Transfer Gossip

Iheanacho's performance in pre season to determine where he plays next season.
Yahaya to be promoted after Townsend's sale.
Mikel going no where...Mourinho
Omeruo may join Celtic.
Efe Ambrose still keen on Southampton Move.
Victor Moses to choose between Chelsea and Everton.
Chuba Akpom's performance may stop Wenger from going for Higuain,Benzema or Benteke.

Di Maria nears exit, Otamendi prepared to go on strike, Chelsea vote for Pedro, City to bid £40m for De Bruyne...

The man chosen by LVG is apparently Edinson Cavani. Plus, David De Gea could stay, Pedro to Chelsea.

WEST HAM WANT RAMPANT RABIOT
It isn't that long since Adrien Rabiot was being linked to Arsenal and Spurs, but West Ham have now emerged as the favourites to sign the PSG midfielder.

Rabiot struggled to hold down a regular first-team place in Paris, but only turned 20 in April. He has seven caps for the French Under-21 team.

Le Parisien reports that Slaven Bilic sees Rabiot as the perfect central midfielder. Presumably that's instead of, rather than alongside, Alex Song.


TOON IN FOR BANEGA?
Well this is an interesting one. It's a line from Italian jounralist Emanuele Giulianelli, but we don't know if he's at the John Percy or Rob Shepherd end of the spectrum.

Giulianelli claims that Newcastle are closing in on a deal to sign Ever Banega from Sevilla for a fee of around £9m. They also claim Banega has been offered a four-year deal.

Banega played for both Valencia and Atletico Madrid before joining Sevilla last summer, helping them to win the Europa League.


DOWNING BACK TO BORO
It's only eight months since Stewart Downing was being picked for England after a wonderful run of form for West Ham. Things haven't gone well since.

Reports suggest that WHam are closing in on a move for Manuel Lanzini, which would allow Downing to move back to Middlesbrough. He turns 31 next week, and is heading back to the Championship.

The numbers being talked about are enough to make you weep. 'Boro are seemingly considering paying £7m for Downing and giving him a five-year deal. Is somebody p**sed?


CAVANI AND DI MARIA TO SWAP
Well, well. An actual report from an actual reporter now - Richard Tanner of the Daily Express (currently in Seattle with Manchester United) claims that 'United have told PSG they value Angel Di Maria at £50m but would be happy with a straight swap for Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani'.

We all know swap deals rarely happen...but this might be a rare case of two clubs and two footballers being very, very happy for this to happen. Di Maria clearly wants out, Cavani is not happy playing second or third fiddle to Zlatan, PSG always wanted Di Maria and United really, really need a striker.

Bring it on.


HMMM. SAVIC FOR MAN UNITED
This is new. Possibly. Spanish newspaper AS claim that Manchester Stefan Savic (formerly of Manchester City but now of Fiorentina) is the subject of serious interest from Manchester United. Atletico Madrid are also said to be keen on the Montenigrin, who would cost around £10.5m.

REAL STILL 'FIGHTING HARD' FOR DE GEA
This transfer will clearly happen - it's just a case of 'when'. Marca claim that both Real Madrid and David De Gea himself are 'calm' about the situation. And we know that De Gea is 'calm' because the MailOnline has loads of pictures of him looking exactly that in training.

Should Manchester United stand firm this summer, Real Madrid will simply wait and get him for nothing next year. Well, nothing to United but £3.5m to the Spanish goalkeeper.


MAN UNITED BACK FOR RAMOS
It's fair to say that the two things Manchester United still need are a striker and a dominant centre-half. Sergio Ramos is clearly their first choice for the latter role, but Spanish newspaper AS says there is very little chance of that happening now.

They claim that United have returned with a bid of £31.7m but that Real Madrid are holding out for double that amount. It looks like it will have to be Nicolas Otamendi, folks.


MONREAL AND SANOGO OUT
Nacho Monreal has just enjoyed his best season as an Arsenal player so it's a tad odd that - according to AS - he is about to leave for Athletic Bilbao. Surely the Gunners will need to buy another left-back first.

in other news, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf is convinced that Yaya Sanogo will join Ajax on loan. Let's hope it goes a little better than it did at Crystal Palace.


DI MARIA NEARS EXIT, OTAMENDI TO STRIKE
With Manchester United clearly aiming to sign a striker and a defender to complete their summer recruitment drive, it seems likely that Van Gaal will be ruthless with a number of players in his squad. Angel Di Maria looks set to be the highest-profile departure.

French newspaper Le Parisien claims that the Argentinean is close to a £42.8m move to Paris St Germain. To be honest, that's where he wanted to end up last summer.

Other papers moot a fee of £50m, but everyone is pretty much in agreement that Di Maria will earn £200,000 a week in Paris. That's a lot of money to spend on pains aux chocolats.

In other United news, The Sun report that Nicolas Otamendi is prepared to go on strike in order to force through a move to Old Trafford. The 27-year-old is thought to want his future sorted before he returns to pre-season training later this month.


CHELSEA VOTE FOR PEDRO
Given that his minimum fee release clause has been reduced from £106m to £21.4m, it's little surprise that there is serious interest in Barcelona's Pedro. The 27-year-old has struggled to get regular starts for Barca - Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will do that.

The Guardian report that Pedro will meet with Luis Enrique this week, while the tabloids claim that Chelsea are in pole position to sign him. Arsenal and Liverpool have previously been discussed as possible suitors.

If he does join Chelsea, does that mean the end of Oscar, with Willian moved into a No. 10 role and Pedro shifted wide right? Can you tell we're getting excited about the season starting?


CITY TO BID £40M FOR DE BRUYNE
The ink has not yet dried on Raheem Sterling's contract (did anyone else notice that it was on light blue paper? Classy touch), but Manchester City are already making plans for their next major signing. They're playing catch-up after neighbours United's flurry of activity.

It's not exactly a surprising rumour, to be honest. The Daily Mirror report that City will make a bid of £40m for Wolfsburg's Kevin de Bruyne, he of the stupid goals and assists record last season.

Wolfsburg have repeatedly stated that they will not sell De Bruyne, but having bought him for £17m only 18 months ago, they do have the chance to make a quite ridiculous profit.


AND THE REST
Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell could be leaving Arsenal for good with David Moyes ready to spend £6m to bring the 23-year-old to Real Sociedad...Southampton have agreed a fee with Feyenoord for midfielder Jordy Clasie after staving off a late bid by Schalke to hijack the deal...Manchester City and Liverpool are locked in another transfer tug-of-war over 18-year-old £10m-rated Fulham forward Patrick Roberts...Aston Villa are closing in on £9.1m Nice left-back Jordan Amavi and hope to push through a deal this week...Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has blocked Stoke coming back in for Victor Moses...Andy Carroll will miss the first month of the new season.

Manchester City are considering a move for Everton midfielder James McCarthy as they weigh up their options following Fabian Delph's decision to back out of a switch to the Etihad...Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is wanted by MLS side Chicago Fire...Stephane Sessegnon is to leave West Brom after he was left out of the club's tour to the USA...Manchester United face a bill of at least £35.2m to prise striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich...Sunderland have failed in an attempt to sign Zenit St Petersburg defender Nicolas Lombaerts, 30, for £5m after failing to agree personal terms.