BBC
Manchester City have entered the race for Bayern Munich's Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara and are believed to be offering more than Liverpool for the 29-year-old. (SportBild - via Star)
Manchester United have put the rest of their transfer business on hold while they try to sign Borussia Dortmund and England winger Jadon Sancho, 20. (Mirror)
Manchester United's move for Sancho is in danger of collapsing with Dortmund bemused by their approach to negotiations, initially offering the winger a pay cut. (Mail)
Juventus have approached Arsenal over a possible transfer for French striker Alexandre Lacazette, 29. (CalcioMercato - in Italian)
Watford are ready to demand a club record fee of more than £40m for Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr, 22, amid interest from Liverpool and clubs around Europe. (Evening Standard)
Sarr has told media in his homeland that "everyone would love" to play for Liverpool. (Sans Limites - via Goal)
Roma could swap 23-year-old Guinea midfielder Amadou Diawara for Arsenal's Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira, 24. (Gazzetta dello Sport - via Mail)
Valencia have alerted Premier League clubs by putting all but one of their players up for sale in a bid to balance the books. (Marca - in Spanish)
Jack Grealish will hold crucial talks with Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow on his return from holiday, with Manchester United still interested in the 24-year-old English midfielder. (Mirror)
Benfica are leading the race to sign former Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen - and the 33-year-old Belgium international could be joined at the club by Uruguay and former Paris St-Germain striker Edinson Cavani, 33. (Sun)
Lyon sporting director Juninho says midfielder Houssem Aouar could leave this summer with Arsenal, Manchester City and Juventus all monitoring the 22-year-old Frenchman. (Mail)
France midfielder Paul Pogba, 27, is expecting Manchester United to open contract talks once their Europa League campaign concludes. (Sky Sports)
Everton could replace Jordan Pickford, 26, as manager Carlo Ancelotti feels the England goalkeeper is not reliable enough. (Star)
Arsenal are really keen to land Sporting Lisbon's 17-year-old Joelson Fernandes. The Portugal Under-17 forward has been dubbed 'the new Cristiano Ronaldo' and the Gunners could look to offer cash plus players for his signature. (Mirror)
West Bromwich Albion and Fulham are in the running to sign Peterborough's English striker Ivan Toney, 24. (Football Insider)
Napoli are close to signing Brazilian Gabriel Magalhaes for £22m, and are believed to have agreed personal terms for the 22-year-old Lille defender, which could enable Manchester City to buy Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 29, from the Italian club. (Manchester Evening News)
Tottenham are set to allow 19-year-old English midfielders Oliver Skipp and Jamie Bowden to leave on loan after signing Dane Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 25, from Southampton. (Football Insider)
Atletico Madrid have made Eibar's Serb Marko Dmitrovic, 28, their top goalkeeping target in the transfer window, to provide back-up for Chelsea-linked Slovenian Jan Oblak, 27. (Goal)
Leicester City are one of a number of clubs linked with a move for Bournemouth's 23-year-old winger David Brooks - but new Cherries boss Jason Tindall insists there will be no "fire sale" of the club's star players. (Leicester Mercury)
Velez Sarsfield are interested in Southampton's Argentine forward Guido Carrillo, 29. (TyC Sports - via Daily Echo)
Watford are expected to name Vladimir Ivic, 43, as their new head coach this week after the Serb left his post at Maccabi Tel-Aviv. (Times)
Manchester United Under-23s manager Neil Wood has strongly suggested France Under-17 midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, 17, will remain a part of the youth set-up next season rather than step up to the first team. (Manchester Evening News)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Barry Glendenning
Still hopeful of persuading Borussia Dortmund to change their minds and part company with Jadon Sancho, Manchester United are rumoured to have sounded out Barcelona over the possibility of bringing Ousmane Dembélé to Old Trafford as an alternative. Barcelona are prepared to listen to offers for the 23-year-old, who has struggled to find form and fitness at the Camp Nou since joining from Dortmund. United have also earmarked Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman, Schalke’s Rabbi Matondo and Vélez Sarsfield’s Thiago Almada as potential recruits should they fail to land their main target. The Mirror reports that Sancho is eager to join United and has handed in a transfer request in the hope of forcing a move.
Manchester City have decided they would benefit from the presence of Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcântara in their squad, a state of affairs that will displease the Liverpool fans who were rather hoping their club would sign the 29-year-old. The player is reported to be keen on a move to Anfield but various reports say City have thrown a spanner in the works by outbidding the Premier League champions.
Chelsea are eager to offload Tiémoué Bakayoko and have reduced their asking price in the hope Milan will take the defensive midfielder off their hands. Bakayoko spent the season before last on loan at the Italian side before being farmed out to his former club Monaco last August. Chelsea are also trying to get Italian left-back Emerson Palmieri off their books and may have found a buyer in Internazionale.
In time-honoured Bullseye tradition, disappointed Newcastle fans have discovered what they could have won if the Saudi takeover bid for their club had been successful. European Golden Shoe winner Ciro Immobile has revealed that his representative was approached regarding a potential move to Tyneside before the PIF offer to buy Newcastle was withdrawn.
