Euro Paper Talk: Bayern star hands Man Utd hope; Mourinho saw €80m defender rejected; Arsenal make striker contact
Manchester United saw an €80m bid for Lucas Hernandez rejected in the summer, James Rodriguez is unhappy at Bayern Munich and Arsenal make contact with a striker, according to Thursday’s European papers.
JAMES RODRIGUEZ UNHAPPY AT BAYERN
James Rodriguez is reportedly not happy with his squad-player role at Bayern Munich.
Kicker claim that the Colombian is unhappy, despite publicly claiming he is happy in Munich.
Bayern signed the 27-year-old the playmaker on a two-year loan from Real Madrid and, under the terms of the agreement, they can make the deal permanent at the end of the season for €42million.
The midfielder though is believed to be keen on a return to Real and Bayern, per the report, can activate a clause and then sell him back to Madrid at a profit.
Speaking in May the Colombia international confirmed his happiness in Bavaria.
“I am good, I hope to stay here, I feel really good. I am doing really well, the German league is a good league,” he is told Sport.
Manchester United and LIverpool were linked with James over the summer, with El Gol Digital claiming he angered Real by trying to force through a summer move to United.
UNITED PLOT JANUARY BID FOR ATLETICO STAR
Manchester United are making plans to win the race for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, according to reports in Spain.
United have been long-term admirers of the classy Spain star, who scored his first goal for his country in their 2-1 win over England at Wembley on Saturday, with Jose Mourinho reportedly making him the club’s top target.
Saul has a €150m (£134m) exit fee in his Atletico contract – a release clause that looked large when signed but today looks far from frightening for European football’s heavyweights.
And according to Spanish publication OK Diario, the Spaniard could be the subject of a summer battle between United, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, who all wish to sign the player.
However, it’s also been suggested that Mourinho could look to gain a key advantage over United’s rivals by bringing forward plans to sign the player to January – with the sale of Paul Pogba likely to be sanctioned should a deal for Saul be struck.
Saul’s contract at the Wanda Metropolitano – signed in January 2017 – tied him to the club for a whopping nine years.
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AND THE REST
Arsenal are keeping tabs on Lille striker Nicolas Pépé and have made contact with the 23-year-old’s agent (Le10Sport)
Barcelona will be given the opportunity to sign Saul from Atletico Madrid ahead of any rivals (Mundo Deportivo)
Atletico Madrid turned down an offer of €80million from Manchester United for Lucas Hernandez (Marca)
Manchester City have sent scouts to France to watch Nice midfielder Wylan Cyprien (Le10Sport)
Man City star David Silva expects to leave the Premier League at the end of his contract in 2020 and likes the idea of joining boyhood club Las Palmas (BBC)
Former Manchester City striker and reported Leeds target Alvaro Negredo is on the verge of signing for Al-Nasr (AS)
Real Madrid have reportedly put €372million aside to sign their next galactico (AS)
Paris Saint-Germain right-back Colin Dagba has emerged as a target for RB Leipzig (L’Equipe)
Bordeaux and Lyon both passed up the opportunity to sign forward Pedro Guilherme this summer. The Fluminescen striker has also been linked with Liverpool, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Milan and Roma (France Football)
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid interested in signing PSV Eindhoven winger and Mexico international Hirving Lozano (AS)
Inter Milan must raise €40m in player sales by June 30 if they’re to meet their Financial Fair Play obligations, with striker Gabriel Barbosa the first to be sold (Corriere dello Sport)
Gerson has labelled claims suggesting he didn’t want to join Fiorentina as “lies” and has claimed he could even stay at the club beyond his initial loan deal from Roma (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Inter star defender Milan Skriniar has rejected the club’s first offer of a new deal amid claims he wants pay parity with the €3.5m a year pay packet he was offered to join Manchester United in the summer (Corriere dello Sport)
PSG have an agreement in place to sign Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid should Real Madrid manage to prise Neymar away from the club in a double deal that could see around €450m change hands (Diario Gol)
Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui has met with Porto captain and Tottenham target Hector Herrera to discuss the possibility of a move to the Bernabeu (AS)
Atletico Madrid defender Lucas Hernandez turned down a lucrative move to Manchester United last month after the Premier League side met his €80m exit clause (Marca)
France international goalkeeper Alphonse Areola – a summer target for Napoli and Newcastle – could extend his contract at Paris Saint-Germain soon (RMC Sport)
Alternatively, Inter Milan could launch a January bid for Areola and could sacrifice Samir Handanovic to sign the France keeper (Calciomercato)
Mino Raiola, the agent of Liverpool and Chelsea transfer target Lorenzo Insigne, has agreed a verbal deal with Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis to sell the player if an offer of £178m (€200m) is put on the table (Corriere dello Sport)
Manchester City playmaker David Silva wants to end his playing career at hometown club Las Palmas (BBC)
Ajax’s sporting director Marc Overmars has insisted Barcelona and Tottenham target Frenkie De Jong will not be sold for any price in January (AS)
Barcelona will make De Jong their transfer priority either in January or next summer, leaving Juventus as Paul Pogba’s sole suitors (Il Bianconero)
However, Lionel Messi wants Barcelona to push the boat out and spend more to sign Pogba, a player he reportedly deems as ‘more classy’ (Don Balon)
Real Madrid striker Mariano Diaz is ‘honoured’ to wear the number seven shirt at the club and is ‘ready’ for his second debut (Cadena Cope)
Iago Falque is reported to be close to agreeing a new contract with Torino (Tuttosport)
Real Valladolid want to sign Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jnr on loan (Don Balon)
Palermo owner Maurizio Zamparini says Paulo Dybala will leave Juventus in January and already has offers from clubs in England and Spain (Tuttomercatoweb)
AC Milan have re-opened negotiations with Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis (Sky Italia)
Former Manchester City forward Alvaro Negredo is reportedly set to join UAE side Al-Nasr from his Turkish club Besiktas (AS)