Euro Paper Talk: Man City in three-way tussle for €16m midfield star; Napoli rivalling Man Utd for strike target
Manchester City are facing a nervous wait to see if they can sign an Argentine starlet in January, while Napoli are growing confident of beating Manchester United to a free agent striker – according to Friday’s European papers.
MAN CITY IN THREE-WAY TUSSLE FOR ARGENTINE STARLET
Manchester City are one of three sides interested in Velez Sarsfield midfielder Thiago Almada, according to reports.
The attacking midfielder had a breakout debut season with Velez, scoring four goals in 21 appearances, and clubs in Europe are already taking note of his potential.
Man City are among the interested parties, with A Bola claiming they would sign him and then loan him out to Sporting Lisbon.
Almada is eager to leave Argentina as soon as possible, in part to ensure Velez get as much money as possible from his sale.
However, Marca claim that, with City having missed the chance to sign him this summer, Atletico Madrid are ready to pounce.
The Spanish giants’ sporting director Andrea Berti has flown to Argentina to monitor the player’s progress, with Marca revealing that Almada is refusing to sign an extension to his contract, which ends in 2021 and has a €16m release clause.
Velez would have wanted to increase his exit clause to €25m, but as aforementioned, Almada is eager to move on.
Boca Juniors are trying to tempt him to stay in Argentina, meaning Man City face a nervous wait until January to see if anyone else snaps him up first.
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AND THE REST
Napoli have completed the signing of Manchester United target Hirving Lozano (official)
Atletico Madrid have identified Udinese’s Rodrigo De Paul as an alternative target to Manchester United-linked Dani Olmo (Diario AS)
Barcelona have rejected a €25m offer from Inter Milan for midfielder Arturo Vidal (Mundo Deportivo/Don Balon)
Zinedine Zidane decided against a move for Paulo Dybala this summer after asserting that Real Madrid had enough options in attack (Diario Madridista)
Real Mallorca are closing in on a loan deal for Watford winger Cucho Hernandez (Diario AS)
Sassuolo have made a late offer for Al-Hilal’s Italian striker Sebastian Giovinco (Sky Sport Italia)
Relations between Radamel Falcao and Monaco are nearing breaking point as the Ligue 1 side continue to refuse to allow him to join Galatasaray (L’Equipe)
Besiktas have joined Rennes in the race for Roma midfielder Maxime Gonalons, proposing a loan with an option to buy (Sky Sport Italia)
Real Madrid are prepared to let goalkeeper Keylor Navas leave for PSG on a free transfer, despite the Costa Rican still being under contract for another season, with ex-Liverpool man Pepe Reina targeted as his replacement (Diario AS)
Napoli will move for Manchester United target Fernando Llorente if they cannot sign Mauro Icardi from Inter Milan by the end of the week (Sport/Radio Marte)
Fiorentina are ready to target free agent Martin Caceres after deciding against a €15m bid for Torino’s Kevin Bonifazi (Gazzetta Dello Sport)
Fiorentina are also keeping tabs on Inter winger Matteo Politano, who does not appear to have a clear place in Antonio Conte’s tactical system (Gazzetta Dello Sport)
Former Stoke striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting will turn down an offer from Lecce to stay as PSG’s backup option for the final year of his contract (L’Equipe)
Roma are in talks for a loan plus option to buy deal for Atletico Madrid striker Nikola Kalinic (Sky Sport Italia)
Monaco’s offer of €20m for Franck Kessie has been turned down by AC Milan, who want somewhere closer to €40m (Sky Sport Italia/RMC Sport)
The Ligue 1 side are also trying to push through a move for Leicester City midfielder Adrien Silva (L’Equipe)
Dinamo Moscow have joined the race for Roma and Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen, who has effectively been demoted to third choice in the Italian capital (Corriere Della Sera)
Former Swansea midfielder Renato Sanches is on the verge of joining Lille from Bayern Munich (Le10Sport)
Spanish striker Rodrigo is close to joining Atletico Madrid from Valencia (Marca)