Paper Talk: Chelsea close in on £25m Inter star; De Gea future decision

Rob McCarthy

Manchester United are reportedly ready to let David De Gea leave next summer, while Chelsea are ready to spend £25million on an Inter Milan midfielder, according to Saturday’s papers.

 

CHELSEA TARGET INTER MIDFIELDER

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has reportedly been given the green light to sign Inter Milan midfielder Antonio Candreva.

The Blues boss is desperate to strengthen his squad before the transfer window shuts on August 31 and Inter are said to be ready to sell Candreva for £25million, according to the report in the Daily Mirror.

The 30-year-old only moved to Inter from Lazio last summer and scored six goals in 38 Serie A appearances last season. He has also won 47 caps for Italy.

Leicester star Danny Drinkwater and Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk also remain targets, although the Blues have not bid anywhere near what the Foxes want for their star midfielder.

Chelsea are said to have offered £15million but Leicester want closer to £40m, whil Van Dijk remains Liverpool’s top target and is said to still favour a move to Anfield over a switch to Stamford Bridge.

Juventus wing back Alex Sandro and Arsenal star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are also still on Conte’s wishlist as the clock counts down to August 31.

DE GEA CAN LEAVE UNITED NEXT SUMMER

Manchester United will reportedly allow David De Gea to join Real Madrid next summer, but only if they can land AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma as his replacement.

De Gea has once again been the subject of speculation over his future for much of the transfer window, but that seemed to have died down until Real reportedly renewed their interest in bringing the goalkeeper back to Madrid before August 31.

The Spain star is known to be keen on a return to his homeland but has a contract at Old Trafford until 2019 and has no intention of trying to force a move, as he has too much respect for United to go down that path.

However, Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho is said to be ready to allow De Gea to leave next summer if he can guarantee bringing in Donnarumma in return, according to the report in The Sun.

The 18-year-old Italy international is regarded as the top young keeper in world football and after weeks of speculation that he could leave Milan he eventually signed a new £150,000-a-week extension earlier in the summer.

Mourinho is hoping that United’s strong relationship with Donnarumma’s agent, Mino Raiola, will lead to the Milan youngster opting to head to Old Trafford.

Raiola has three clients already at United in Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku, while a fourth, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, is also expected to re-sign for the club.

AND THE REST

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign at least three more players before the close of the transfer window after sealing a deal for Davinson Sanchez (Daily Mirror)

Rafa Benitez claims Mike Ashley has changed his stance on transfers, arguing: “He knows what he told me.” (The Sun)

Antonio Conte has failed in a £63m approach to bring Torino star Andrea Belotti to Stamford Bridge (The Sun)

Antonio Conte has expressed his dissatisfaction that Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek were allowed to leave Chelsea this summer (The Sun)

Arsene Wenger is ready to give defender Calum Chambers another chance at Arsenal after selling Gabriel to Valencia (Daily Mirror)

Swansea are hopeful of a £15m move for West Brom’s Nacer Chadli after selling Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton (Daily Mirror)

Burnley are set to land Leeds striker Chris Wood in a £15m deal (Daily Mirror)

Nottingham Forest boss Mark Warburton is targeting midfielder Liam Bridcutt of fellow Championship side Leeds (Daily Mirror)

Inter Milan are confident of sealing a loan deal for Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala (Daily Mirror)

Jose Mourinho has told Antonio Conte that Chelsea cannot blame the £40m sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United for their problems (Daily Mail)

Barnsley are in advanced discussions with Nice’s Chinese billionaire majority shareholder Chien Lee over a takeover (Daily Mail)

Chris Wood will snub a new contract offer from Leeds in the hope of securing a move to Burnley (Daily Star)

Frank de Boer turned down Barcelona once in his playing days while at Ajax – but does not believe Liverpool will be able to retain Philippe Coutinho (Daily Mail)

West Ham are frustrated as their pursuit of Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho drags on, with both clubs £5.5m apart in their valuations of the midfielder (Daily Telegraph)

Tottenham are in advanced talks to sign Argentine centre-back Juan Foyth from Estudiantes, for a fee of around £9m (Guardian)

Manchester City will have to cough up at least £30m to secure West Brom skipper Jonny Evans (The Times)