Paper Talk: Man Utd plot double midfield arrival; Soares targeted

Manchester United remain keen to bring in a Monaco star, while Tottenham will battle Barcelona for an in-demand Southampton full-back, according to Wednesday’s newspapers.

 

MOURINHO WANTS MATIC AND FABINHO AT MAN UTD

Jose Mourinho will still try to sign Monaco midfielder Fabinho this summer – even after recruiting Nemanja Matic from Chelsea.

That’s according to the Independent, who claim Mourinho won’t be content with just the addition of Serbian Matic to his ranks.

It was thought that a reported £35million deal to sign Matic would signal the end of United’s hunt for Monaco’s versatile Brazilian star.

But Mourinho will instead instruct United to sign both players, with Fabinho’s ability to cover at right-back of particular interest to Mourinho.

United played Antonio Valencia in the position last season and while the player impressed in the role, Mourinho wants more cover and competition and will push for the club to tie up a £40million deal for Fabinho too.

United’s move for Fabinho would be another blow to French champions Monaco. They have already sold Bernardo Silva to Manchester City, lost Valere Germain to Marseille and Nabil Dirar to Fenerbahce.

 

SPURS RIVAL BARCELONA FOR SOUTHAMPTON STAR SOARES

Tottenham have joined the list of clubs interested in Southampton right-back Cedric Soares, according to reports.

Mauricio Pochettino is scouring the market for a possible replacement for Kyle Walker, who looks set to move to Manchester City in a near £45million deal.

And Saints star Soares, who won Euro 2016 with Portugal last summer, has emerged as their top target, according to the Daily Mirror.

However, Saints know they face a battle to keep the player, after the paper claimed he was also emerging as a target for European heavyweights Barcelona and Juventus.

He signed a new four-year contract last August but Saints are willing to hand him his second new deal in 12 months in a desperate bid to persuade him to stay.

Soares joined Southampton from Sporting Lisbon two years ago in a bargain £4.7million – but value the player now at nearer the £25million mark.

 

 

AND THE REST

Manchester United’s bid for Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata, 24, has stalled with the Spanish club upping their valuation of the player to nearly £80m

Manchetser United’s France forward Anthony Martial, 21, will tell Mourinho he wants to leave Old Trafford, and the club will not stand in his way (Daily Express)

Alexis Sanchez has not been distracted by the uncertainty surrounding his Arsenal future, according to Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi (The Independent)

Liverpool are likely to escape punishment from the Premier League for the alleged tapping-up of Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk (The Guardian)

John Terry is ready to sign for Aston Villa when his Chelsea contract expires at the weekend (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham are ready to offer Toby Alderweireld, 28, a new deal to tie down the defender who is wanted by Inter Milan (Daily Mirror)

Ivan Perisic is prepared to reject Inter Milan’s offer of a pay rise to land a move to Manchester United (Daily Mirror)

Ivan Perisic: Looks set to stay at Inter Milan

Pep Guardiola is set to make a fresh move to bring Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand to Manchester City (Daily Mirror)

Bournemouth are confident of sealing a £20m deal for Chelsea defender Nathan Ake (Daily Mirror)

Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, 34, could be left in limbo with clubs such as West Ham and Bournemouth put off by his financial demands (Daily Star)

Arsenal are offering Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil huge Champions League pay hikes to sign new contracts (Daily Mail)

Jack Wilshere is expected to miss Arsenal’s tour of Australia and China as he continues to recover from a broken leg (Daily Mail)

Alex Bruce is training with Sheffield United after being released by Hull City (Daily Mail)

Leeds have bid £400,000 for Werder Bremen goalkeeper Felix Wledwald (Daily Mail)

Former Real Madrid defender Pepe has been offered a one-year contract at Paris Saint-Germain (Daily Mail)

Everton are close to signing Burnley defender Michael Keane for £25m, and could complete the deal “in the next few days”

Francesco Totti is in talks over a £50,000-a-week contract with Japanese side Tokyo Verdy. The former Italy forward, 40, leaves Roma this summer after 25 years at his boyhood club (The Sun)

Leicester midfielder Nampalys Mendy has set his heart on a move to Bordeaux (The Sun)

Barcelona have set a 10-day deadline to sign Arsenal’s Spain defender Hector Bellerin, 22, before they turn their attention elsewhere

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink could be heading for a tug-of-war over the Oxford United job with Frank Lampard (The Sun)

Bolton boss Phil Parkinson is winning the race for Australia’s captain Mark Milligan (The Sun)

Chelsea, Tottenham, Everton, Leicester, Southampton and Stoke are keen on Ben Gibson, 24, but will have to pay £25m for the Middlesbrough defender (Daily Star)

Stoke City have turned down a £1m bid for Ireland striker Jon Walters (Daily Telegraph)

Barcelona are furious with former club captain Carles Puyol after a 16-year-old defender he represents, Eric Garcia, decided to walk away from the club to join Manchester City (The Independent)

Kurt Zouma or team-mate Michy Batshuayi, 23, could be sold to Sevilla as part of a deal to bring Spain winger Vitolo, 27, to Stamford Bridge (Daily Express)

Burnley striker Andre Gray wants a new contract at the club worth around £100,000 a week (Daily Star)

Everton defender Phil Jagielka says the Toffees must spend big on two goalscorers if they lose star striker Romelu Lukaku this summer (Daily Star)

Brendan Rodgers believes Rangers chairman Dave King’s bizarre attempt to rewrite Celtic’s history will have confused his own Ibrox players and manager (Daily Express)

Roman Abramovich met Antonio Conte for talks last week in an attempt to secure the Chelsea manager’s long-term future at the club (The Times)