Gossip: Mikel off as Chelsea chase Pogba

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BESIKTAS TURN TO MIKEL…

After an impressive performance by Lucas Leiva at Arsenal on Monday convinced Liverpool to keep the midfielder, Besiktas have targeted Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, according to the Daily Mail.

Mikel is one of the Blues’ longest-serving players but has made only one substitute appearance in the Premier League so far this season and could find his first-team opportunities restricted even more if Jose Mourinho gets his way.

…AS CHELSEA CONTINUE POGBA PURSUIT

Yes, you guessed it, the newspapers are once again full of ‘updates’ of Chelsea’s apparent pursuit of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, with the Daily Mirror claiming they will make a new £70million offer for the 22-year-old before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

It has been widely speculated that Chelsea have received encouragement from Juve that a deal could be done in this transfer window – and the player will be offered £300,000 a week to move to Stamford Bridge, according to the tabloid.

Despite Everton boss Roberto Martinez insisting yet again that John Stones is not for sale, the Mirror also says talks are ongoing over a £34million deal that, if completed along with the Pogba transfer, would take Chelsea’s summer spending to £159million.

EVANS SET FOR WEST BROM SWITCH

After failing to agree terms with Tottenham defender Federico Fazio, who is now said to be a target for Everton, West Brom are ‘closing in’ on a deal to sign Jonny Evans from Manchester United, according to The Sun.

Albion do not want to pay much more than the £5million they had agreed to sign Fazio for, while United are looking for around £10million, but talks between the clubs are set to resume on Thursday, it is claimed.

There is likely to be a willingness on all sides to make the transfer happen, with Evans into the final year of his contract at Old Trafford and yet to appear this season.

AND THE REST

– Manchester City will break their transfer record for the second time this summer after finally agreeing a deal with Wolfsburg to sign Kevin de Bruyne (Various)

Tottenham have made a move to sign Bayer Leverkusen forward Son Heung-Min

– Juventus will make a move for West Ham midfield target Alex Song (The Sun)

– Southampton are expected to offer £8million for Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk to push through a deal over the next 48 hours (Daily Mail)

– Stoke are going back in for Hamburg’s Ivica Olic, a year after he snubbed them (The Sun)

– Leicester are in talks to sign Demarai Gray from Birmingham City after activating his £4.7m buy-out clause (Daily Mail)

– Norwich have had a £10million bid for Wolves striker Benik Afobe rejected so may now revisit a bid for Crystal Palace forward Dwight Gayle (Daily Mail)

– Aston Villa striker Libor Kozak has turned down a move to Celtic (Daily Mail)

– Sheffield Wednesday have made a £3m bid for Watford striker Fernando Forestieri, also a reported target for Leeds (The Sun)