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BBC
Argentina legend Diego Maradona says he should be the next manager of Manchester United. The 58-year-old is boss of Mexican second division side Dorados. (FourFourTwo)
Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham are all interested in a £60m move for Leicester City's 22-year-old England midfielder James Maddison. (Star)
Paris St-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe, 20, has handed in a transfer request. (El Chiringuito, via Sun)
Chelsea are confident 18-year-old England forward Callum Hudson-Odoi will sign a new £100,00-a-week deal at Stamford Bridge, despite interest from Bayern Munich. (Mirror)
Manchester City have triggered Joao Felix's release clause with a £106m bid for the 19-year-old Benfica and Portugal forward. (Sun)
Juventus have contacted Manchester United over the possibility of re-signing midfielder Paul Pogba. The 26-year-old France international has indicated that he would be happy to rejoin the Serie A club, where he spent four years from 2012-2016. (Guardian)
United could get 25-year-old Argentina forward Paulo Dybala as part of a swap deal with Juve for Pogba. (Express)
Liverpool have joined the race to sign Ajax and Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt. The 19-year-old is also a target for Manchester United and Barcelona. (Bild - in German)
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp could take a year's sabbatical from football management when his contract at Anfield expires in 2022. (ESPN)
Arsenal boss Unai Emery is ready to spend most of his £40m transfer budget on two Sampdoria players - Belgium midfielder Dennis Praet, 25, and 23-year-old Danish defender Joachim Andersen. (Sun)
Ex-Gunners midfielder Freddie Ljungberg is set to join Emery's first-team coaching staff at Emirates Stadium next season. (Times - subscription required)
Leicester will allow England defender Harry Maguire, 26, to leave the King Power Stadium if their £85m price tag is met. (Teamtalk)
Real Betis and Argentina midfielder Giovani lo Celso, 23, wants to join Tottenham. (Sky Sports)
Former England captain David Beckham wants to sign Barcelona and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez, 32, for his new MLS side Inter Miami. (Be Soccer)
Spain midfielder Rodri, 22, has asked Atletico Madrid to "give him space" amid reported interest from Manchester City. (Deportes Cuatro, via Goal)
Manchester United are close to a breakthrough in their pursuit of Swansea and Wales winger Daniel James, with AS Monaco also expressing an interest in the 21-year-old. (Standard)
United have bid £84m for Napoli and Senegal centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, 27. (Corriere dello Sport, via Metro)
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has told Real Madrid that Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, 27, is not for sale this summer. (Mirror)
Atletico Madrid are confident of signing 28-year-old Spain defender Marcos Alonso from Chelsea. (Mirror)
Arsenal boss Unai Emery has made Barcelona's France defender Samuel Umtiti, 25, his preferred defensive target this summer. The club have also scouted RB Leipzig's 20-year-old France U21 centre-back Dayot Upamecano. (Star)
Manchester United are looking at Frankfurt's French striker Sebastien Haller, 24. (Mail)
Watford boss Javi Gracia wants to bring Standard Liege and Mexico goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa to Vicarage Road. The 33-year-old is out of contract this summer. (Record, via Watford Observer)
Derby have checked on Charlton manager Lee Bowyer, amid speculation Rams boss Frank Lampard is to join Chelsea. (Mail)
English striker Jay Rodriguez, 29, could leave West Brom this summer for £5m after the Baggies put a release clause in his contract last year. (Telegraph)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Nick Miller
The Rumour Mill sometimes feels out of step with the modern world, with the kids playing snake on their mobile telephones while listening to Smashmouth on their MP3 players and chatting away on MSN Messenger. We also often feel slightly at odds with who’s considered a top notch player these days, so with that in mind we do wonder slightly about the various stories this morning that report a very lengthy and extremely wealthy queue is forming for Leicester’s James Maddison.
Now, Maddison is a fine young player and has done well in his first season in the Premier League, but well enough to justify Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – the Premier League champions, the Champions League winners, the Champions League runners-up and Manchester United – all apparently madly slavering to be the ones to pay £60m for him, as the Daily Star claims?
This could of course be the work of a shrewd agent pumping up the tyres of his client, but if not then this is finally proof that The Mill used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what we’re with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!
Far more understandable is Arsenal’s desire to rip up their defence and start again, which according to Goal is exactly what they plan to do this summer. Stephan Lichtsteiner has already been given the hoof, but Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers could all follow him, it says here, with Arsenal open to offers for all of them.
But who will replace them? There are various theories around in various outlets, and they include Sampdoria’s Joachim Andersen, RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano, PSG’s Thomas Meunier, St Etienne’s William Saliba, Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti, and Crystal Palace’s Aaron Win-Bissaka. The latter two will be too expensive in all probability, but the rest could be goers. In a manner of speaking.
In fizzingly promising youngster news, Chelsea are suddenly confident that Callum Hudson-Odoi will sign a new contract and make it one less thing for them to worry about in a summer with plenty to worry about, while Manchester City are apparently most happy to pay João Félix’s £106m release clause to free him from Benfica and Liverpool are very very very very very keen on Matthijs de Ligt, as anyone with half a brain and a willing bank account is.
Also, Manchester United’s pursuit of Swansea’s Daniel James continues apace, while their pursuit of Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly continues very much not apace, one of the oldest transfer sagas in Christendom lumbering into its 427th year. Also the Express reports that the deal potentially taking Paul Pogba back to Juventus could have a Paulo Dybala-shaped sweetener thrown in.
