Paper Talk: Arsenal set to beat Man Utd to £26m French sensation

Arsenal are poised to beat Manchester United to the signing of a £26million Ligue 1 sensation, while Aston Villa are set to bid £14m for a Leeds ace, according to Thursday’s papers.

 

ARSENAL IN POLE POSITION TO SNATCH LIGUE 1 SENSATION

Arsenal are reportedly in pole position to beat Manchester United to French sensation William Saliba.

According to Le10 Sport, the Gunners are negotiating with Saint Etienne for the 18-year-old defender, who has also been a United target and was scouted by Watford and Southampton last season.

Saliba made 16 appearances for the Ligue 1 side in his breakthrough season and is regarded as one of the top young talents in French football.

Talks are said to be progressing well for the talented youngster, whose agent was in London earlier this week.

However, Arsenal could have a major issue in bringing in the France Under-19 international – a lack of funds.

Failure to secure Champions League football will see Unai Emery work with a reduced transfer kitty this summer, with the Daily Mirror claiming that the Gunners chief will only have £40million to spend  – plus any money that is made from outgoings.

And with Saint-Etienne placing a £26million price tag on the head of Saliba, while also wanting him back on loan for a season, Emery may decide to invest his limited budget elsewhere.

 

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AND THE REST

Manchester United are ready to dig their heels in and hold out for at least £150m for Paul Pogba this summer (Daily Mirror)

Paul Pogba TEAMtalk

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira is contemplating his Arsenal future after admitting he is struggling to adapt to life in England (Daily Mirror)

Manchester United want to make a last-gasp bid to hijack Antoine Griezmann’s move to Barcelona (The Sun)

Mauricio Pochettino has launched a £60m bid to land France midfielder Tanguy Ndombele (The Sun)

Arsenal have given Napoli until the end of the week to decide if they want to keep goalkeeper David Ospina (The Sun)

Manchester United are worrying as star men David de Gea and Marcus Rashford are no closer to signing new deals (The Sun)

Real Madrid could make a move for Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea this summer (Daily Star)

Tottenham are set to make an improved offer for Giovani Lo Celso after failing with a bid worth up to £53m (Daily Star)

Giovani Lo Celso

West Ham face competition from Bayer Leverkusen for £25m rated Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic (Daily Star)

Liverpool could be set to reignite their interest in signing Nabil Fekir from Lyon, according to reports from France (Daily Express)

Matthijs de Ligt’s agent Mino Raiola has dismissed reports that he travelled to France to broker a deal for his client to join PSG (Daily Express)

West Ham have made an approach for Stuttgart centre-back Ozan Kabak (Daily Mail)

Manchester City are willing to let goalkeeper Aro Muric go out on loan next season (Daily Mail)

Chelsea will not take up the option to buy Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Real Madrid. The 25-year-old is instead set for a return to Inter Milan (Daily Mail)

Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman is in £30m takeover talks to buy Championship club Charlton (Daily Mail)

Oleksandr Zinchenko is on the verge of signing a new five-year contract with Manchester City as he prepares to become the latest player to commit his long-term future to the Premier League champions (Daily Telegraph)

Aston Villa are launching a £14m bid for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips (Daily Telegraph)

Kalvin Phillips TEAMtalk

Reece Oxford’s move to Augsburg is on the brink of collapse with the West Ham United defender now the focus of interest from West Bromwich Albion and Middlesbrough (Daily Telegraph)

Leicester and West Ham are both eyeing a move for promising Motherwell kid Reece McAlear (Scottish Sun)

Hull are weighing up a shock move for Hibs manager Paul Heckingbottom (Scottish Sun)

Hungarian side Puskas Akademia could end David Vanecek’s Hearts hell by moving for the striker this summer (Scottish Sun)

Apollon Limassol are ready to drop their interest in out-of-contract Hearts star Arnaud Djoum (Scottish Sun)