Paper Talk: Arsenal, Chelsea do battle for €50m Juventus man

Oli Fisher

Arsenal and Chelsea are set to go head to head for a Juventus defender, while Bournemouth will start a bidding war over a Manchester United target, according to Sunday’s papers.

 

RIVALS IN FOR RUGANI

Chelsea and Arsenal are set to do battle over the signing of a Juventus defender in January, according to a report.

The Sunday Express claims that the London rivals are set to go head to head for Daniele Rugani, who is considering leaving Juventus in January due to a lack of opportunities.

The 24-year-old has a contract in Juve until 2021, but he could be heading to England in January, but the Sunday Express claims that Rugani is learning English ahead of a potential move to the Premier League in January.

The Italian defender was outlined as a primary target by Maurizio Sarri upon his arrival in the Stamford Bridge hotseat, with the pair having worked together at Empoli, but the Blues failed to get a deal over the line.

Rugani’s agent, Davide Torchia, has revealed just how close the London outfit were to signing the 24-year-old, while dealing a blow to any future attempts to sign the player.

He told RMC Sport: “The contract expires in 2021. There was a very important request for negotiation from Chelsea.

“Juve had evaluated it and the player was never intent on leaving Juve. His goal was to win a place among the starting lineup.

“Juventus believed in the player and we will certainly face the renewal issue: there is no urgency but not too much to wait for it.”

 

AND THE REST

Juventus are ready to give Manchester United the choice of one of three players as they step up their attempts to re-sign Paul Pogba (Express)

Liverpool are prepared to loan out Dominic Solanke with Crystal Palace and West Ham keen (Sun)

The Premier League insists it will investigate if Man City have broken FFP (Telegraph)

Arsenal have stepped up their pursuit of Lille winger Nicolas Pepe (Sun)

Eden Hazard has admitted that getting his kicks in the Premier League is starting to wear him down (Telegraph)

Eden Hazard TEAMtalk

Manchester City would have made a significant loss last season if not for cash linked to owner Sheik Monsour (Mail)

Manchester City face calls for a Champions League ban after the Football Leaks revelations (Sun)

Manchester City face a hostile reception at Thursday’s meeting of chief executives from the Premier League, as the competition weighs whether to investigate City for potentially breaching FFP rules (Times)

Pep Guardiola played a key role in helping Raheem Sterling secure his new £300,000-per-week contract (Mirror)

Manchester United will take up their 12-month option on Phil Jones by the end of the month (Sun)

Bournemouth are set to spark a £40m scramble for Nathan Ake (Sun)

Manchester United still use scouts who arrived under former bosses Louis van Gaal and David Moyes (Mail)

England players and the FA are close to sorting out a major cash row (Sun)

Bournemouth will try for a second time to persuade Neal Maupay to join them in January (Mirror)

Mark Warburton is in the frame to be the FA’s new technical director (Sun)