Some odds and ends: Derby are looking at Lee Bowyer as a potential replacement for Frank Lampard if he answers the siren call of Chelsea; Daniel Levy has instructed Real Madrid to do one as they sniff around Christian Eriksen; Harry Maguire is yours for £85m, say Leicester; there are some spurious reports in Spain that Kylian Mbappé has handed in a transfer request, but who knows what’s happening there.
And finally, in one of those rumours that seems to make just too much sense, Atlético Madrid are in for Marcos Alonso. Because of course they are.
C&H
Hammers in talks and deny Lanzini rumour
West Ham have this morning revealed that there has been no approach from Turkish outfit Fenerbahce for Manuel Lanzini.
This comes contrary to reports in the morning press claiming the Turkis have shown an interest in the player.
However, a top Claretandhugh source has revealed that the club is currently in talks with the player’s representative about extending the midfielder’s deal at the club.
Lanzini is out of contract next summer and we were told by e mail: We’ve had no approach from Fenerbahce and we’re in discussions about extending his contract.”
There have been fears that Liverpool in particular and other PL clubs would start showing an interest in the Argentinian who played just 10 games after injury last season.
But the club is moving quickly to ensure they do all they can to nail him down to a new London Stadium deal.
A report in The Mirror claimed the Turkish Super League outfit were keen but the Hammers hold a two year option on the playmaker anyway Manul Pellegrini wants a deal done asap seeing him as key to his future plans.
Sport Witness
Player’s camp say client has no buyout clause, West Ham in talks with agent
Haber Global’s chief editor Onur Tugrul has claimed Fenerbahce’s left back Hasan Ali Kaldirim has no release clause in his contract.
This week reports emerged from the BBC stating West Ham United are interested in signing the Fenerbahce captain and that the player has a release clause set at €5m.
It was claimed West Ham have been in talks with the defender’s agent with regards to a potential move this summer as the Hammers look to bolster their squad for next season.
However, Tugrul says he’s spoken with Hasan Ali’s camp and they’ve revealed he has no release clause in his contract with Fener. “I’ve spoken with Hasan Ali’s camp and they’ve told me he has no release clause in his written contract. I also got in touch with Fenerbahce, but they haven’t given an answer yet.”
That it was made clear there’s no clause in the ‘written contract’ may be an indication there’s a verbal agreement on an exit amount.
Kaldirim impressed last season with Fenerbahce despite the Super Lig club’s relegation battle for most of the season.
The Turkish international made 41 appearances for Fenerbahce, scoring four goals. The defender is under contract with the Istanbul club until June 2020 and subsequently he could be offloaded in this window.
Football London
Adrian admits he wanted West Ham stay as he sends classy and emotional farewell to fans
The Hammers keeper will be released at the end of his contract on June 30
By Sam Inkersole West Ham correspondent
West Ham goalkeeper Adrian will depart the club on June 30 after six years with the club but as he prepares his exit, he has admitted he wanted to stay.
The Spaniard made exactly 150 appearances for the Hammers after joining the club from Real Betis on a free transfer in 2013 and was part of some memorable moments, not least the final season at the Boleyn Ground when the Hammers secured a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.
In recent seasons, the keeper has lost his first choice place in between the sticks to Darren Randolph, Joe Hart and most recently Lukasz Fabianski before West Ham revealed the stopper would be let go at the end of his current deal.
Adrian is a hugely popular figure among West Ham fans and they themselves gave him an emotional farewell after the final game of the season at Watford three weeks ago. He was runner up for Hammer of the Year twice during his stay in the capital.
Now, the keeper has spoken out about his exit from the club for the first time, posting a message to his Instagram page.
The shotstopper said: "Today is the sixth anniversary of my arrival in London to proudly defend the Hammers shirt, a fortunate and happy time that has helped me grow as a person and also a footballer.
"Today, six years later, I can tell you that I have always hoped to continue with West Ham but the circumstances of football have led me to seek a new direction. That is my objective right now but I must not forget a time that has been so successful for my family and me.
"It's said that footballers and clubs pass and that is how it is. But when one has found oneself at home, one must recognise it and show gratitude.
"I want to wish you, West Ham United, all the best for the future. Maybe someday we can meet again. In the meantime, thank you Hammers."
HITC
Latest twist offers West Ham United hope in Andre Gomes chase
John Verrall
Everton and West Ham United are both battling it out to sign Andre Gomes.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Barcelona are becoming impatient with Everton, as they look to sell West Ham United target Andre Gomes.
West Ham and Everton have been battling to sign Gomes for much of the summer so far, and it seemed that Marco Silva’s side had won out.
Everton had Gomes on loan last season and he seriously impressed on Merseyside, with Silva making no secret of his desire to snap up the central midfielder.
It was recently reported by the Daily Star that Gomes had told friends he was moving to Everton instead of West Ham.
However, the Echo refutes these claims and offers West Ham hope that they can still snap up the £30 million man.
Gomes is said to have not yet made up his mind, and Manuel Pellegrini is desperate to convince the 25-year-old that the London Stadium is right for him.
West Ham have already made two bids for Gomes, which is more than what Everton have done.
Barca are keen to get Gomes off their books, as they want to raise funds for their own transfer plans.
And if the transfer saga continues to drag on, West Ham may reportedly still have a chance to land the impressive central midfielder this summer.
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