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BBC
Paris St-Germain are willing to sell 27-year-old Brazil forward Neymar this summer. (ESPN)
Real Madrid could include Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 27, in any offer to sign Neymar from PSG. (Marca)
Manchester United will have to pay up to £75m if they want to sign 22-year-old defender Issa Diop from West Ham, with the Red Devils having rejected the Hammers' proposal of a swap deal involving forward and fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial, 23. (Mirror)
England and Manchester United defender Phil Jones, 27, has been offered to West Ham as part of their bid to sign Diop. (Sun)
Real Madrid are preparing a bid for 27-year-old Tottenham and Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen. The Spanish giants will offer Spurs £45m plus Spain midfielder Dani Ceballos, 22. (Sun)
Spurs have been offered the chance to sign Sampdoria defender Joachim Andersen for £31.2m after Arsenal decided not to follow up their interest in the 23-year-old Denmark international. (Star)
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has rejected an approach from Derby County as the Championship club make contingency plans for the anticipated departure of Frank Lampard to Chelsea.(Times - subscription required)
Money, trophies, longevity - Chelsea bosses in five charts
Manchester United's Paul Pogba, 26, will receive a £3.78m loyalty bonus from the club on 1 July, despite the France midfielder saying it "could be a good time to move elsewhere". (Mail)
Everton are close to finalising a deal to sign Portugal midfielder Andre Gomes, 25, from Barcelona for £22m. (Mail)
Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka has said he would be "very happy" if his side signed Manchester City winger Leroy Sane, 23, this summer, but would not pressurise his Germany team-mate to make a move. (Manchester Evening News)
Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku's move to Inter Milan could depend on whether a deal for the 26-year-old Belgian that involves Argentina international Mauro Icardi, 26, moving the other way can be agreed. If not, Inter need to sell Icardi before signing another forwqard. (Telegraph)
Leicester City and Manchester United are £40m apart in their valuation of England defender Harry Maguire, with the Foxes pricing the 26-year-old at £80m. (ESPN)
Roma want 70m euros (£62.4m) for Italy midfielder Nicolo Zainiolo, 19, who has been linked with a move to Tottenham. (Calciomercato, via Teamtalk)
Southampton's English goalkeeper Alex McCarthy, 29, is open to a move to Liverpool, with the Reds set to allow 31-year-old Belgium international Simon Mignolet to leave in order to secure regular first-team football. (Standard)
Manchester United are prioritising a deal for Crystal Palace's England Under-21 defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 21, before they move on to other targets in the transfer window. (Manchester Evening News)
United are considering appointing Steve Walsh as their new director of football, with former midfielder Darren Fletcher also offered a role within their recruitment team. (Mail)
Burnley have rejected a loan offer from Besiktas for English defender Ben Gibson, 26. (Sky Sports)
Xavier Calm, a little-known coach whose last job was in charge of Spanish third-tier side UE Cornella, is the bookmakers' favourite to replace Garry Monk, who was sacked by Birmingham City on Tuesday. (Birmingham Mail)
Watford have approached PSV Eindhoven about signing 24-year-old Uruguay midfielder Gaston Pereiro. (Watford Observer)
England Under-18 midfielder Daniel Adshead, 17, has joined Premier League newcomers Norwich City in a £300,000 move from Rochdale. (Mail)
Southampton are set to beat Sheffield United and Burnley to the £14m signing of 22-year-old English striker Che Adams from Birmingham.(Star)
Brighton are in advanced talks to sign Portsmouth defender Matt Clarke, 22, for £3.9m, with Leeds United and Stoke City also interested in the Englishman. (Football Insider)
Burnley are not interested in signing Belgian full-back Boli Mbombo from Rapid Vienna, despite speculation linking the 23-year-old with a move to Turf Moor. (Burnley Express)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Simon Burnton
If Real Madrid really wanted to buy Paul Pogba, they would be selling a few players and saving up a bit of cash so they could perhaps meet Manchester United’s £150m asking price, or get near enough to it. Instead they have been putting together a package for Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen, with the Sun reporting that they are prepared to hand over £45m in cold, hard cash plus the 22-year-old Spanish Under-21 midfielder Dani Ceballos. Spurs apparently want £100m, but with the player entering the final year of his contract and not minded to renew it they may decide to take what they can get at this stage, rather than nothing at all 12 months hence.
So what, then, for Pogba? Juventus at least still appear to be interested, with this morning’s Gazzetta dello Sport saying that Douglas Costa is the key to a deal to bring the Frenchman back to Turin, with the Brazilian to be offered in part-exchange (though not if PSG, who are allegedly interested, buy him first). Tuttosport say Juventus will also put the left-back Alex Sandro on the table in an effort to convince Manchester United to let their unsettled midfielder go. And in further Italian-clubs-offer-United-a-part-exchange news, the Telegraph reports that “Romelu Lukaku’s hopes of clinching a move to Internazionale rest on whether United can be persuaded to take Mauro Icardi as part of the deal”. Without offloading Icardi, the club will apparently be unable to meet United’s £80m valuation of their lumbering Belgian. Inter could alternatively finance the deal by selling Ivan Perisic, Radja Nainggolan and/or João Mario.
