Paper Talk: Chelsea’s £127m sale; Man Utd in £40m Milan raid

Diego Costa: Wants to keep partnership with Hazard

Diego Costa: Wants to keep partnership with Hazard

Manchester United have identified a £40m replacement for David De Gea, while Chelsea have demanded a world record £127million fee for Diego Costa, according to Sunday’s newspapers.

 

MANCHESTER UNITED PREPARE MOVE FOR MILAN’S DONNARUMMA

Manchester United have moved ahead in the race to sign AC Milan’s £40m-rated goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

The Sunday Mirror claims United have edged ahead of Manchester City for the 18-year-old talent, with Jose Mourinho making enquiries to Milan.

It’s claimed the United boss sees Donnarumma as the perfect replacement for David De Gea, who could be allowed to return to Spain with Real Madrid this summer.

However, the Mirror claims Pep Guardiola is also ready to move for Donnarumma – who is already well established as Milan’s No 1 despite only turning 18 this week – and hopes the promise of guaranteed first-team football will be enough to sway the player to the Etihad.

Donnarumma isn’t the only star linked with a move to United on Sunday: the Sunday Mirror claims the club have sounded out Neymar about a move to Old Trafford amid new fears about Antoine Griezmann, while the Daily Star on Sunday says they also want Celtic’s Moussa Dembele as a replacement for Wayne Rooney.

 

 

CHELSEA DEMAND WORLD RECORD FEE FOR DIEGO COSTA

Diego Costa: Responded to reports

Chelsea have told Chinese Super League Club Tianjin Quanjian that Diego Costa, 28, will cost a world record £127m.

The Blues are desperate to keep the Spain striker at the club with the Chinese transfer window set to close on Tuesday and have placed a world record fee on Costa’s head in a bid to scare them away.

Reports in France, via the Daily Star Sunday, claim Chelsea have already rejected an offer of £90million for Costa and will not consider selling him for a penny less than £127million (€150m).

However, the report claims a deal could still be done in the summer, with Costa still tempted by a move to the Far East where he could earn £85million in wages over three years.

And the report says Tianjin are so desperate to sign Costa, they’ll meet Chelsea’s asking price.

The transfer would return a profit of almost £95m for Chelsea who signed the 28-year-old from Atletico Madrid for £32m in 2014.

It would become the world’s most expensive transfer, smashing Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United from Juventus for £89.3m (€102m) in the summer.

 

AND THE REST

Leicester’s stars have been asked if they want Nigel Pearson to return as boss and the response has been so positive that he could be back in charge in the next few days (The Sun on Sunday)

Leicester City are targeting former Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink as the search for Claudio Ranieri’s replacement gathers pace (Sunday Telegraph)

Sacked Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri has made it clear he wants to return to football management as soon as possible (Sunday Telegraph)

Manchester United are ready to rival Chelsea’s efforts to prise Moussa Dembele from Celtic (Daily Star Sunday)

Kylian Mbappe is at the top of Pep Guardiola’s summer wishlist with the boss lining up a £50m summer move from Monaco (The Sun on Sunday)

Inter Milan and Real Madrid reportedly held transfer talks over James Rodriguez on Friday (The Sun on Sunday)

West Ham have been trying to flog injury-prone Andy Carroll to Chinese Super League clubs (The Sun on Sunday)

Manchester United’s Juan Mata raced back from his grandfather’s funeral in Spain to London for the EFL Cup final (The Sun on Sunday)

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Doni has gone against the tide of popular opinion and says sacked Claudio Ranieri got “what he deserved” (The Sun on Sunday)

Rafa Benitez: Doesn't know what happened

Rafa Benitez is being targeted by the Chinese Super League with two clubs ready to offer the Newcastle boss a £30m-a-year contract (Sunday Mirror)

Wayne Rooney will lift the EFL Cup for Manchester United if they beat Southampton at Wembley on Sunday (Sunday Mirror)

 

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Everton boss Ronald Koeman is confident that he will land Burnley central defender Michael Keane in the summer (Sunday Mirror)

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says any player who would turn down a big money move to China is a hypocrite (Sunday Mirror)

Alexis Sanchez should consider a move to Inter Milan, according to his compatriot Gary Medel (Mail on Sunday)

Manchester United’s David De Gea is concerned Thibaut Courtois is Real Madrid’s top choice when they look to bolster their goalkeeping options this summer and has asked his representatives to speed up negotiations, according to reports in Spain (Sunday Express)

Lazio are ready to sell Dutch international central defender Stefan De Vrij to Manchester United for around £30m this summer (Sunday Express)

Arsenal could miss out on their top target Massimiliano Allegri to replace Arsene Wenger after Barcelona entered the race for the Juventus boss (Sunday Express)

Philippe Countinho has urged Liverpool not to underestimate Leicester on Monday like they did with Hull earlier this month (Sunday Express)

Rangers expect to find out this week if Ross Wilson will become their new director of football (Sunday Express)

Rangers fans are split as rumours suggesting Barry Ferguson has quit as manager of Clyde and could be set for an Ibrox return (Sunday Mail)

Antoine Griezmann has reportedly told Paul Pogba he sees himself at Manchester United (Daily Star Sunday)

John Terry has described Frank Lampard as Chelsea’s best ever player (Daily Star Sunday)

Roberto Di Matteo has claimed Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye could be as good as N’Golo Kante (Daily Star Sunday)