Paper Talk: Liverpool close on £60m Real ace; Gray battle on

Liverpool are ‘confident’ of landing a £60m-rated Real Madrid star, while the Reds will battle Everton and Spurs for a Leicester star, according to Sunday’s newspapers.

 

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LIVERPOOL ‘CONFIDENT’ OF DEAL FOR JAMES RODRIGUEZ

Liverpool are confident of landing Real Madrid star James Rodriguez – if they make the Champions League.

The’s according to the Sunday Mirror, who claim talks to take the player to Anfield are already well underway.

The paper claims the 25-year-old Colombian has long interested Jurgen Klopp, but it was always believed he’d be out of Liverpool’s reach. However, with Real prepared to sell the former Monaco star in a bid to make room for Eden Hazard, it’s claimed Liverpool are favourites to land the playmaker.

And with Philippe Coutinho seemingly having his head turned by Barcelona, Liverpool know they’ll need to land a top-quality replacement for the popular Brazilian.

Whether Rodriguez is that man, or indeed if Coutinho will leave for the Nou Camp, remains to be seen.

Interesting, reports in Spain and carried by the Manchester Evening News, suggest Manchester United also have a deal in place for Rodriguez this summer.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE TRIO BATTLE TO SIGN £12M LEICESTER STAR

Demarai Gray: Liverpool target

Leicester face losing Demarai Gray for £12m this summer with Liverpool, Everton and Spurs all tracking the winger.

The England Under-21 has struggled for regular this season but that has not stopped the trio all registering an interest in the former Birmingham star.

Although he has appeared 33 times, 21 of those have been from the bench and the player is reportedly getting frustrated by a ‘perceived lack of opportunities’.

And it would take as little as £12million to sign the winger with the Sunday Mirror claiming that’s the buy-out clause written into Gray’s Leicester contract.

The 20-year-old joined Leicester from Birmingham for £3.5m in January 2016 – with the Foxes swooping to sign him ahead of the same three clubs who are now keen on a deal now.

 

AND THE REST

Everton are set to make a £40m double swoop for Burnley defender Michael Keane and Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford (The Sun on Sunday)

Chelsea are prepared to offer 26-year-old forward Eden Hazard, who has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, a new deal (Sunday Telegraph)

Yaya Toure: Set to leave Man City this summer

Yaya Toure is being lined up by BOTH Milan clubs as AC and Inter battle for the Manchester City giant’s signature (The Sun on Sunday)

Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe is planning to rescue Jermain Defoe from relegation with Sunderland – and keep his England dream alive (The Sun on Sunday)

Galatasaray are keen to sign Tottenham’s 22-year-old forward Vincent Janssen, who has scored just one goal from open play since joining Spurs last summer (Mail on Sunday)

Chelsea midfielder Nathaniel Chalobah has urged more young English talent to take the plunge and play abroad like he did (The Sun on Sunday)

Marcus Rashford is ready to go the U21 Euros this summer – as long as Jose Mourinho gives his blessing (The Sun on Sunday)

Lithuania manager Edgaras Jankauskas has opened up on how Jose Mourinho taught him how to be a giant-killing boss (The Sun on Sunday)

RB Leipzig have joined Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the race for Chelsea forward Dominic Solanke (Sunday Mirror)

Everton manager Ronald Koeman wants £100m to rebuild Everton if striker Romelu Lukaku and midfielder Ross Barkley leave the club this summer (Sunday Mirror)

Arsenal and Tottenham are ready to battle for Everton’s £30m-rated midfielder Barkley (Daily Star Sunday)

Jaap Stam: Side taken to the cleaners

West Ham are targeting Reading boss Jaap Stam to replace Slaven Bilic as pressure grows on the Hammers manager (Sunday Mirror)

Arsenal are lining up a move for Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel in a clear sign that Arsene Wenger is planning to stay on at the club (Sunday Mirror)

Manchester City are confident of landing Danny Rose with Luke Shaw set to head to Spurs (Sunday Mirror)

Jesse Lingard insists he wants to stay at Manchester United despite the current contract stalemate

Fulham have put a £20m price tag on in-demand midfielder Tom Cairney (Sunday Mirror)

Barcelona are prepared to break the bank to land Liverpool superstar Philippe Coutinho in the summer, according to reports (Daily Star Sunday)

Benfica are reportedly wanting to make a move for Manchester United youngster Joel Pereira who is unhappy with a lack of game time (Daily Star Sunday)

Manchester United and Chelsea target Simon Kjaer is not interested in leaving Turkey (Daily Star Sunday)

Kylian Mbappe: Linked with big-money Man United move

Monaco have slapped a £130m price tag on Kylian Mbappe with Manchester United favourites to sign the French teenage striker (Sunday Express)

Romelu Lukaku has delivered a “take me back” plea to Chelsea with the London club preparing a £70m cash and player bid for the Belgium striker (Sunday Express)

Pep Guardiola will cool his interest in Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere (Sunday Express)

Arsenal outcast Wilshere is keen to sign for AC Milan this summer (Mail on Sunday)

Moussa Sissoko: Has been a major disappointment

Inter and AC Milan are set to battle Crystal Palace for Tottenham flop Moussa Sissoko this summer (Sunday Express)

Stoke and West Ham are leading the chase for Andrew Robertson and Josh Tymon (Mail on Sunday)

Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi has leapt to the defence of under-fire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger (Mail on Sunday)

Wayne Rooney will fight to keep his England career going (Mail on Sunday)

 

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