Euro Paper Talk: Chelsea, Man Utd fall behind in €25m teen race; shock Pjanic exit

Oli Fisher

There is a new leader in the race for a 16-year-old Genoa starlet, while Miralem Pjanic has been linked with a shock Juve exit in Friday’s European papers.

 

NEW LEADERS IN PELLEGRI RACE

According to IlBianconero, Manchester United and Chelsea have fallen behind in the race for teenage Genoa star Pietro Pellegri.

Juventus had reportedly found an agreement with Genoa for him, agreeing to loan Pellegri back to the Rossoblu until the summer.

However, Monaco are now understood to be in pole position due to the fact they have offered a higher fee for the 16-year-old.

Juve are reportedly considering submitting a new offer for Pellegri, who made the headlines earlier this year when he scored a brace against Lazio.

Arsenal and Manchester City have also been linked with a move, while Gazzetta dello Sport reported earlier in the week that the striker carries a €25m asking price.

 

BARCA, REAL IN HEAD-TO-HEAD BATTLE FOR JUVE STAR

Real Madrid and Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Juventus star Miralem Pjanic.

The 27-year-old is widely regarded as one of Serie A’s best midfielders and Don Balon states that the two Spanish giants will go head-to-head to try and secure his signature this summer.

Barca are looking for a long-term successor for Andres Iniesta, while Real are expected to revamp their team this summer after a disastrous La Liga title defence.

Pjanic is under contract at Juve until 2021 and there has been talk that he will be offered a new deal to try and fend off La Liga interest.

Indeed, the current Italian champions are desperate to keep the midfielder, who has been spoken of as becoming the ‘next Pirlo’ in the Italian media.

 

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AND THE REST

Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan, a target for both Manchester United and Chelsea, will remain in the Eternal City despite expensive offers from China (Calciomercato)

Real Madrid will spend €300m in the summer and most of it will be set aside for PSG star Neymar (Marca)

Napoli defender Nikola Maksimovic has sealed a loan move to Russian Premier League outfit Spartak Moscow.

AC Milan starlet Niccolo Zanellato is set to depart the club for a move to Crotone this month (Calciomercato)

Paris Saint-Germain will let Neymar complete his dream move to Real Madrid in the summer, but only if he leads them to Champions League glory (Goal)

Nacho Monreal has been identified as a possible successor for Aymeric Laporte at Athletic Bilbao, with the centre-back poised to join Man City (Mundo Deportivo)

Real Madrid are reportedly planning to make David De Gea the world’s most expensive goalkeeper this summer (AS)

Unhappy PSG star Lucas Moura, who is wanted by Tottenham, Arenal, Liverpool and Man Utd, has been offered to Inter Milan (La Gazzetta dello Sport)

Gianluigi Buffon has hinted that he may not retire at the end of the season (Calciomercato)

Eder’s reluctance to join Crystal Palace is holding up Inter Milan’s pursuit of Liverpool star Daniel Sturridge (Calciomercato)

Manchester City made an approach for Paris Saint-Germain centre-back Presnel Kimpembe prior to their move for Aymeric Laporte (Paris United)

Fiorentina are set to ramp up their interest in West Ham United midfielder Pedro Obiang (Corriere dello Sport)

Borussia Dortmund have lined up Wissam Ben Yedder as their Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang replacement (SportBild)

Juventus are looking to bring former Roma midfielder Leandro Paredes back to Serie A (Calciomercato)

Newcastle have had a second bid knocked back by Feyenoord for Danish striker Nicolai Jorgensen

Zenit St Petersburg have joined the chase to sign Atletico Madrid winger Nicolas Gaitan (Marca)

Everton are prepared to loan Leander Dendoncker back to Anderlecht for the rest of the season if they can agree a deal to sign him this month (La Derniere Heure)

Chelsea left-back Baba Abdul Rahman has passed his medical with Schalke and his return to the club on loan should be confirmed imminently (Kicker)

Ajax star Amin Younes is set to disappoint Swansea as he closes in on a move to Napoli (Sky Sport)

Sevilla’s loan deal for Swansea star Roque Mesa has been held up by Las Palmas wanting to use their ‘first option’ on the midfielder (ABC De Sevilla)

Lille midfielder Yves Bissouma wants to join Inter (Calciomercato)

Monaco are offering Serie A outfit Genoa a package worth €30m for 16-year-old attacker Pietro Pellegri