Euro Paper Talk: Spurs get green light to push through €70m club record deal
Tottenham are ready to smash their transfer record again, this time on a €70m playmaker, while Juventus will make a formal approach for Paul Pogba and will offer Manchester United three players in exchange, according to Thursday’s European papers.
LO CELSO TELLS BETIS HE WANTS TOTTENHAM SWITCH
Giovani Lo Celso is due to report back to Real Betis this weekend after his Copa America exploits – and will inform his club he is wants to leave, claim multiple reports.
And the Argentina playmaker wants to join Tottenham this summer, amid talk that Mauricio Pochettino’s side are ready to make an improved bid for his services.
Spurs have already seen an opening €40m approach for Lo Celso rejected back in June, but it’s reported a deal could now be struck for around the €70m mark – a figure not said to be too daunting for the north London club.
The key to the transfer is Nabil Fekir, with Betis themselves close to a bargain €30m swoop for the long-term Liverpool target, reports multiple sources in both France and Spain.
And according to Canal +, the capture of the Lyon playmaker will then give Spurs the green light to finalise a deal for Lo Celso, who has also been chased by Manchester United this summer.
And although the Andalusians have have a €100m exit fee in his Lo Celso’s contract, they are said to be willing to let him leave if their €70m (£67m) asking price is met. PSG are understood to be entitled to 20% of that fee, but Betis are understood to be satisfied at the prospect of replacing Lo Celso with Fekir and still walking away with around €25m in their pockets.
The capture of Lo Celso will set a new transfer record at Tottenham – made earlier this summer when they paid £62m for Tanguy Ndombele – and could speed up the departure from the club of Christian Eriksen, linked, most recently, with Atletico Madrid.
Get the latest personalised Spurs products on our new TEAMtalk Tottenham shop!
AND THE REST
Juventus will target a move for Paul Pogba after wrapping up a deal for Matthijs de Ligt and will offer Joao Cancelo, Blaise Matuidi and Douglas Costa to Manchester United in return for the Frenchman before the week is out (Corriere dello Sport)
Neymar has a list of five clubs he is willing to sign for this summer, with Barcelona top of his list. Man United, Juventus, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are the others (Mundo Deportivo)
Napoli are well and truly in the race to sign Lille forward Nicolas Pepe, having launched a €60m offer with Lille target and Algeria international Adam Ounas also offered as part of the deal (Corriere dello Sport)
Manchester United ace Eric Bailly is being eyed by AC Milan in a €25m after being put off by Liverpool’s €20m transfer valuation of Dejan Lovren. Juventus’ Daniele Rugani is also an option (Tuttosport)
Manchester United are also ready to let Fred join Galatasaray on a season-long loan – despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s claims he will stay – after the two clubs held advanced talks (Fotomac / The Independent)
AC Milan are interested in signing Lyon winger and former Man Utd man Memphis Depay after positive talks with his agent over a possible deal on Wednesday (Calciomercato)
Fiorentina have opened talks with Fernando Llorente over a possible free transfer back to Italy for the out-of-contract former Tottenham striker (Gianluca Di Marzio)
Manchester United have launched a bid to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubamyang in a surprise deal from Arsenal this summer (FCInter News)
Inter Milan have a long list of targets should efforts to prise Romelu Lukaku fail, with Lille’s Rafael Leao, Duvan Zapata of Atalanta, Ante Rebic of Eintracht Frankfurt, Valencia’s Rodrigo and PSG star Edinson Cavani all possibilities (Tuttosport / Gazzetta dello Sport)
Inter Milan, Everton and Borussia Dortmund have reportedly all made offers for Juventus striker Moise Kean (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Goalkeeper Mattia Perin says he is ready to “put what I learned at Juventus into practice” after agreeing a €15m move to join Portuguese champions Benfica (Sky Italia)
Jordan Veretout looks set to finalise his transfer from Fiorentina to Roma in the coming days after a fee of €20m was agreed for the former Aston Villa man (Calciomercato)
Barcelona midfielder Rafinha Alcantara is hopeful Valencia will reach an agreement over his transfer amid claims of a €15m deal (Sport)
Lazio president Claudio Lotito has given Manchester United hope of a deal for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with his latest cryptic comments (Corriere dello Sport)
AC Milan are once again chasing Udinese midfielder or winger Rodrigo de Paul (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Neymar could be in line for a transfer to Juventus to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo, as the Brazilian pushes for a move away from PSG (Le Parisien)
Tottenham will target Elseid Hysaj or Alessandro Florenzi as replacements for Kieran Trippier this summer (Gianluca Di Marzio)
Getafe are set to complete the signing of West Bromwich Albion defender Allan Nyom on a season-long loan deal (Marca)
Arsenal are set to pay Dani Ceballos’ entire salary while he spends the season on loan from Real Madrid (Marca)