Paper Talk: Barca eye PL star to replace Iniesta; De Gea bid

Rob McCarthy

Barcelona are reportedly ready to make a shock move for a Liverpool playmaker, while Real Madrid have stepped up their interest in Manchester United keeper David de Gea, according to Monday’s newspapers.

Barca turn to Coutinho as Iniesta replacement

Spanish giants Barcelona are reportedly ready to splash out for Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho this summer.

Barca believe that Coutinho could be the long-term successor to captain Andres Iniesta, who has struggled with injuries this season.

Mundo Deportivo, via The Sun, claims that the La Liga outfit have decided that the time has come to replace 32-year-old Iniesta and that summer signings Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez have been unable to fill the void.

Barcelona are also keen on PSG star Marco Verratti and could sign both players despite their fees likely to be ‘astronomical’.

Verratti is said to be unhappy with life in Ligue 1 after l’Equipe claimed he went out clubbing two days before the Parisians 6-1 drubbing at the Nou Camp, something for which the Italy international is suing the French newspaper.

Real step up interest in David de Gea

Real Madrid are reportedly ready to bid £43million to see if they can lure Manchester United into selling goalkeeper David de Gea.

The Spain international is said to be Zinedine Zidane’s number one transfer target this summer, while de Gea is thought to be keen on a return home after six years at Old Trafford.

If a straight bid fails then Spanish newspaper ABC, via the Daily Express, claims that Real will offer James Rodriguez or Isco as part of a swap deal.

Both players have failed to land permanent starting roles in Zidane’s best Real XI and could well be moved on this summer.

AND THE REST

Spurs and Liverpool will battle to sign Porto forward Moussa Marega, currently on loan at Vitoria Guimaraes. The 24-year-old has been nicknamed ‘the Malian Jamie Vardy’ and has a £35m release clause (The Sun)

Arsenal have made an approach to German giants Borussia Dortmund for their manager Thomas Tuchel (The Sun)

The Gunners are also ready to make a summer move to sign Ross Barkley if Everton decide to cash in on their midfield playmaker (The Sun)

Pep Guardiola has admitted that he wants to make “many” changes to his Manchester City side for next season (The Sun)

Former Italy boss Cesare Prandelli has claimed he turned down an approach from Leicester City because of how they treated fellow countryman Claudio Ranieri (The Sun)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is ready to commit himself to a second year at Manchester United – because he wants to win the Premier League before retiring (The Sun)

Arsene Wenger has decided he wants to stay at Arsenal and will have talks with the board after admitting publicly he has made up his mind on his future (Daily Mirror)

Slaven Bilic is back under pressure at West Ham after co-owner David Sullivan apologised to fans for their home loss to Leicester on Saturday (Daily Mirror)

Barcelona are lining up Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho and PSG man Marco Verratti as they prepare to replace club legend Andres Iniesta (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham have AC Milan’s ex-Liverpool attacking midfielder Suso among their summer transfer targets (Daily Mirror)

Manchester City scouts were set to be in Germany again on Sunday afternoon to further check out Borussia Monchengladbach star Mahmoud Dahoud (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea are confident that they are in pole position to land Monaco midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko (Daily Mirror)

RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner has ruled out a summer move to Liverpool or Bayern Munich (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal have reportedly joined their London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea in the race to land Everton star Ross Barkley (Daily Star)

Luke Shaw is looking to leave Manchester United this summer to revive his career (Daily Star)

Manchester United are reportedly planning for life without talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Daily Express)

Real Madrid star Gareth Bale reportedly feels Cristiano Ronaldo is stopping him from hitting top form (Daily Express)

Sam Allardyce says it is the “chairman’s responsibility” to keep winger Wilfried Zaha at Crystal Palace this summer (Daily Telegraph)

Sevilla head coach Jorge Sampaoli, the current favourite to succeed Luis Enrique as Barcelona’s new manager, has told reporters that the Catalan club are yet to contact him about taking over at the end of the season (The Independent)

Everton could move for Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, 27, in the summer (Liverpool Echo)

Everton midfielder Tom Cleverley is one game away from triggering a clause in his deal to sign permanently for Watford this summer. The England star joined the Hornets on loan for the rest of the season in January (Watford Observer)

Bournemouth want Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere beyond this season. Wilshere, 25, has been on loan at the Cherries since the end of August (Daily Echo)