Paper Talk: £18m midfielder top target of new Arsenal transfer guru

Arsenal’s new transfer supremo has lined-up his first signing for the club, while Man Utd, City and Liverpool all want a Brazilian starlet, according to Thursday’s papers.

 

SANLLEHI LINES UP FIRST ARSENAL SIGNING

Arsenal’s new head of football Raul Sanllehi wants to make Ever Banega his first signing, with the midfielder reported to have an £18m release clause.

Gunners boss Unai Emery was keen on landing the 30-year-old Argentina international over the summer, but the former Inter Milan star chose to extend his stay at Sevilla.

Emery landed Lucas Torreira in a £26m deal top strengthen Arsenal’s midfield but still wants competition for places, while Aaron Ramsey’s future at the Emirates remains up in the air.

Sanllehi has taken over the role of Ivan Gazidis as the club’s head of football and is looking to make his mark with a marquee addition to the squad in January, according to the report in The Sun.

Banega moved to Europe with Valencia in 2008, the same year he made is international debut, and has played 445 senior club matches, scoring 24 goals.

 

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AND THE REST

Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City have joined Barcelona and PSG in pursuit of Flamengo’s attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta. The 21-year-old is believed to have a £44m release clause (Daily Mail)

Lucas Paqueta TEAMtalk

Gareth Southgate is eyeing the possibility of calling up Fulham’s Tom Cairney for England despite him having played for Scotland in friendlies (The Sun)

Shaun Wright-Phillips’ teenage son D’Margio was drafted in to train with the Manchester City first team as they prepared to face Lyon (The Sun)

Wolves defender Conor Coady could be in line for an England call-up after impressing for the Premier League new boys in the first weeks of the season (Daily Mirror)

James Milner has revealed he was never allowed to wear red clothes when he was a child because his father – a Leeds fan – hated Manchester United (Daily Mirror)

James Milner TEAMtalk

Per Mertesacker says the Arsenal players are to blame for Arsene Wenger’s departure as the club’s manager (Daily Mirror)

Barcelona are set to ditch stripes for the first time in their history next season and adopt a chequered pattern on their home shirt (Daily Star)

Arsenal staff expect Stan Kroenke’s son Josh to take a more active role at the club following chief executive Ivan Gazidis’s decision to move to AC Milan (Daily Star)

Lille winger Nicolas Pepe is being scouted by Manchester United after Southampton failed with a bid for the 23-year-old in the summer (MEN)

Aston Villa have sacked European scout Ian Atkins in a major cull of the recruitment department (Daily Telegraph)

Several Tottenham players believe their slump is down to tiredness and mental fatigue after three straight defeats (The Times)

Arsenal’s new head of football Raul Sanllehi is keen on signing Argentina winger Cristian Pavon, 22, from Boca Juniors (Football London)

RB Salzburg’s 26-year-old coach Rene Maric, who was previously a blogger on the team’s tactics, has signed a new contract until 2021 (The Guardian)

Celtic have revealed pre-tax profits of £17m for their double treble-winning campaign, as well as revenues of £101.6m (Daily Record)

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 02: Olivier Ntcham of Celtic celebrates with teammates after scoring his team's first goal during the Scottish Premier League match between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park Stadium on September 2, 2018 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes is set to hold contract talks with Graeme Shinnie, with the skipper’s deal expiring at the end of the season (Daily Record)

Christophe Berra says it is too early to consider Hearts as title contenders, despite their five-point lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership (Daily Record)