Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic fears he will miss out on a move to Manchester United, while Everton are ready to make a revised bid for a Swansea star, according to Friday’s newspapers.
Real Won't Miss Out On Mbappe
Such is Real Madrid's fear of missing out on Kylian Mbappe, Marca reports that they will move for the Monaco striker this summer and pay a world-record transfer fee, rather than wait a year until he enters the final year of his contract.
The Spanish publication writes that Madrid ended up in a similar situation with Gabriel Jesus, who joined Manchester City in January, and will bring in Mbappe to compete with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, with James Rodriguez and Alvaro Morata making way.
Similarly, Monaco, who value Mbappe at €130 million, favour selling this summer while they can still command a large fee, rather than in a year's time. Meanwhile, any doubts the France international had about a move to the European champions have been put to bed by the offer of a €6-7m annual salary and a six-year contract.
Pogba Steered Lukaku To Man United
Unsurprisingly, much of the focus in Friday's newspapers is on Romelu Lukaku's proposed move to Manchester United, and the Mirror reckons Paul Pogba played a key role in convincing his close friend to join him at Old Trafford next season.
The report, which says Everton striker Lukaku will earn around £200,000 a week when he moves to United on a four-year contract, also claims Chelsea and Real Madrid will both miss out as a result of the deal. Chelsea because they were confident of re-signing Lukaku and Madrid because they believed they could sell Morata to the Red Devils for more than £75m.
The Telegraph writes that although Chelsea will continue to try to sign Lukaku ahead of United, doing so would require the player to pull out of a move to join up with Jose Mourinho's squad, which is a risk. The Premier League champions will now have to assess alternatives with Morata, Alexis Sanchez, Andrea Belotti and even Christian Benteke mooted as possible signings.
Barca To Open Negotiations For Bellerin
Sport claims Arsenal will reluctantly open negotiations with Barcelona over the transfer of Hector Bellerin after the player expressed a desire to leave, but there is major disparity in the respective clubs' valuation of the right-back.
Although they are reported to be on friendly terms, the Spain international's sale could be a drawn-out process with Barca planning to lodge a €30m bid and Arsenal hoping to receive closer to €50m.
Bellerin moved to Arsenal from his hometown club as a youth player and, after establishing himself as an important member of Arsene Wenger's side, signed a contract until 2022 late last year. However, his personal intervention to request a move will be key to his sale.
Matic Fears Man Utd Switch Could Be Off
Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic Fears his proposed move to Manchester United could be off.
The Blues stars is said to be concerned after Jose Mourinho hijacked Chelsea’s swoop for Romelu Lukaku, despite them obviously playing in different positions.
Matic had been expected to move to Old Trafford as soon as Chelsea snapped up Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco but that move has stalled, with reports suggesting that United have now switched their attention to Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl.
Eric Dier is also thought to be an option for United but Matic remains the preferred option, should Mourinho still be looking to land a defensive midfielder.
Matic’s fear is that if United pinch Lukaku from under Chelsea’s noses then there is a good chance that the Stamford Bridge outfit will refuse to discuss his own potential switch to Old Trafford in some kind of reprisal, according to the report in the Daily Star.
Swans Braced For £32m Siggy Bid
Swansea are braced for a revised £32million bid from Everton for midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson.
The Toffees have already had a bid of around £27m for Iceland star turned down but Ronald Koeman’s men are expected to make a revised offer in a bid to land the playmaker.
The Swans insist that their star man is not for sale but following the £11m arrival of Roque Mesa from Las Palmas they could now be tempted to sell, if the price is right, according to the report in the Daily Mail.
Everton have been prolific in the transfer market so far this summer, landing Jordan Pickford, Davy Klaassen, Michael Keane, Sandro Ramirez, Boris Mathis and Henry Onyekuru, while they are also keen on Arsenal hitman Olivier Giroud and bringing back Wayne Rooney.
Others
Furious Antonio Conte’s Chelsea future is in doubt after the Blues’ summer transfer failings (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool and Spurs target Demarai Gray wants assurances from Leicester about his first-team prospects, with the Foxes are prepared to spend £25m on Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho (Daily Mirror)
Romelu Lukaku’s imminent £75m move to Manchester United from Everton has accelerated Wayne Rooney’s exit from Old Trafford (Daily Mirror)
Leicester will make a £20m bid to snatch Kelechi Iheanacho from under the noses of West Ham and Southampton (Daily Mirror)
Middlesbrough are to return with an improved offer for full-back Cyrus Christie after Derby rejected their second bid (Daily Mirror)
Aston Villa are set to win the race for Glenn Whelan after Derby ended their interest in the midfielder (Daily Mirror)
Florian Lejeune thought Rafa Benitez was a ‘prank caller’ when he phoned to lure him to Newcastle (Daily Mirror)
Pedro Obiang is poised to commit his long-term future to West Ham (Daily Mirror)
Sir Alex Ferguson has told pals he would have signed John Terry on a free if he was still Manchester United boss (The Sun)
Sam Allardyce’s retirement plans could be put on hold following interest from the MLS (The Sun)
Hector Bellerin’s future will be resolved in a meeting with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (The Sun)
Liverpool have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Naby Keita after Leipzig insisted they will not sell any “key players” this summer (Daily Star)
Chelsea have not ruled out an Eden Hazard and James Rodriguez swap deal this summer (Daily Star)
Leeds United are plotting a swoop for Manchester United starlet Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (Daily Star)
Chelsea are closing in on a deal for Swansea striker Fernando Llorente (Daily Star)
Real Madrid have told Kylian Mbappe to ‘expect us’ as they tell him he will be signed after Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez leave the club (Daily Mail)
Stoke City have revived their bid to sign £12m-rated Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph (Daily Mail)
Manchester United could wait until the January transfer window to sign Benfica star Nelson Semedo (Daily Express)
Arsenal Striker Olivier Giroud has spoken to Ronald Koeman about a potential transfer to Everton (Daily Express)
Riyad Mahrez is expected to start pre-season training with Leicester on Friday as Arsenal are unwilling to match his £50m price tag (Daily Express)
Arsenal have not made an approach for Napoli midfielder Jorginho, according to his agent (Daily Express)
Manchester United have agreed a world-record £100m deal with Everton for Romelu Lukaku that includes the sale of Wayne Rooney, who is valued at about £10m (The Times)
Chelsea, whose manager Antonio Conte is furious that Manchester United have been allowed to steal a march of one of their prime transfer targets, claim they remain Romelu Lukaku’s first-choice destination (The Times)
Watford have joined the race to sign Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart (The Guardian)
Marseille believe they are in pole position to sign France striker Olivier Giroud from Arsenal in a deal worth £24.7m plus add-ons (Daily Telegraph)
Brighton and Sunderland are interested in signing West Ham’s Robert Snodgrass (Daily Telegraph)
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