Paper Talk: Arsenal, Liverpool dealt blow in £90m target chase; Man City eye £40m star

Oli Fisher

Arsenal and Liverpool have been dealt a blow as a £90m target wants a dream move, while Man City are eyeing a £40m midfielder, according to Sunday’s papers.

 

ARSENAL AND LIVERPOOL DEALT BLOW

Premier League duo Arsenal and Liverpool have been dealt a huge blow as Monaco’s Thomas Lemar reportedly only wants a move to Barcelona.

The £90m-rated forward has been eyed by Jurgen Klopp and Arsene Wenger as replacements for Philippe Coutinho and Alexis Sanchez respectively.

However, the Sunday Mirror claims that Lemar “only has eyes for the Nou Camp” and is “banking on the La Liga giants to land him in the summer”.

Despite paying £142m for Coutinho, Barca are believed to be keen on a move for Lemar and will explore the possibility of signing the Frenchman.

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim commented on speculation that Lemar could be allowed to leave.

“Today, the market is open. You know how crazy the market is,” he said yesterday.

“Things happen that even a club like Monaco cannot say no to. It happened to Liverpool [with Coutinho]. Things are as they are.

“The numbers today are incredibly big. Everything can change. The things I can say today are not true tomorrow.”

 

AND THE REST

Manchester City have held talks with Shakhtar Donetsk over the transfer of £40m-rated midfielder Fred (Telegraph)

Arsenal can sign Borussia Dortmund forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – if they are prepared to pay a club-record fee of £55m (Express)

Arsenal’s secret move for Luke Shaw has been rejected by Manchester United during the Alexis Sanchez transfer talks (Sun)

Valencia are planning to swoop for Manchester United’s Juan Mata this summer when his contract runs out (Star)

Tottenham are plotting a last-minute swoop for Atletico Madrid forward Kevin Gameiro (Sun)

Manchester City bosses held a transfer meeting before the win over Newcastle with the club tracking Fred and Jonny Evans (Mail)

Arsenal are plotting a move for PSG star Lucas Moura as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez (Star)

Paul Pogba will demand his Manchester United wages are doubled to £400k-a-week to match new arrival Alexis Sanchez (Mirror)

Sunderland have their eyes on a loan move for Chelsea youngster Ethan Ampadu (Sun)

Arsenal could be about to launch a raid for Jonny Evans because West Brom could lose £20m if they do not sell him this month (Star)

Leeds have had a £4m bid rejected for West Brom forward Tyler Roberts, who could now join Rangers or Marseille (Mail)

Tottenham and Arsenal are competing to sign Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha (Sun)

Roma have joined AC Milan and Valencia in the race to sign Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian – but only if they can take him on loan (Mirror)

Liverpool are planning for Daniel Sturridge’s departure to Inter Milan this month by blocking loan moves for Danny Ings and Ben Woodburn (Mail)

Daniel Sturridge’s hopes of joining Inter Milan are under threat after Liverpool demanded a £30m fee (Express)

Juventus want to sign Jack Wilshere on a free transfer this summer (Sun)

Samir Nasri is set for a swift return to the Premier League as West Ham eye a move for the Antalyaspor midfielder (Mail)

Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney is in the middle of a tug of war between West Brom and Newcastle (Express)

Tottenham are determined to resist a world-record bid from Real Madrid for striker Harry Kane (Times)

Andre Schurrle has been made available for loan by Borussia Dortmund with the Bundesliga club accepting they will have to continue paying half his £150,000-a-week wages (Mail)

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has told boss Rafa Benitez to spend what it takes to help keep the club in the Premier League (Mirror)

Everton have made further enquiries for Chelsea left-back Baba Rahman and Crystal Palace’s Patrick van Aanholt (Mail)

Newcastle United have asked to take Everton striker Sandro Ramirez on loan (Mail)