Paper Talk: Mourinho wooing Verratti; City ‘agree Nolito deal’

Marco Verratti: Linked with PSG exit

Jose Mourinho has been doing his best to persuade Marco Verratti to join Manchester United, while Manchester City are reported to have agreed a deal to Spain star Nolito, according to Tuesday’s newspapers.

 

MOURINHO DOING HIS BEST TO ATTRACT VERRATTI

 

Jose Mourinho has been sending Marco Verratti constant text messages in a bid to woo him to Manchester United, according to a report in the Daily Express.

Verratti emerged as a target for United over the weekend, with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport claiming a £79million offer is in the pipeline.

We reported on Monday how the player is also being lured to Old Trafford by his PSG team-mate and incoming Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The report claimed the Red Devils were willing to offer the midfielder a £6.7m-a-year contract in order to move to Old Trafford.

However, reports of Manchester United’s interest in Verratti did not originally come from the Italian newspaper and were circulating in France since June 11 via radio station Europe 1.

And the French outlet claims Mourinho has been in constant contact with Verratti about a move and has messaged him on numerous occasions.

Verratti is under contract until 2020 with the option of a further year, and the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer next month, means his PSG departure may be unlikely.

But Mourinho has already shown he’s willing to splash the cash and United forked out £30m this month to sign relatively unknown defender Eric Bailly from Villarreal.

It is understood the Portuguese could have as much as £200m to spend on transfers this summer.

 

 

MANCHESTER CITY ‘AGREE’ NOLITO DEAL

Nolito: Linked with West Ham, Arsenal and Liverpool

Manchester City are close to signing Spain and Celta Vigo winger Nolito, according to claims made in Spain and as reported by The Sun.

During Spanish TV coverage of Spain’s opening Euro 2016 match against Czech Republic, a journalist from Tele5 claimed that City had beat Barcelona to the 29-year-old winger.

After a brilliant campaign last season the Celta Vigo winger forced his way into Vicente Del Bosque’s starting XI for the Euros.

He scored 12 goals and added seven assists in 29 league matches as Celta exceeded expectations to finish sixth in La Liga.

According to Tele5‘s Manu Carreño, Nolito has already reached an agreement with new City boss Pep Guardiola – beating rivals Barcelona to the player.

The journalist also claimed that Tottenham are interested in the player and had sent scouts to Toulouse to watch the scrappy 1-0 win on Monday.

Nolito played 82 minutes in the win although he wasn’t hugely effective as the Spaniards found it difficult to create clear-cut chances.

The winger played for Barcelona in the early part of his career, although he only plated five first-team matches following three seasons with the B team.

Catalan newspaper Sport, however, suggests that Nolito would prefer a return to his former club, although the ‘practically broken’ relationship between Celta Vigo and Barcelona could make it difficult to reach an agreement.

The reported move for Nolito comes just a day after claims that City were also closing on a £40million swoop for exciting Schalke and Germany winger Leroy Sane.

 

AND THE REST

Sofiane Feghouli: Wanted by Liverpool and Man Utd

French defender Aymeric Laporte, 22, has rejected the chance to join City and has signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao (Daily Mail)

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte wants to sign 26-year-old Manchester United full-back Matteo Darmian, who is part of his Italy squad at Euro 2016 (Bleacher Report)

Nigerian wonderkid Samuel Chukwueze has performed a dramatic U-turn over an Arsenal move and seems keen on heading to Porto instead (The Sun)

West Ham will sign Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli, 26, on a free transfer (L’Equipe)

Riyad Mahrez has been offered a new contract worth £100,000 a week as Leicester City fight to keep the PFA Player of the Year (Daily Telegraph)

England boss Roy Hodgson will resist all calls to drop striker Harry Kane for the showdown with Wales on Thursday (Daily Star)

New Manchester City signing Ilkay Gundogan, 25, expects to return from injury in late August or early September (Manchester Evening News)

Chelsea have asked Samuel Umtiti’s agent about the availability of the 22-year-old Lyon defender (Mundo Deportivo)

Stoke value Austria international Marko Arnautovic at £13m, but that is unlikely to deter Everton from bidding for the 27-year-old striker (The Sun)

Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford wants to leave Stamford Bridge and might seek a loan move to Spain, according to reports (Daily Star)

Napoli will offer Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain a new deal worth £110,000 a week. The 28-year-old has been linked with Liverpool (talkSPORT)

Borussia Dortmund will tell City not to bid for FC Ufa’s 19-year-old midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko if they want to sign Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. City are in talks with Dortmund about signing striker Aubameyang, 26, but the German club are not willing to do a deal if City also move for Zinchenko (The Sun)

Ronald Koeman is targeting West Brom striker Saido Berahino as his potential first signing for Everton (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea have been handed a Dimitri Payet warning with West Ham telling their London rivals to forget about signing their ‘priceless’ Frenchman (Daily Mirror)

Eden Hazard insists he wanted Jose Mourinho to stay in charge at Chelsea despite reports of a bust-up (Daily Express)

Jose Mourinho wants talks with Phil Jones to discuss the defender’s future at Manchester United (Daily Express)

Everton are finally expected to announce Ronald Koeman as their manager on Tuesday (Daily Mail)

Brighton have assured fans they have no intention of selling Everton and Crystal Palace target Lewis Dunk – after turning down an offer from an unnamed club for the 24-year-old centre-back (Argus)