Euro Paper Talk: Lukaku cost Man Utd chance to sign €90m winger; La Liga star still wanted in Prem

Man Utd’s delays in selling Romelu Lukaku cost them the chance to sign a star winger, while a La Liga star remains a target at Old Trafford – according to Friday’s papers.

 

MAN UTD MISSED CHANCE TO SIGN ARSENAL WINGER

Manchester United had an offer rejected for Nicolas Pepe before the winger signed for Arsenal this summer, it has been revealed.

The Ivory Coast international had several offers to leave Lille this summer, but chose to team up with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette by signing for the Gunners.

Arsenal’s bid was understood to be worth less than those from other interested parties, but the player’s will ensured he moved to the Emirates.

Now, Le10 Sport have revealed the details of the other offers the Ligue 1 club received for Pepe.

Both Man Utd and Atletico Madrid made bids for the 24-year-old, with the report claiming the Red Devils’ verbal offer was worth in excess of €90m.

However, it hinged on their ability to sell Romelu Lukaku to Inter – a saga which dragged out all the way to Deadline Day.

Due to the delays in the sale of the Belgian forward, United were unable to get their hands on Pepe in time, before Arsenal came in with the deal-clincher.

 

MAN UTD DESPERATE TO OFFLOAD FLOP SANCHEZ

Manchester United have reportedly offered Alexis Sanchez to Roma on loan and would be prepared to pay most of his salary.

According to Tele Radio Stereo, the Red Devils are so eager to ditch the Chile forward that they are willing to split the wage bill with the Serie A side.

Sanchez is said to be on £350,000 per week at Old Trafford, which with bonuses and image rights takes him up to a whopping £500,000-a-week. That equates to £24m per year, or approximately €26m a season.

Roma, clearly, would not pay that sort of figure, which is why United are ready to pay over half the salary for the 2019-20 campaign.

The 30-year-old made a name for himself in Serie A with Udinese before heading to Barcelona for €26min 2011.

Arsenal followed before he moved to Old Trafford but that move has so far proved to be a complete disaster, with Sanchez scoring only two goals and adding four assists in 27 competitive appearances last season.

He even appears to be behind youngster Mason Greenwood in the pecking order of United attackers and will be allowed to move on even though Rome Lukaku has already completed his own switch to Italy with Inter Milan.

 

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AND THE REST

Roma are also interested in Dries Mertens from Napoli for their attack (Calciomercato)

Wage demands are holding up Napoli’s pursuit of former Spurs striker Fernando Llorente (Gazzetta Dello Sport)

Inaki Williams remains keen on a move to Manchester United despite missing out on a Deadline Day deal (AS)

Mario Mandzukic snubbed Man Utd because he felt their Deadline Day move for him was rushed (Calciomercato)

Moussa Marega’s €30m asking price didn’t appeal to West Ham or Newcastle (Record)

The chances of Paul Pogba joining Real Madrid this summer are ‘practically nil’ (Sport)

Real Madrid and Barcelona will go head-to-head in a battle to sign PSG star Neymar in the coming weeks (Football Espana)

Barca midfielder Arthur admits he would like his compatriot to return to Camp Nou (Marca)

Real Madrid playmaker James Rodriguez wants to join cross city rivals Atletico Madrid this summer (Onda Cero)

Inter and PSG target Ivan Rakitic has informed Barcelona that he wants to stay at the Nou Camp (Mundo Deportivo)

PSG are preparing an offer for Paulo Dybala, worth €12m per year, as Juventus would rather sell to Paris than Inter Milan (La Gazzetta dello Sport)

Luka Modric will remain at Real Madrid despite reports linking him with a move to Paris Saint-Germain (Marca)

Inter winger Ivan Perisic is reportedly on the verge of a move to Bayern Munich, on loan with option to buy for €30m

Ivan Perisic doesn’t want to leave Inter on loan this summer, however (Sky Sport Italia)

Inter are not done in the summer transfer window just yet, with claims that they are planning a late swoop for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (La Gazzetta dello Sport)

Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek is ‘waiting to hear from Real Madrid’ about his potential this summer (Diario AS)

Manchester City have completed the €12m signing of Pedro Porro from Girona, whom they have immediately loaned out to Real Valladolid (Football Espana)

Daniele Rugani’s moves to Arsenal and Wolves broke down, but Roma have now asked Juventus to take the defender on loan (Sportitalia)

The brother-agent of Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain was in Rome on Thursday to discuss the details of a potential move to capital club AS Roma (Calciomercato)

Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel has signed for Atalanta (various)

Paris Saint-Germain are back in for Gianluigi Donnarumma, but it’s reported Milan want at least €50m to sell so they can reinvest in Atletico Madrid’s Angel Correa (Football Italia)

Barcelona have discarded the option of signing Ecuadorian full-back Diego Palacios, who spent last season on loan at Willem II, with the player heading to MLS (Diario Sport)

Inter Milan have not given up on signing Fiorentina’s Cristiano Biraghi (Calciomercato)

Sampdoria are considering a move for Fiorentina forward Giovanni Simeone (Calciomercato)

Hellas Verona have officially signed forward Gennaro Tutino on loan from Napoli until the end of the season (Football Italia)