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BBC
French champions Paris St-Germain have held talks with Juventus over a £73m deal for 25-year-old Argentina forward Paulo Dybala. (Mail)
Paris St-Germain asked Real Madrid for France defender Raphael Varane, 26, and Brazil forward Vinicius Junior, 19, in a swap deal for 27-year-old Brazil forward Neymar. (Telefoot - in French)
Barcelona hope to take Neymar back to the Nou Camp, but on loan with a mandatory purchase clause. (Sport - in Spanish)
But PSG boss Thomas Tuchel says the Brazilian will not leave the club unless they find a replacement. (Canal+, via Goal)
Former Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente, 34, is close to joining Italian side Lazio. Inter Milan, Fiorentina and Napoli are also interested in signing the Spaniard, who is currently without a club. (Corriere Dello Sport - in Italian)
Inter Milan want a loan deal for Manchester United's Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, 30, and are also interested in Barcelona's Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, 32. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
The agent of Sanchez is in the UK to discuss a loan move to Inter Milan. (Sky Italy, via Sky Sports)
Sanchez was at training with United on Sunday morning. (Sun)
Inter Milan are trying to push through a move for Sanchez - but United would have to subsidise the player's £500,000-a-week wages. (Mirror)
Manchester United are to discuss extending the contract of Eric Bailly with the 25-year-old Ivory Coast defender. (Sun)
United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Argentina defender Marcus Rojo, 28, is in contention for selection, despite the fact he could still leave the club. (Manchester Evening News)
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino hopes the Premier League will return to having the same transfer window as the rest of Europe next summer. (Telegraph)
Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich could make bids for Germany midfielder Emre Can, 25, after he was told by manager Maurizio Sarri he was no longer needed at Juventus. (Tuttosport, via Mail)
Paris St-Germain and Monaco are consider offering France midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, 25, a lifeline as his time at Chelsea seems over. (Daily Express)
Celtic have offered 23-year-old French midfielder Olivier Ntcham to Bordeaux. (20 Minutes via Daily Record)
Newcastle manager Steve Bruce is desperate to get English striker Dwight Gayle, 28, back on the field as soon as possible. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Barry Glendenning
While their fellow European titans, Manchester City, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, all raised eyebrows by failing to win – or in the case of the Spanish title-holders, losing – over the weekend, Paris Saint-Germain’s defeat was arguably the most surprising. Perhaps distracted by the soap opera surrounding the future of their injured striker, Neymar, the French side were beaten at Rennes, who finished in 10th place last season, 39 points behind Thomas Tuchel’s side. Speaking after the game, the PSG manager insisted that his Brazilian friend, who has repeatedly been linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona, will not be going anywhere unless a replacement can be found first.
“He will not leave without recruitment,” said Tuchel. “It is not possible. It’s clear, if he stays we will have a player who can help us win.” The word on the Parisienne boulevards is that PSG have been negotiating with Juventus over the £73m purchase of Paulo Dybala, scorer of a preposterously good turn-and-chip goal in a friendly against Triestina. Should they secure the Argentinian’s services, Neymar may go to Real with Raphaël Varane and Vinícius Júnior going the other way in a swap deal and then we can all get on with our lives.
The short-term future of Barcelona’s Philippe Coutinho looks a bit more secure, now that the Barcelona playmaker has arrived in Germany to complete his season-long loan move to Bayern Munich. And another Liverpool old boy whose move from Anfield hasn’t exactly worked out according to plan, Emre Can, has been told he is surplus to Maurizio Sarri’s requirements at Juventus. Like Coutinho, the German had been hoping for a move to Bayern, but the German club’s president Uli Hoeness has announced “Our squad is now complete and we are not looking to make any other changes”. PSG could yet hitch their skirts in Can’s direction.
The pink Italian paper that is the Gazzetto dello Sport claims Alexis Sánchez’s “people” are in Milan to talk turkey with Inter regarding a loan move for their client, who “earns” a staggering £500,000 per week but may be willing to accept a pay cut. Roma had been interested in signing the Chilean, who is believed to have rebuffed their advances.
Still without a club since being released by Tottenham Hotspur, Fernando Llorente looks bound for Italy. A host of clubs including Inter, Napoli and Fiorentina are interested in giving the 34-year-old a gig, but Lazio are in the box-seat to get the dashing Spanish into a shirt that matches his sparkling aquamarine eyes.
In need of employment after being released by Liverpool and Everton respectively, Daniel Sturridge and Yannick Bolasie could be off to Turkey. Trabzonspor have been linked with both players, but will have to fend off interest from Monaco if they are to get Sturridge on board. Their Turkish Süper Lig rivals Besiktas are hoping to sign Bolasie.
Meanwhile in Glasgow, Celtic could be looking to cash in on midfielder Olivier Ntcham, who has previously been linked with moves to Porto and Marseille. Reports from France say the Scottish champions offered the want-away 23-year-old to Bordeaux, but were knocked back because the Ligue 1 side are looking for somebody with more experience.
