Paper Talk: Man Utd, Arsenal on red alert as Barca stars put up for sale

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Manchester United and Arsenal have been put on alert over the potential availability of Samuel Umtiti and Ivan Rakitic, while Mason Greenwoocd could be handed his first start for the Red Devils on Sunday – all in Saturday’s papers.

 

MAN UTD, ARSENAL ON ALERT OVER RAKITIC, UMTITI FUTURES

Manchester United and Arsenal have been alerted by the fact that Barcelona stars Samuel Umtiti and Ivan Rakitic could be sold by the club, according to a report.

Rakitic, whose current Barca deal expires in the summer of 2021, has been a key part of the Catalan side over the past few years but has not started for the club in any of their matches this season.

According to the Daily Mail, the Croatian – along with French defender Umtiti – could both have left in the summer if the right bids had come in, and that stance has not changed now the season is underway.

The newspaper adds that following a club projection that the Spanish giants will earn £1.3b over the course of the 2019/20 season, Rakitic and Umtiti – who was previously linked with a move to United – could be used to hit the target as well as raise extra transfer funds.

Speaking about the possibility of selling first-team stars to raise funds, Barcelona CEO Oscar Grau admitted that it wasn’t out of the question, saying: “The sale of players is another income source for the club.”

 

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AND THE REST

Mason Greenwood could be handed his first Premier League start by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer against West Ham on Sunday, after impressing in Manchester United’s Europa League tie with Astana (Times)

Wolves are in negotiations with midfielder Joao Moutinho over handing the 33-year-old a new two-year contract at Molineux (The Telegraph)

Chelsea FC v Wolverhampton Wanderers - Premier League

Manchester United have opened talks with 19-year-old Angel Gomes over signing a new long-term deal with the club (Manchester Evening News)

Newcastle are interested in signing Venezuelan attacker Josef Martinez, the former Atlanta United teammate of current forward Miguel Almiron (Newcastle Chronicle)

Everton manager Marco Silva has said that he will not rule out the possibility of his side signing another centre-back in the January transfer window (Liverpool Echo)

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola expects assistant manager Mikel Arteta to succeed him in the dugout when he leaves the Etihad Stadium (Standard)

Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha has called on his teammates to help improve the club’s poor form this season (Sun)

Andy Robertson has nothing to prove to anyone and is one of Liverpool’s most consistent performers, according to Jurgen Klopp (Mirror)

Leicester midfielder James Maddison should snub any interest from Manchester United because the Foxes are the “perfect club” for him to develop, according to his former manager Steve Pressley (Express)

Rob Holding will be handed his Arsenal comeback by Unai Emery in one of the club’s next two matches (Mail)

Liverpool have paid £1m to Manchester City after their Premier League rivals complained that their scouting system had been hacked into (Times)