Paper Talk: Man Utd eye £44m Swede; £12m Brazilian’s London link

Manchester United want a RB Leipzig star as an alternative to Ivan Perisic, while Chelsea are leading the chase for a £12million-rated Fluminense forward, according to Thursday’s papers.

 

MANCHESTER UNITED WANT SWEDE AS PERISIC ALTERNATIVE

Manchester United are preparing a £44.6m offer for RB Leipzig’s Emil Forsberg, according to reports.

United are determined to land a winger this summer and have made Ivan Perisic their top target. But negotiations with Inter Milan have proved troublesome and the two clubs are yet to agree on a price, with the Italians reportedly demanding Anthony Martial as part of the deal.

United want to keep Martial on board, and with Inter refusing to bow to their demands, Jose Mourinho has reportedly targeted Forsberg as an alternative, reports both the Daily Star and Daily Express.

Forsberg impressed at RB Leipzig last season, scoring eight goals for the Bundesliga side.

The Sweden international was linked with Arsenal and Bayern Munich back in May but no deal materialised.

They claim Forsberg could be available for £44.6m this summer, though Leipzig’s refusal to sell Naby Keita to Liverpool means the sale of Forsberg also seems unlikely.

The report also notes that the links to Forsberg could be a tactic by United to try and get Inter to lower their €50m asking price for Perisic.

 

CHELSEA LEAD UNITED FOR BRAZILIAN YOUNGSTER

Chelsea are reportedly leading the race to sign one of the latest prospects coming out of Brazil, Fluminense forward Richarlison.

Tracked by Ajax, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Manchester United, the young attacker is regarded as one of his country’s brightest prospects.

The player moved to Fluminense in December 2015, in a deal worth £2million. He has since netted 15 goals in 60 games for the Tricolor.

The Sun claims Chelsea are leading the charge for his signature and believe he will cost Antonio Conte’s men a £12million fee.

 

AND THE REST

AC Milan have been in contact with Diego Costa’s agent regarding a summer deal with Chelsea (Daily Express)

Monaco’s Thomas Lemar is reportedly set to become Arsenal’s third summer signing with the Gunners on the brink of agreeing a £45m deal (Daily Express)

Gareth Bale has rejected a possible move to Arsenal. The Gunners wanted the Wales international to replace Alexis Sanchez (Daily Star)

Real Madrid are refusing to rule out signing Chelsea star Eden Hazard (Daily Star)

Crystal Palace are hoping to tie up a £3.5m deal for West Ham goalkeeper Adrian (Daily Star)

Tottenham have been put on red alert after Ronald Koeman confirmed Ross Barkley has no future at Everton (Daily Star)

Fulham are set to bring back defender Tomas Kalas on a season-long loan from Chelsea (Daily Star)

Birmingham are set to sign Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing and are chasing £3m-rated Bristol City defender Aden Flint (Daily Star)

Chelsea want to borrow £500m to fund the building of their new stadium, rather than relying on the cash reserves of owner Roman Abramovich (The Times)

Kylian Mbappe is ready to swap Monaco for Real Madrid after becoming disillusioned by the exodus of top players from the French champions (The Sun)

Kelechi Iheanacho: Look set for a reduced role this season

Leicester will tie up their £25m deal for Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho this week (The Sun)

Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic is in talks with Fiorentina over a summer switch – with Watford also eyeing a move (The Sun)

Benfica’s £6m-rated winger Andre Carillo is being tracked by Stoke, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Huddersfield (The Sun)

Tottenham are keen to sign Benfica midfielder Ljubomir Fejsa (The Sun)

Everton boss Ronald Koeman is eyeing a shock swoop for veteran West Ham defender James Collins (The Sun)

Nuremberg’s attacking midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri has caught the eye of Huddersfield manager David Wagner (The Sun)

Newcastle are close to landing Mikel Merino from Borussia Dortmund (The Sun)

nahki wells huddersfield

Huddersfield striker Nahki Wells is a £10m target for Reading (The Sun)

Antonio Conte has revealed he would love to buy Harry Kane, calling him the ‘complete striker’ (Daily Mirror)

Liverpool target Naby Keita has been criticised by RB Leipzig, who claim he has had his head turned by ‘a whole village in Guinea’ (Daily Mirror)

Riyad Mahrez fired Leicester’s winner at Luton on Wednesday night as Roma step up their pursuit of the wantaway Algerian winger (Daily Mirror)

Leeds have slapped a new £20m price tag on Chris Wood to ward off Premier League suitors (Daily Mirror)

Former Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos, last seen at Glasgow Rangers, has joined Major league Soccer’s Houston Dynamo on trial (Daily Mirror)

Championship Reading are lining up a swoop for Huddersfield striker Nahki Wells (Daily Mirror)

Gary Gardner: Linked with Brighton and Burnley

Nottingham Forest aim to sign Gary Gardner for a third time – but permanently this time (Daily Mirror)

QPR and Charlton are vying for Barnet’s coveted left-winger Simeon Akinola (Daily Mirror)

Watford defender Tommie Hoban is in line to join QPR next week on loan (Daily Mirror)

Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti has told Inter Milan to ‘forget’ about signing midfielder Arturo Vidal (Daily Mail)

Middlesbrough have made a £6.5m bid to sign West Ham striker Ashley Fletcher (Daily Mail)

Leicester have held talks with PSG teenager Alassane Meite as the Foxes look to sign the forward on a three-year deal (Daily Mail)

Jose Mourinho has given the clearest yet that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will re-sign for Manchester United (The Times)

Tottenham are set to receive £5m if Gylfi Sigurdsson completes a £50m move to Everton from Swansea (The Times)

Manchester United will go back in for Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic, and believe they can yet persuade the Premier League champions to sell, but are aware it will likely be for a price of beyond £40m (The Independent)

Real Madrid’s move for Kylian Mbappe could see Manchester United make a move for Gareth Bale. United sources say the club feel they have a ‘real chance’ of bringing him to Old Trafford (The Independent)

Manchester City have never bid for Kylian Mbappe and have no interest in challenging Real Madrid for the coveted France striker

Jose Mourinho has suffered a blow after reports in France stated Manchester United summer target Renato Sanches has agreed a move to AC Milan (Daily Record)

Celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko is wanted by Turkish giants Besiktas as they target a loan deal for the Dane (Daily Record)