Paper Talk: Emery to sell Arsenal trio to fund £40m move for Chelsea man

Unai Emery wants to sell three of Arsenal’s top earners to fund a move for a Chelsea defender, while Juan Mata must take a pay cut to secure a dream move back to LaLiga, according to Wednesday’s newspapers.

 

KURT ZOUMA IN ARSENAL’S SIGHTS

Arsenal plan to offload three of their highest earners this summer – with Unai Emery looking to present Chelsea with a tempting approach for Kurt Zouma.

The France defender has caught the eye during a season-long loan with Everton, and while he appears a long way down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, his form this season – together with the Blues’ impending transfer ban – suggests he may yet have a role to play next season.

However, The Sun claims Unai Emery has made Zouma his No 1 target this summer – and will prioritise the signing of a new central defender ahead of any other area of the side this summer.

And the paper claims Emery will make big-money trio Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Shkodran Mustafi to help finance the deal, with all three high-earners deemed disposable by the ruthless Arsenal manager.

As well as Zouma, the paper claims Emery has Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld – available this summer for a cut-price £26m – and Leicester’s England defender, Harry Maguire in his sights. However, for various reasons (Alderweireld unlikely to swap Spurs for Arsenal; Maguire deemed out of their price range) it is Zouma who is deemed as the most obtainable target.

Arsenal are reportedly already committed to paying £7m for Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli, 17, and also want £18m-rated Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Christopher Nkunku, 21.

But if he’s to sign Zouma, Emery knows players will have to leave first – and hopes a bid of £40million will tempt Chelsea to sell.

 

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AND THE REST

Juan Mata is poised to sign for Barcelona on a free transfer – but the LaLiga giants have told him they won’t match the current £170,000 a week wages he’s earning at Manchester United (Daily Mirror)

Manchester United have slapped a £120m price tag on Paul Pogba ahead of the summer transfer window and are considering cashing in on the midfielder (Daily Mirror)

Pogba is desperate to engineer a move to Real Madrid this summer, as a bid of over £130m could be enough to persuade Manchester United to sell the midfielder (The Independent)

Inter Milan are in talks to sign Man City full-back Danilo with a deal for the 27-year-old setting back the Italian giants around £18m (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea teenager Martell Taylor-Crossdale is a target for Fulham and Bristol City (Daily Mirror)

Manchester United and Arsenal are interested in Reading’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Coniah Boyce-Clarke (Daily Mirror)

Manchester United look to be gearing up for a double raid on Benfica after head of global scouting Marcel Bout was sent to watch Joao Felix and Ruben Dias (Daily Express)

Paris Saint-Germain are prepared to let their midfielder Christopher Nkunku leave for Arsenal for a fee in the region of £17m (Daily Express)

Arsenal are leading Chelsea in the race to sign Bournemouth star Ryan Fraser (Daily Express)

Liverpool will reward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a 12-month extension on his £120k-per-week contract after overcoming his year-long injury hell (Daily Mail)

Ajax star Matthijs de Ligt’s agent Mino Raiola would prefer the starlet to join Manchester United instead of Barcelona (Daily Mail)

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will allow his goalkeeper son Luca to leave the club at the end of the season to join Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot (Daily Mail)

Blackpool have three parties interested in purchasing the club – including a potential controversial return of Owen Oyston (Daily Mail)

Atletico Madrid defender Diego Godin is set to depart the club when his contract ends this summer, and will play his final match at home to Sevilla (Daily Mail)

Southampton will make a fresh move for £15m-rated Birmingham City striker Che Adams this summer after failing to sign him in the January transfer window (Daily Mail)

The police and some Premier League clubs, including Chelsea, fear the introduction of safe standing may hinder attempts to identify supporters guilty of anti-social behaviour and racial abuse (Daily Mail)

Youri Tielemans will be at the centre of a summer transfer battle between North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham (The Sun)

Leicester City striker Shinji Okazaki has revealed he is quitting the club this summer after four years (The Sun)

Arsenal’s summer spending plans have been thrown into chaos by Unai Emery’s demand a world-class centre-half (The Sun)

Aaron Ramsey has been told he has played his last game for Arsenal, with a hamstring injury ending his season (The Sun)

Matteo Darmian TEAMtalk

Manchester United are finally set to dump flop Matteo Darmian with Inter Milan keen on an £8.6m deal (The Sun)

Tiemoue Bakayoko is set for a transfer U-turn and wants to come back to Chelsea after suffering racist abuse at AC Milan (The Sun)

Chelsea outcast Gary Cahill is expected to be on the bench for the Europa League semi-final against Frankfurt (The Sun)

Emiliano Martinez says he will quit Arsenal this summer if Unai Emery cannot guarantee him the chance to become first-choice goalkeeper (The Sun)

Tottenham have rejected a £17m bid from Napoli for Kieran Trippier as Manchester United prepare their own offer for the defender (Daily Star)

Tottenham are weighing up a blockbuster £40m move for Ajax star Hakim Ziyech as a back-up for Harry Kane (Daily Star)

Arsenal are desperate to tie Nacho Monreal to a new contract to avoid losing him to Barcelona for nothing (Daily Star)

Liverpool are in the hunt to sign Turkish starlet Abdulkadir Omur from Trabzonspor with Barcelona also chasing his signature (Daily Star)

Rangers are ready to announce the signing of Motherwell’s Jake Hastie and complete a deal for Birmingham’s Greg Stewart (Daily Star)

Rangers are lining up a £3m bid for Croatia international Mirko Maric, throwing Alfredo Morelos’ future into major doubt (Daily Star)