to how I did two years ago. A lot of water goes under the bridge, so you reflect and look back and I suppose my anger at the time was the disappointment at the situation.”
Carr would rather talk about his lifelong passion – the development of young footballers. Happily, the topic is back in fashion: England’s national age-group sides have been stacking up titles in the past two years, and even Germany are being forced to recognise their old enemy has forged ahead when it comes to producing youth talent, with some of the Bundesliga’s biggest clubs looking to plunder the ranks of their Premier League rivals.
Carr is enthused by the idea of youngsters such as Jadon Sancho, Reece Oxford – and possibly Callum Hudson-Odoi – expanding their horizons with moves abroad.
“It sounds a bit sexier going to Germany rather than Barnet or Lincoln City and they might look at the Bundesliga and say, ‘Maybe it’s better than playing in the Championship or League One’,” he says, with a chuckle. “But it’s great experience for them. If you crack the Bundesliga, you can enhance and develop your reputation.
“Ultimately, it’s tougher to get into Premier League teams now. There are not too many managers around who believe in blooding youngsters any more, because they see their tenure as very short and they want more experienced and reliable players.
“It can also be club policy to enhance the players’ reputation abroad so their transfer value is increased. The game now is a massive business and the money from TV rights is astronomical. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker don’t own football clubs any more: it becomes a business model as much as a development model.”
That is not the only aspect of football that has changed since Carr began his work as a youth-team coach at West Ham in 1973. Then, academies had a touch of the boot camp about them, and squad hierarchy was untouchable. As Cole revealed in a recent interview with The Daily Telegraph, rough treatment and intimidation from senior first-team pros were all part of the steep learning curve.
Carr is adamant bullying has no place in the game, but acknowledges there can be no room for indulgence.
“I think it’s a balance at the end of the day,” he says. “The game doesn’t change. You’ve still got to run, chase, put your foot in, tackle, track back, put your head in where it hurts and try to be first to the ball.
“Traits like determination and desire need to be instilled in players and a winning mentality is part and parcel of becoming a footballer. If you’re going to survive at the very top you’ve got to have a real commitment and will to win. Those factors have to be developed in young players if it’s not already there.”
He pauses before offering an example from his own experience at West Ham.
“[Former manager] John Lyall once said to me, ‘When developing young players you should give them a tough day at least once a week to make them aware the game is not just about kicking a ball around and playing five a side’.
“He was right. You’ve got to be able to run, you’ve got to be fit and strong and when it’s tough you’ve got to get through it.”
Carr’s philosophy yielded huge rewards at West Ham, not just for the players themselves, but for the club, who earned more than £60 million in transfer fees accrued from stars he had developed. The production line may have slowed in recent years, but Carr’s influence is still in evidence throughout the top flight – from James Tomkins, a linchpin at Crystal Palace, to Noble and Declan Rice at West Ham.
“Mark was always going to be a captain,” Carr says. “Even when he was a kid, he wouldn’t take an ounce of sloppiness from people. He is a natural leader, but he also had an enthusiasm and love of football that I think is still in his game now.”
Carr insists he cannot claim much credit for Rice, who joined West Ham in 2014 after being released by Chelsea. Still, he insists the 20-year-old – who recently pledged his international allegiance to England over Ireland – always exhibited the desire, commitment and drive to establish himself at the elite level, and credits Manuel Pellegrini for placing such trust in him.
“The manager needs a lot of credit for keeping him in the team. He has been put in and has not played brilliantly every game, but the manager stuck with him. That’s because he believes in him and he’s gone from strength to strength.”
Rice’s future at the highest level seems assured, but what of Carr himself? He is midway through his West Ham memoirs and insists his football fix is sated through his Premier League work, but the twinkle in his eye suggests he still has plenty more to give. So, could there be a way back at West Ham?
“They have always been and will always be my club and if there was any way in the future I could go back and be of some value somewhere I would be happy to do that,” he says. “If there were any bridges broken then I’d like to rebuild them. My phone number is still the same.”
Tony Carr on his West Ham protegees:
Rio Ferdinand
Rio always had fantastic talent. I would say that Rio, out of all that generation, had the most. I was the first to play him at centre-back. And the rest is history, as they say.
He's had terrible tragedy in his life in the last few years. Unspeakable tragedy. So, maybe he sees a manager's role as all-consuming, 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, and doesn't need it.
Frank Lampard Jnr
When he was with the youth team I could never read his emotions. I could never read whether he was happy, sad, determined, had the hump, I could just never read his emotions.
But his work ethic was unbelievable. The only one I would have said might have gone into management was Frank Lampard. Because of the way he is, his personality and how thoughtful he is.
Joe Cole
Joe is a good talker in the media but I think he wants to have a go at coaching just to see where it takes him, and to see if he does get the opportunity to get a full-time role somewhere maybe at Chelsea or West Ham.
Joe caught the eye really early. When he played he gave you the wow factor. Skills, tricks, but he wasn't just a circus performer. It was his desire, work rate, effort and the audacity of his game at that age.
Michael Carrick
Michael got 'gangly' very quickly. I had doubts in terms of performance because he wasn't as influential at times and he was pushed off the ball at times a little bit easy.
If you'd have asked me when Michael 16 or 17 whether he would go into coaching I would have said no. I couldn't have seen that in Michael.
Jermain Defoe
Sometimes the image of Jermain doesn't always portray the true personality. You've only got to look at him with Bradley Lowery in Sunderland and that is the real Jermain.
Glen Johnson
Glen Johnson did not want to leave West Ham. I remember the day he did leave he came up to me and said: "Tony, I don't want to go."
I told him: "Glen, it's a fantastic opportunity for you - and the club needs the money." And he left reluctantly.
Talksport
Leeds United and West Ham in transfer battle for Swedish teenager Amel Mujanic
The 17-year-old is said to be highly rated by those who work in Malmo's youth system
By Billy Hawkins
Leeds United and West Ham are interested in signing teenage midfielder Amel Mujanic, according to reports.
Mujanic, the 17-year-old midfielder, has caught the eye playing in Malmo’s youth system, and he’s even been promoted to train with the club’s first-team on occasion.
Mujanic represented Sweden at last summer’s European Under-17 Championship, held in England
However, he remains without a professional appearance to his name, having instead played at Under-19 level for Malmo.
Despite not playing senior football as of yet, Mujanic has caught the attention of clubs from across Europe – including English pair Leeds United and West Ham.
Aftonbladet report the interest from the duo, with Mujanic’s future in doubt as he has still not been offered an apprenticeship by Malmo.
Mujanic’s agent, Ivan Klasnic, also confirmed clubs are looking at the Swedish youngster.
“Amel thrives in Malmo and wants to fight for a place in the first team,” Klasnic said. “But if he does not get a chance in Malmo, we have to find another solution.”
“There is interest from England and from other countries too. I have tried to contact the sports manager, Mr Andersson, but he does not answer either on the phone or on my SMS.
“It is very frustrating. I don’t know how they think about Amel.”
Mujanic has been capped at youth level by his country, appearing 12 times for Sweden’s Under-17s and also going on to be capped at Under-18 level.
