Paper Talk: Spurs track United man; Red Devils plot £84m raid

Manchester United: Welcome Fenerbahce on Thursday

Manchester United: Welcome Fenerbahce on Thursday

Manchester United are stepping up their interest in an £84m striker, while Anthony Martial’s situation remains subject to debate with a Premier League rival linked with his signature, according to Tuesday’s newspapers.

 

UNITED UP INTEREST IN BELOTTI

Torino striker Andrea Belotti is emerging as one of Manchester United’s top summer transfer targets if reports are to be believed.

The 23-year-old has scored 17 goals in Serie A this season and has been under the watchful eye of United this season.

But the Daily Star, via reports in Italy, claim United see the striker as a potential future partner for Antoine Griezmann in their frontline and are ready to make their move this summer.

The player, however, will not come cheap, with the Italy international recently signing a new deal that saw an £84million buy-out clause inserted into his deal.

The player is also being tracked by Real Madrid so is likely to be a man in demand this summer.

Gazzetta dello Sport have suggested Real president Florentino Perez and Torino chief Urban Cairo could hold talks over the player this week, so United will have to act fast if they are to bring Belotti to Old Trafford.

If United did land Belotti and Griezmann, the forward duo could set the club back the best part of £170m.

 

TOTTENHAM TO RESCUE MARTIAL FROM MANCHESTER UNITED

Juan Mata: Celebrates his goal with a smiling Juan Mata

Tottenham are tracking Manchester United forward Anthony Martial and could offer him an escape from Old Trafford in the summer, according to reports.

Martial has struggled for consistency this season, with several reports claiming his unrest, but enjoyed his best performance of the season on Saturday as United beat Watford 2-0 with the Frenchman scoring one and creating the other.

It was his first league start in almost a month and he only featured in one of United’s five games before the Watford clash, the 4-0 FA Cup win over Wigan. As such, the Daily Mirror claims he still has work to do to win over over Jose Mourinho and prove he has a long-term United future.

And the paper claims Spurs are watching developments between Martial and will launch a summer bid if his situation fails to improve.

United’s interest in Antoine Griezmann and Andrea Belotti could push Martial even further down the pecking order so it’s claimed a move to Tottenham could be on the cards for Martial, who is also being tracked by PSG.

Martial enjoyed a brilliant 17-goal debut campaign at Old Trafford last year under Louis van Gaal, but has failed to hit the same heights this term.

 

AND THE REST

Sergio Aguero may be coming to the end of his Manchester City tenure, but he revealed he “dreamt” of playing for Liverpool in 2006 before he made the move to Spain with Atletico Madrid (The Sun)

Lucas Hernandez: Linked with City

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is weighing up a £40m double bid for Atletico Madrid brothers Lucas and Theo Hernandez (The Sun)

Arsenal and Manchester United are in talks to sign versatile Monaco star Fabinho, although the player himself favours a move to Manchester City, according to his father (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal are in a three-way battle with Lazio and Watford to land highly-rated Toulouse goalkeeper Alban Lafont (Daily Mirror)

Leicester players believe Claudio Ranieri is partly to blame for the champions’ demise as he has been too soft on them (Daily Mirror)

Huddersfield forward Elias Kachunga is being tracked by Everton, Watford and Middlesbrough ahead of a potential summer move (Daily Mirror)

Spurs will have to pay £5m to sign on-loan Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez on a permanent basis (Daily Mirror)

Mesut Ozil: Is struggling for form

Mesut Ozil finds himself under growing pressure after it emerged factions in the Arsenal dressing room feel the playmaker has received preferential treatment from manager Arsene Wenger (Daily Mail)

Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri is considering axing Wes Morgan, Robert Huth, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez as he looks to boost their survival chances (Daily Mail)

Arsenal have received a potential injury boost ahead of their Champions League clash with Bayern Munich as Xabi Alonso hobbled out of training with a knee injury (Daily Mail)

Barcelona have been warned PSG are “more structured” under Unai Emery ahead of their Champions League meeting (Daily Mail)

Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg could leave to officiate in the USA or China (Daily Mail)

Anthony Martial would love to score for Manchester United that would cost them £8.5m against his old rivals St Etienne in the Europa League at Old Trafford on Thursday. One more strike will trigger a clause in his contract guaranteeing his old club the additional payment (Daily Mail)

Chelsea seem to be calm over David Luiz’s knee injury after the central defender put up a photo of himself on social media wearing a hospital gown and surgical mask (The Sun)

Petr Cech is set to be left out of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, with Arsene Wenger preparing to keep faith with David Ospina (The Sun)

Speculation is building over the future of Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford with the teenage striker stalling on signing a new contract having become frustrated at a lack of playing time (The Times)

Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is targeting a Premier League comeback at Everton a week on Saturday having initially feared he would miss the rest of the season (Daily Star)

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson says they will try to win every remaining game this season after they were boosted by victory over Tottenham (The Guardian)

Frank de Boer: Sacked

Frank de Boer could open talks with Rangers as early as April over the manager’s job at Ibrox (Daily Record)

Celtic are facing strong competition from Sevilla in the race to sign Nigerian star Henry Onyekuru (Daily Record)