Paper Talk: West Ham test Man Utd with Arnautovic price hike

West Ham have told Manchester United their price for forward Marko Arnautovic, while Tottenham have given up on their pursuit of Wilfried Zaha, according to Friday’s papers.

 

WEST HAM STICK BIG VALUATION ON MAN UTD TARGET

West Ham have reportedly slapped a £60million valuation on Marko Arnautovic as the forward continues to be linked with a move to Manchester United.

The Austrian attacker emerged as a surprise target for Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho a couple of weeks ago after he ended the season is spectacular form for the Hammers.

The 29-year-old, who was signed from Stoke for £24million last summer, scored 11 goals in 22 games in the second half of the campaign as West Ham eventually pulled away from any relegation trouble.

Given that form, the Hammers are insisting that Arnautovic is not for sale – although the report in the Daily Mirror claims that they are expecting a bid from United.

Mourinho had a brief spell in charge of the forward during their time together in Inter Milan and he was in attendance as Austria beat Russia in a friendly clash ahead of the World Cup last week.

The United boss is said to be a big fan of Arnautovic’s ability to play through the middle or as a wide forward, as he looks to provide strong competition to the likes of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Marcus Rashford in United’s attack.

 

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AND THE REST

West Ham have opened talks over a sensational move for Yaya Toure, who is very keen to play for Manuel Pellegrini again (Daily Mail)

Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson is attracting interest from a number of Premier League clubs (Daily Mail)

Brighton are putting together a £7million to sign Sunderland’s Paddy McNair (The Sun)

Tottenham are leading the chase for Aston Villa’s £40million-rated Jack Grealish (Daily Mail)

But Spurs will end their pursuit of Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha after being quoted £70m to sign the Ivory Coast international (Daily Mail)

Sergio Aguero has committed his future to Manchester City after dismissing talks of a rift with Pep Guardiola (The Sun)

Sporting Lisbon are looking to land Leeds managerial target Marcelo Bielsa, according to reports in Portugal (The Sun)

Mesut Ozil has eased fears he could miss part of the World Cup by posting a picture of him smiling on the team bus (The Sun)

Negotiations between Manchester United and Tottenham over Toby Alderweireld are deadlocked as the north London club want a fee in excess of £55m for the Belgium defender (Evening Standard)

Crystal Palace will look to Marseille’s Japanese defender Hiroki Sakai to solve their problems at right-back after missing out on Fulham’s Ryan Fredericks (Evening Standard)

Liverpool are set to complete a £53million deal to sign Lyon’s Nabil Fekir today (The Times)

Napoli and West Ham have joined Man City with interest in Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina (Daily Mirror)

Real Madrid have lined up Antonio Conte as their preferred choice to replace Zinedine Zidane (Daily Express)

Stoke are set to offer Ryan Shawcross a payrise just days after he took a huge wage cut (Daily Star)

Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is weighing-up a reunion with Martin Skrtel who is available for £1.8million (Daily Star)

Millwall are set to shatter their transfer record to sign Ben Marshall from Wolves for £1.2million (Daily Star)

Saido Berahino is set for talks over his Stoke future with new manager Gary Rowett next week (Daily Telegraph)

Darmstadt boss Dirk Schuster insists Jamie Maclaren will return to the German club next season (Scottish Sun)

Dundee United are set to roll back to the Jim McLean era – and insist all players move to Tayside (Scottish Sun)

Livingston have tried and failed to get Celtic legend Henrik Larsson as their new manager (Daily Record)

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes is ready to offer Kenny Miller the chance to continue his career in the Premiership (Daily Record)

St Mirren will appoint Alan Stubbs as their new manager within the next 48 hours (Daily Record)