Euro Paper Talk: Man Utd eye €50m Fiorentina star; £70m Liverpool link

Liverpool are battling Manchester United and five other clubs for a €50m Serie A star, while Klopp’s side have opened talks over a £70m deal for highly-rated Bundesliga attacker, according to Monday’s European papers.

MAN UTD, LIVERPOOL AMONG TEAMS IN FOR FIORENTINA STAR

Premier League giants Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United are all chasing Fiorentina star Federico Chiesa this summer, a report claims.

According to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, Chiesa will be the subject of a bidding war this summer, with the aforementioned trio joined by Juventus and Inter Milan in their interest.

The 20-year-old was reportedly the subject of a £35million bid from Roma which included winger Stephen El Shaarawy, but it was rejected by La Viola.

Napoli were also rebuffed in their attempts to sign the predominantly left-sided player with a £44m bid.

Chiesa scored nine goals and added five assists as Fiorentina fell short in their late bid to qualify for European football for 2018-19.

LIVERPOOL TURN ATTENTIONS TO LEVERKUSEN STAR

Barcelona’s refusal to sell Ousmane Dembele this summer will see Jurgen Klopp turn his attentions towards a Bayer Leverkusen star, according to reports.

Klopp is targeting what has been described as a “multi-functional winger” to come into his forward line and offer cover and competition for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

While a deal for Dembele always seemed like a pipe-dream anyway, Barcelona appear to have ended those hopes dead with president Josep Maria Bartomeu signalling his intent to retain the services of the young Frenchman.

Now reports in Germany claim Klopp will instead look to sign Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey as an alternative.

That’s according to CalcioInsider, who claim in an exclusive that Klopp have now begun negotiations for the £70million-rated star, who believe the Reds will want to tie up a deal for the exciting winger as quickly as possible.

Bailey enjoyed a productive season for Bayer in the Bundesliga where he scored nine goals and created six more from 25 starts, while the player has also been linked with Chelsea, Bayern Munich and AC Milan in the past.

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AND THE REST

Arsenal and Chelsea have joined Liverpool in the chase to sign Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, who has a €60m exit clause in his contract (Sport)

Sergio Ramos and a group of senior Real Madrid stars are lobbying Florentino Perez to make Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp their next manager (Don Balon)

Antoine Griezmann has informed a number of his close friends that he has decided to stay at Atletico Madrid this summer (ABC)

Barcelona will instead move for €120m-rated Juventus star Paulo Dybala after the failure to land Griezmann (Don Balon)

Valencia are hopeful of a bidding war for in-demand defender Joao Cancelo, who looks set to leave the club permanently this summer. Man City, Juventus, Inter Milan and Man Utd are all keen (Marca)

Atletico Madrid have opened talks over an €80m deal to sign Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar, who is also wanted by Arsenal and Liverpool (AS)

Samuel Umtiti has called Barcelona his “home” and he insists he “could not play anywhere else” after penning a new five-year contract at the club that will see his buy-out extended to €500m (Mundo Deportivo)

Monaco have taken initial steps to sign Gonzalo Higuain as a replacement for Radamel Falcao (Calciomercato)

Thomas Muller says he has no plans to move away from Bayern Munich – but admits he could be tempted by a fresh challenge (Welt Am Sonntag)

Liverpool have held talks with Alisson’s agent over a potential €70million switch this summer (UOL)

Laurent Blanc is now favourite to become Chelsea’s next manager (Corriere della Sera)

Roma have revived their interest in €30m-rated Real Betis midfielder Fabian Ruiz. The Spain U21 star has been linked with Man Utd, Napoli, Barcelona and Real Madrid (Corriere della Sera)

Roma have made contact with Ajax for the signing of Hakim Ziyech (De Telegraaf)

Stephan Lichtsteiner insists he is yet to sign a contract to join Arsenal yet – but admits he will leave Juventus this summer (Le Temps)

Robert Lewandowski has emerged as a Juventus transfer target (Corriere dello Sport)

Chelsea have reportedly held talks with the agent of Bordeaux’s highly-rated winger Malcom ahead of a potential £44million move (Sud Ouest)

Lazio forward Felipe Anderson is wanted by a trio of Premier League clubs with West Ham looking to fight off competition from Leicester and Southampton (Tuttosport)

Cristiano Ronaldo will push through a return to Manchester United depending on Real Madrid’s next manager (Diario Gol)

Besiktas are interested in signing Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen on an initial season-long loan (Fotomac)