Paper Talk: Conte v Klopp for Neves; Arsenal chase quartet

Thomas Lemar: On Liverpool's radar

Thomas Lemar: On Liverpool's radar

Liverpool and Chelsea have enquired about a £30m-rated Porto star, while Arsenal are chasing four French stars, including three Monaco talents, according to Wednesday’s newspapers.

 

LIVERPOOL BATTLE CHELSEA TO SIGN PORTO’S NEVES

FC Porto prospect Ruben Neves is attracting interest from Chelsea and Liverpool once again.

The duo have been linked with the young star before, but the Daily Star, quoting Portuguese newspaper A Bola, says the player is keen to make the move to the Premier League this summer.

And it’s claimed both Jurgen Klopp and Antonio Conte’s sides have made contact with Porto to enquire about the 20-year-old’s availability.

Porto are demanding a fee of around £30million for the highly-rated youngster, however, so any move will not come cheap.

Both Manchester United and Arsenal expressed a strong interest in Neves last year but a move to England never materialised.

Neves has made 90 appearances for Porto since breaking into the first-team and became the youngest captain in Champions League history in the side’s 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv back in 2015.

WENGER HAS AMBITIOUS PLANS TO SIGN MONACO TRIO

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been linked with raids for Monaco trio Kylian Mbappe, Djibril Sidibe and Thomas Lemar, according to reports on Wednesday.

The Daily Telegraph claims Wenger is intent on pushing ahead with an overhaul of his attacking options in preparation for major Arsenal exits with deals for Mbappe and Lemar being worked on in addition to their interest in Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette.

Of the quartet mentioned, Arsenal are thought to have a decent chance of landing winger Lemar and right-back Sidibe, though deals for Mbappe and Lacazette are more complicated.

Mbappe, who again caught the eye as France beat England 3-2 on Tuesday night, is most likely to sign for Real Madrid, with reports on Tuesday suggesting the player will agree a £100million move to the Bernabeu, but will be spend the next season on loan with Monaco.

Lacazette, however, remains a possibility, despite the player’s previous claims that he didn’t want to sign for a side that weren’t involved in the Champions League.

Wenger believes talks with his camp can still convince him to sign and reports this week said talks with Lyon had proved positive after they named their price for the striker.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express claims Arsenal will have to battle both Tottenham and Manchester City for Sidibe, though any move for the right-back will likely depend on the outcome of the Kyle Walker saga, with the England man heavily linked with a switch to the Etihad.

AND THE REST

Monaco and France striker Kylian Mbappe says he will have to ‘sort’ through his offers this summer with Arsenal and Real Madrid wanting his services (Daily Mail)

Newly promoted Huddersfield want to sign Derby forward Tom Ince, 25, for their debut season in the Premier League (The Sun)

Burnley are set to make a move for Hull’s Scotland defender Andrew Robertson, 23 (Daily Mirror)

Manchester United centre-half Chris Smalling will be sold with West Ham, West Brom and Everton keen on the 27-year-old (Daily Telegraph)

West Ham are leading the chase for Smalling (Daily Star)

Chris Smalling: Wants improvement from United

Smalling has ditched his agent amid rumours of a summer transfer from United (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham have made Portuguese right-back Ricardo Pereira their top target to replace Manchester City-bound Kyle Walker, but face strong competition for his signature (Daily Telegraph)

Leicester City have offered £16.5m for Hull City defender Harry Maguire (Daily Mail)

Sunderland are keen on Manchester United’s Sam Johnstone as they weigh up replacements for Jordan Pickford (Daily Mail)

Victor Lindelof will arrive at Manchester United’s Carrington training base on Wednesday to complete his move from Benfica (Daily Mail)

Chelsea are continuing discussions with former Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero (Daily Mail)

Luke Shaw is already back at Carrington to step up rehabilitation on a foot injury to prove his fitness before August  (Daily Mail)

Nolito: Signs four-year deal at City

Sevilla president Jose Castro says they are working hard to sign Manchester City striker Nolito and his former Etihad team-mate Jesus Navas  (Daily Mail)

Stoke City are in talks over a deal for Hull City left-back Josh Tymon  (Daily Mail)

Alvaro Morato is expected to become a Manchester United player by Wednesday (The Sun)

Antonio Conte is off the hook with his Chelsea bosses over his text bust-up with Diego Costa who said he was told he was no longer wanted at Stamford Bridge (The Sun)

Costa has asked Atletico Madrid to agree a deal with Chelsea that would allow the striker to go on loan to another club until January, when the Spanish team’s transfer ban ends (The Times)

Arsenal are on the verge of signing CSKA Moscow star Aleksandr Golovin (The Sun)

Manchester City are ready to slash Samir Nasri’s £16m asking price because of a lack of interest (The Sun)

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has ruled out for a move for Monaco star Fabinho this summer (Daily Mirror)

Everton’s signing of Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford will kick off £150m of summer spending at Goodison Park (Daily Mirror)

Everton are in talks with Malaga striker Sandro Ramirez and Ajax captain Davy Klaassen as the club look to make their first additions of the summer (The Guardian)

Arsenal appear to have lost out on Corentin Tolisso after the Lyon midfielder agreed to join Bayern Munich in a €40m deal (Daily Mirror)

Internazionale’s Ivan Perisic is “hugely keen and excited” to play for Jose Mourinho, and personal terms have been agreed with Manchester United (The Independent)

Manchester United’s pursuit of Torino’s Andrea Belotti looks increasingly unlikely, with the Serie A club unwilling to accept an offer lower than the 23-year-old striker’s £84m buy-out clause (The Independent)

Birmingham City hijacked John Terry’s proposed move to Aston Villa on Tuesday night and are hopeful of signing the former Chelsea skipper (The Times)

Paris Saint-Germain will chase the signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang this summer after failing to make any ground in their chase for Alexis Sanchez (Daily Express)

Man City remain hopeful of a deal for Alexis Sanchez following fresh reports the Chile star will tell Arsenal he won’t be signing a new deal (Daily Express)

Manchester United lead Manchester City in the race to sign Real Betis youngster Roberto Gonzalez (Daily Express)

Leeds United have expressed an interest in signing Manchester United keeper Sam Johnstone (Daily Express)

AC Milan’s swoop for Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie has hit complications (Daily Express)

Aberdeen and Sunderland remain locked in talks over a compensation deal to allow Derek McInnes to take over at the Stadium of Light (Daily Record)

Rangers have made a second bid for Norwich City midfielder Graham Dorrans (Daily Record)

John Robertson is set to complete a shock return to Inverness Caley Thistle as manager on Wednesday (Daily Record)