“During the period in which there was talk of the possible purchase of Newcastle by the Sheikh’s fund they called my agent, Alessandro Moggi,” Immobile told Corriere Dello Sport. “Then the Premier League did not approve that proposal, or the fund withdrew, I don’t remember well. I know they were also looking for an Italian coach, [Massimiliano] Allegri or [Luciano] Spalletti.”
Good news for Steve Bruce, then. And while it looks like Newcastle will have to settle for signing the former Burnley midfielder Jeff Hendrick on a free transfer instead, Immobile has announced he will be staying in Rome. “I intend to tie myself to Lazio for ever,” he said. “The renewal will be for three years, so the contract will expire in 2025 when I turn 35.”
And finally, having tied up a deal to sign Blaise Matuidi from Juventus, David Beckham’s start-up MLS franchise Inter Miami are hoping to secure another big name in the form of Mario Götze. But the German midfielder, out of contract after leaving Borussia Dortmund, is reported to have rejected the American club’s advances as he would prefer to continue his career in Europe.
OS
Academy Spotlight: Joseph Anang
A jovial character between the posts at the Academy of Football, meet 20-year-old 'keeper Joseph Anang - in his words.
The Ghana-born goalie featured in a handful of first-team matchday squads throughout 2019/20, while also impressing in Premier League 2 Division 2 as the unbeaten Irons' U23s won their league and sealed promotion.
My Roots
The first football team that I remember playing for was back in Ghana and they were called Danbort FC. I joined them when I was about 12 and played for them for three seasons before I moved over to the UK and joined West Ham United.
I’m the only one in my family who really plays football, but my Mum and my brothers have been so supportive of me. They’ve always told me to ‘go for it’ and reminded me to keep working hard – you can never predict what will happen in the future.
It’s funny actually because I haven’t always been a goalkeeper. When I first started at nine or ten, I played centre-back because of my height and I wasn’t very good at all! Then I went to a football session with my cousin when I was eleven and the coach asked, ‘Where do you play?’ I said goalkeeper and have played there ever since – it was a good decision!
My Inspirations
In terms of challenges as a young footballer, I’ve been very lucky to not have any bad injuries, but you have to be patient for opportunities as a goalkeeper. I would love to play in the first team one day and it looks difficult, but you have to trust the process and keep working hard, and just see what happens in the future.
I used to watch a lot of Premier League goalkeepers and I studied Edwin van der Sar as a young goalkeeper because, in Ghana, I watched a lot of Manchester United.
I watched him play a lot, but it was in the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea that Van der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka's penalty in sudden death which won the trophy. That was the goalkeeping display I remember the best.
Having said that, that was when I was in Ghana – when I arrived at West Ham, I knew this was the Club for me!
My Teammates
We’re all a tight-knit bunch, but my closest friend in the Under-23s has to be Olatunji Akinola. He just works hard all the time, which is what I always try and do – we’re quite similar.
I know a few of my teammates have said I’m the funniest in the squad, but it’s not me! Dan Kemp can be a little bit crazy – and Joe Powell while he was here was next-level!
In terms of the player who’s got the most natural talent, meanwhile, I always try and be confident – so I’ve got to say myself!
FIFA, Films & Food
I never played FIFA! In Ghana, I couldn’t really afford video games – I had to go to the arcade, and that could be expensive, so I didn’t want to pay. I watch people play games, but I’ve never played them myself.
In my free time, I like to listen to music all day – smashing it loud! My favourite music is from Ghana, but at the moment, I prefer to listen to Jamaican music.
My favourite song right now is Brik Pan Brik, by a Jamaican reggae artist called Skillibeng. It just talks about lifestyle, stacking things up. I also listen to a lot of drill music artists like M24. I’m a big fan of Lil Baby too.
In terms of TV series, I watched Kevin Hart on Netflix. That was hilarious, really good.
My favourite films are usually Chinese action movies! Three weeks ago, I watched this one called Return to the 36th Chamber; I just love the fights!
In Ghana, my favourite food is called Waakye – it’s kind of like rice and peas, but it’s different. The sauce you have with it is really nice.
Evening Standard
West Ham boost transfer funds as Celtic agree to pay £5m for Albian Ajeti
West Ham are set to boost their transfer funds by selling Albian Ajeti to Celtic for £5million.
Scottish champions Celtic originally wanted to take Ajeti on loan with an option to make the move permanent next summer.
But West Ham manager David Moyes insisted on a permanent deal to increase his transfer kitty as he plots new signings to strengthen for next season.
Celtic then agreed to meet the £5m asking price for Ajeti, who is set to sign a four-year contract.
The 23-year-old Switzerland international joined the Hammers for £8m from Basel last summer but failed to score in 12 appearances last season.
Ajeti struggled for action under Manuel Pellegrini and then David Moyes and he did not manage a shot on target during a disappointing season at the London Stadium.
He is set to complete a switch to Celtic after being convinced to join the Scottish champions following talks with manager Neil Lennon.
