Now we have certainly read the ‘Dele Alli to Real Madrid’ line before, so what’s the ‘exclusive’ element of the Sunday Express story? Well it begins: ‘REAL MADRID are ready to trump any offers that are made for Tottenham play maker Dele Alli.’ So the ‘exclusive’ is presumably that they are really, really serious. Apparently, ‘they are planning a major clear out at the end of the season and made it clear that they will do whatever it takes to land Alli.’ And apparently they have ‘made it clear’ by telling an English journalist who largely specialises in rugby. Which is odd.
Apparently, Real Madrid are ‘ready to break the £50m barrier’ to sign Alli, which sounds like peanuts when Oscar has moved for more. We suspect that Real might have to bid a little more than £50m for Alli, who has scored 11 goals this season and is thriving in partnership with Christian Eriksen.
PAYET OFF TO NICE NOW?
If Marseille thought they could play silly beggars with West Ham over Dimitri Payet then they can think again – according to the Mirror, the plan is now to send the Frenchman to the south of France, but not to his old club Marseille but to Ligue Un leaders Nice on loan. This is considered a no-lose situation by West Ham, who lose his £125,000-a-week wages and his sulking mug around the training ground.
Oh but here’s Fissler with another exclusive in the Express: ‘PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN are ready to launch a rival bid to snatch West Ham United’s striking play maker Dimitri Payet from under the noses of Marseille.’ So here is a man with the ear of the big-wigs of both Real Madrid and PSG? Now that is impressive. You would think that with those sort of contacts, he could stop being the king of rugby gossip…
CHELSEA WILL SELL COSTA…FOR £130M
That’s the claim in the Sunday Times from our friend Duncan Castles. He writes that ‘Chelsea have put a price tag of £130m on Diego Costa and believe they can realise what would represent a global record transfer fee before the year is out’. And he claims that ‘instead of acting to improve the player’s financial terms, Chelsea are understood to have asked agents to find a Chinese club willing to pay €150m (£130m) or more for him’.
And then we get to the crux of the matter: ‘It is understood that (Jorge) Mendes’ advice to Costa has been to stay in European football and not consider a move to China until he is well into his thirties. The Portuguese agent also advised Chelsea not to sell mid-season.’ As Castles is the media voice of Jose Mourinho (whose agent is Jorge Mendes), we think we can guess from where this story has originated.
AND THE REST
Manchester United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney is expected to receive an offer of £1m a week to play in the Chinese Super League…Chelsea have joined Manchester United and Bayern Munich in pursuit of Benfica’s £34m-rated Portugal international right-back Nelson Semedo…Sunderland could bring in Robbie Keane and Joleon Lescott – who have a combined ages of 70…Tottenham have rejected an £8m offer from Crystal Palace for Wales international full-back Ben Davies…The Black Cats are monitoring former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira, currently coaching New York City in the MLS, if David Moyes departs…Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are considering bids for Inter Milan’s Croatian international midfielder Ivan Perisic…
…Juventus are considering a move for Liverpool’s Germany international midfielder Emre Can…New Swansea manager Paul Clement says he wants to hang on to in-form striker Fernando Llorente…Watford have agreed to sign former Birmingham City, West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers striker Mauro Zarate…West Ham transfer target Scott Hogan, 24, was left out of Brentford’s matchday squad against Wigan on Saturday, fuelling speculation that he will shortly be on his way out of Griffin Park…Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy says former Newcastle defender Steven Taylor could be joining the Suffolk club next week.
A busy day of Manchester United transfer rumours, that’s for sure.
– We’ll start with the guy that’s already there, in Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Sun says that United want him to stay for two more years and might give him a coaching role thereafter.
– Next is the Independent. Miguel Delaney writes that Antoine Griezmann is the club’s main summer transfer target, which is something plenty of outlets have reported. The more interesting line is that Jose Mourinho is losing faith in Luke Shaw, and that the left-back is almost certain to leave.
– Finally, the Manchester Evening News says that Ajax striker Kasper Dolberg is being tracked by United, Man City and Everton. He’s 19 and is scoring goals for fun, so you better bloody hope he’s being ‘tracked’.
CHELSEA’S SHORTLIST TO REPLACE COSTA
Well, you can go right here to read about that, you lucky fools.
PJANIC FOR SANCHEZ DEAL?
Interesting lines coming out of Italy now, if by interesting you mean ‘intriguing, but quite possibly b*llocks’.
Tuttosport believe that Juventus will offer Miralem Pjanic as part of a swap deal for Alexis Sanchez, hoping to link him with Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain. They’re going to win 20 titles in a row, aren’t they?
Tuttosport say that Juventus sporting director Giuseppe Marotta doesn’t want to include Pjanic in any deal, but is aware that Arsenal are big fans of the Bosnian. Unfortunately, Wenger says Sanchez won’t be sold before his contract is up.
SAKHO IS LEAVING LIVERPOOL, BUT TO WHERE?
Mamadou Sakho’s Liverpool career is over. Dead. Buried. Finished. Finito. Stop just saying words. On Monday the central defender was left out of the U23 team that faced Manchester United, which is evidence enough that you aren’t wanted.
Unfortunately, Liverpool are apparently demanding a £20m fee for Sakho’s services, which is a bit ridiculous. You’re paying him £105,000 a week, guys, and you’ll never play him again. Why not just get rid for £12m or £15m?
Anyway, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Swansea apparently want Sakho, but are presumably not prepared to pay £20m. And so the saga rumbles on.
AND THE REST
Netherlands winger Memphis Depay could complete his move from United to Lyon within the next 48 hours… England goalkeeper Joe Hart believes he has played his last game for Manchester City and expects to be sold once his loan spell at Torino ends in the summer… Leicester City striker Leonardo Ulloa wants to leave, with West Brom, Hull, Sunderland and Swansea interested… West Ham and Brentford have had a breakthrough in talks over the transfer of Scott Hogan… Watford are set to bid for Bournemouth’s Max Gradel… Birmingham City are set to sign Middlesbrough’s Emilio Nsue.
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