It’s very much the season for part-exchange bingo at Old Trafford. News also emerges that West Ham are so determined to cling on to their giant 22-year-old defender Issa Diop, who has emerged as a target for United, that according to the Mirror “it would take an offer in the region of the £75m paid by Liverpool for Virgil van Dijk to convince the Hammers to sell” (the Times however say West Ham “are believed to want £60m”). A suggestion that Anthony Martial might head to London in part-exchange might sound absolutely ludicrous, but apparently it was actually made and swiftly dismissed at Old Trafford, who counter-suggested that West Ham might like Phil Jones instead. “They immediately rejected the offer,” reports the Sun, “partly because they had no intention of selling Diop and also because they have no interest in taking Jones.” So there’s that. In the meantime the Hammers are chasing the £6m-rated Real Salt Lake winger Jefferson Savarino, and continue to court Celta Vigo’s Uruguayan striker Maxi Gómez, who would cost about seven times that amount.
Matthijs de Ligt has turned down a €75m move to Barcelona, according to the Spanish radio station Cadenar Ser, with his agent, Mino Raiola, apparently “playing a decisive role” in the rejection. PSG, Bayern Munich and Juventus will be among the clubs excited by this news. Meanwhile Gareth Bale’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, says the Welshman is unlikely to head to England on loan this summer. “A loan move’s not going to happen – there’s more chance of me winning at Ascot,” he said. “I don’t think he wants to go out on loan. He’s got a lovely life in Spain. It would take something exceptional for him to leave and loans are not on the menu.”
Huddersfield will demand £25m for the Dutch defender Terence Kongolo, wanted by Aston Villa and Watford. Graham Potter is closing in on his first signings as Brighton manager, with the £4m-rated Portsmouth centre-back Matt Clarke and the £18m-valued Genk winger Leandro Trossard the two jostling to be first through the door. Southampton hope to complete a £14m deal for the Birmingham player of the season, Che Adams, after Blues sacked the manager, Garry Monk, who had been less than keen on losing him. Meanwhile Stoke and West Brom want Newcastle’s Dwight Gayle, and Bristol City are at the head of the queue to snap up Aston Villa’s Scott Hogan, who is available on a free transfer.
Sport Witness
West Ham offer arrives ‘via the McKay family’ – Player not exactly thrilled
Lorient are looking to sell Alexis Claude-Maurice, but they want to do it on their terms rather than the player’s.
That means bringing in as much money as possible and then trying to persuade the 21 year old to join the lucky club.
As is often the case, this means the Ligue 2 club looking towards the Premier League, with West Ham the club most linked.
The attacker would much prefer a move to the Bundesliga at this stage of his career, and Wednesday’s L’Equipe quotes him as saying: “I want to join Monchengladbach, it is a club that relies on young people, there is a good structure, the team will play in the Europa League. This project pleases me and suits me.”
Borussia Monchengladbach have offered €8m, which Lorient find ‘insufficient’, and they’ve claimed they have offers of €15m.
Claude-Maurice feels his club are trying to ‘force his hand, and L’Equipe then add: ‘Especially since the offer of West Ham, who have never spoken with the player, has reached Lorient via the McKay family, and the situation around the transfer, after the sad case of Emiliano Sala, does not enchant Claude-Maurice.’
There’s every chance West Ham don’t know an awful lot about this, and are being used to try and drive the player’s price higher. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Claim West Ham have added player to specific list
With stories about Manchester United’s clear interest in West Ham’s Issa Diop still a hot topic, the Hammers are already looking at potential replacement.
According to Nice-Matin, the Premier League side have placed OGC Nice’s Malang Sarr on their ‘shortlist’ in case the former Toulouse starlet is sent to Old Trafford in exchange for a lot of money.
However, the French outlet explain they face strong competition for the 20-year-old’s services, to the point where they might end up fighting a losing battle against Bundesliga sides.
Nice-Matin state both Borussia Monchengladbach and RB Leipzig have already ‘moved a few pawns’ to attract Sarr to their clubs, which West Ham have yet to do.
From the way they word it, adding the youngster ‘could continue his career in Germany’, it seems heading there might be the favoured option, especially following his former teammate’s (Alassane Pléa) successful first season there.
Patrick Vieira put a lot of faith in the centre-back last year, starting him in 89% of Ligue 1 games, totalling 38 appearances in all competition.
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