HITC
Pablo Fornals admits he's struggling at West Ham
John Verrall
West Ham United midfielder Pablo Fornals was handed a starting chance by Manuel Pellegrini against Brighton.
Pablo Fornals has told West Ham United’s official website that he struggled during their match against Brighton & Hove Albion.
West Ham picked up a 1-1 draw on the south coast at the weekend, with Fornals starting for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
Fornals didn’t influence the match as much as many of the travelling West Ham fans were hoping.
And the Spanish new boy has admitted that he is finding it difficult to adjust to English football.
“This is all new for me,” he said. “It is a new league, a new experience, new stadiums and new rivals. It was a great match, a hard match and I’m happy for my first point in this league.
“It was very hard for me. I need to play more games to really understand the new game and my new team more.
“Many people talked about the characteristics of the Premier League, but you need to live these things to understand this league. It’s so hard, very difficult, and whatever team you play against in this league is very competitive.”
Fornals had an excellent pre-season at West Ham, and there are still very high hopes for him at the London Stadium.
The playmaker has been thrown in at the deep end at West Ham, as he has had to play against Manchester City and then away from home in his first two appearances.
West Ham are still looking for their first win of the season, after taking just one point from their first two outings.
C&H
Irons look for Lanzini contract breakthrough
West Ham hopes that they can agree on a new contract for Manuel Lanzini within the next fortnight.
There has been a stalemate for some time with the 26-year-old who has less than twelve months left on his standard contract. The club holds a two-year option on Lanzini but wants to tie up a new long term deal to avoid any danger of that option being tested in the courts.
The player is currently believed to be earning around £35,000 a week but will want to see his personal terms at least doubled.
Questioned during a commentary on the match yesterday on which he was acting as a pundit, former Hammer Tony Gale said: “Lanzini is different class…totally. He’s playing on the left but he can play anywhere…just give him the ball. He is absolute quality and could play at the top six – a different level to anyone else on the field.”
Lanzini joined the Hammers on loan in 2015 with the club eventually paying £10.8m to Al-Jazira in the summer of 2016 to make his move permanent. In July 2016 the Argentine player signed a four-year contract with a clause for another two years.
The club had planned to tie him down to a new five-year deal while doubling his wages last summer before his devasting World Cup injury. Lanzini now seems to have returned to his pre-World injury best and both sides have stepped up efforts to get a new contract sorted.
Mail
West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere looks so off the pace it's hard to see him getting back on track
West Ham drew 1-1 with Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon
Jack Wilshere started the game but was poor and substituted at half-time
The midfielder has failed to meet expectations since signing from Arsenal
By Tom Farmery
To say there was great expectation when Jack Wilshere signed as a West Ham player last year would be something of an understatement.
Mario Husillos, the club’s director of football, said as much at the time. ‘Manuel Pellegrini and I identified him as a target as soon as we joined the club and we are delighted to have succeeded in securing Jack’s signature above a number of other teams,’ he said.
Husillos would go on to talk about Wilshere’s ‘game-changing abilities’ and his ‘creativity and intelligence to make a real difference to our squad’.
The reality looks very different. Injuries have — as they probably always will — prevented Wilshere from having a prolonged spell in the team, but even when the 27-year-old does play, there is no evidence of the qualities West Ham hoped he would provide.
In Saturday’s draw at Brighton, where Javier Hernandez’s opener was equalised four minutes later by Leandro Trossard, Wilshere disappointed again.
Twice Wilshere has started this season and twice he has been brought off before the hour. On Saturday, he was replaced at half-time.
Pellegrini is clearly trying to bring him back up to speed after missing so many matches following an ankle injury last December, but what use is a player when he can’t fulfil the role expected of him?
Alongside Declan Rice in a two-man midfield, Wilshere’s job is to move the ball quickly and connect midfield and attack.
It is a crucial role, but here he was too ponderous, showing that when Dale Stephens caught him dawdling on the ball in his own half and took it off him.
‘Maybe today he was not comfortable,’ Pellegrini said. ‘He couldn’t do it but it is normal in a player who is coming back from injury after so many months without play but I am absolutely sure that he will have an important role in our team.’
But how long do you give it? How long until he is ready to contribute? That is another problem. Wilshere made only 10 passes in the 45 minutes he played, while Rice made 50 over the entire 90. Rice not only had to try to cover ground and intercept play, but he also had to do Wilshere’s work for him. In no way is that helpful to Rice, or West Ham.
It’s a big contrast to Wilshere’s early years at Arsenal, where he averaged more than 50 passes a game. In 2011, as a 19-year-old, he bossed a Barcelona midfield including Xavi and Andres Iniesta in a famous performance.
As injuries set in and he became less mobile, his numbers began to drop off: 38 passes on average per game in the 2014-2015 season, before 28 the next campaign.
Wilshere found form again at Arsenal after a loan spell with Bournemouth, getting back to 40 passes per game. Last season, though, he returned to 28. It is 17 for this term. Perhaps Pellegrini is right and Wilshere will become the player West Ham hoped they were getting.
Until that happens, then Arsenal’s decision to let him leave appears a shrewd one.
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