Paper Talk: Man Utd to partner Bruno Fernandes with £135m midfielder

Manchester United are ready to shatter their transfer record to sign a LaLiga midfielder, while Real Madrid have drawn up a list of three striker targets, according to the latest transfer gossip on Monday.

 

MAN UTD DECIDE THEY’D BETTER CALL SAUL

Manchester United are growing increasingly confident of landing Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez this summer in a club-record £135m deal, according to a report.

Reports on Monday morning claims United are set to smash their transfer record to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund in a £116.2m deal this summer.

However, the Daily Star believes Sancho’s status as United’s club-record signing will not last long with the club also ready to spend £135m to bring Atletico Madrid’s classy star Saul to Old Trafford as Paul Pogba’s long-term replacement.

They claim Pogba is likely to join Real Madrid when the transfer window opens in a deal that could cost up to £100m.

And the paper believes the money will not be burning a hole in their pocket for long with a deal to bring Saul to Old Trafford looking increasingly likely – and for a club record fee.

United sent scouts to watch Niguez in action at Anfield earlier this month, when he helped Atletico knock Liverpool out of the Champions League.

And they say Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sent a glowing report and that the United manager has now set his heart on bringing him into his midfield.

 

 

It says Solskjaer sees him as one of the world’s most complete midfielders and reckons he can bring out the best in Bruno Fernandes and help the Portuguese star reach even higher levels.

And they state they United are willing to meet the buy-out clause in Niguez’s nine-year deal at Atletico and make him one of the highest-paid stars in their side in the process.

The paper states they have Ajax star Donny van de Beek as their Plan B but believe the 22-year-old prefers a move to the Bernabeu.

But that won’t bother Solskjaer should he able to land first choice Saul in what would be the costliest deal in British football history.

 

AND MORE GOSSIP

Real Madrid are interested in signing Arsenal forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – but only if they fail to sign Norway’s Erling Braut Haaland from Borussia Dortmund or Sadio Mane from Liverpool (Daily Express)

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is reportedly prioritising a new defensive midfielder in the upcoming transfer market, as he believes it will allow Gunners fans the opportunity to see the best of Mesut Ozil (Daily Star)

Chelsea and Tottenham will reportedly battle it out to sign Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope in the summer – and we revealed earlier this month that Burnley were expecting the Blues to make their move (Daily Star / TEAMtalk)

Manchester City chiefs have reportedly identified up to six candidates that could replace Pep Guardiola as manager (Daily Star)

A proposed £340 m takeover of Newcastle United appears to have moved a step closer, with the Premier League having been informed of a bid led by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (Daily Telegraph)

Premier League clubs are preparing for a “mini pre-season” lasting a minimum of two weeks before returning to competitive action when the football returns after the coronavirus crisis (Daily Telegraph)

The Football Association is ready to open Wembley Stadium to the National Health Service as sport mobilises to offer its iconic venues to the fight against coronavirus (Daily Telegraph)

Tom Heaton TEAMtalk

Aston Villa goalkeeper Tom Heaton wants to go into coaching at the end of his career and is hoping to return to former club Burnley (The Independent)

The Premier League has developed plans for clubs to play televised games in isolated “World Cup-style” camps in the midlands and London over June and July, in order to try and finish the 2019/20 season amid the coronavirus pandemic (The Independent)

UEFA is drawing up plans to finish this season in August and have shortened competitions next season in order to minimise the devastating effect of the coronavirus on European football (The Times)

The Premier League is continuing its investigation into alleged breaches of financial fair play by Manchester City despite football shutting down due to the coronavirus pandemic (The Times)

Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan hopes to turn his loan move to Roma into a permanent one this summer. Arsenal want £18m for the Armenian, but the Italian club only want to pay £10m (Daily Mail)

Real Madrid have declared midfielder Fede Valverde almost unsellable with a staggering reported £448million release clause after interest from Manchester United (Daily Mail)

Cristiano Ronaldo: Forward in his Man Utd pomp

Cristiano Ronaldo chose to join Manchester United in 2003 because every other club that was interested in signing the winger wanted to loan him back to Sporting Lisbon, his agent Jorge Mendes has revealed (Daily Mail)

Real Madrid are prepared to battle Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich to secure the signing of RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano this summer (Daily Mail)

Aaron Ramsey is set to join Manchester United in a Paul Pogba swap deal with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a big fan of the Juventus star, reports claim (The Sun)

Leeds star Kalvin Phillips has delivered a big blow to Jose Mourinho by insisting he wants to stay at Elland Road for the rest of his career (The Sun)

West Ham may have to play in front of retracted stands and an athletics track if the Premier League season is extended, with the Anniversary Games set for July 4 and 5 at the London Stadium (The Sun)

West Ham could swoop for controversial Barcelona striker Martin Braithwaite (The Sun)

Premier League stars could be put under a strict quarantine lockdown in hotels for a month as English football authorities want to squeeze the remaining games into a confined time frame during June (Daily Mirror)

 

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Odion Ighalo on a permanent deal have been given a boost after his parent club Shanghai Shenhua reportedly identified his replacement (Daily Mirror)

The Serie A season could be cancelled on Monday as the coronavirus crisis shows no sign of loosening its grip (Daily Mirror)

Scottish football could follow the lead of English clubs who plan on having a mini pre-season prior to the return of competitive action (Daily Record)

Neil Lennon has admitted Scottish football faces a massive fight to stay strong through the coronavirus crisis (Daily Record)

Scottish businessman Jim McColl has revealed he recently held talks with Liverpool’s owners over a potential Rangers takeover (The Scottish Sun)