Rumour Mill: Man Utd eye Atalanta ace; Benzema link returns

Mark Scott

Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City and Man United are all scouting Atalanta midfielder Franck Kessie, Arsenal still want Karim Benzema, while Pep Guardiola is on an ‘undercover’ mission, according to Wednesday’s rumours.

Arsenal

Juventus have joined the race to sign Atalanta’s Franck Kessie, who will be scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United (Calciomercato)

– Arsenal are ready pounce if Juventus starlet Moise Kean, 17, continues to stall on signing a new deal (Calciomercato)

Karim Benzema: Real Madrid star linked with Arsenal

– Arsenal are going to try and tempt Real Madrid into selling Karim Benzema by offering €40m for him next summer (Fichajes)

– Chelsea and Arsenal are keeping tabs on Galatasaray winger Bruma (Daily Star)

– Arsenal are reportedly running the rule over Toulouse goalkeeper Alban Lafont (Daily Star)

– Barcelona have made the signing of Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin their top priority for next summer’s transfer window (Daily Mail)

– Manchester City are looking to take advantage of Hector Bellerin’s contract situation at Arsenal and lure him to the Etihad Stadium (Daily Mirror)

– Hamilton Academical will not be offering former Arsenal right-back Justin Hoyte a permanent deal (Daily Record)

Chelsea

Juventus have joined the race to sign Atalanta’s Franck Kessie, who will be scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United (Calciomercato)

– Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has revealed Chelsea made a huge bid to try and sign him this summer (Express)

– Chelsea and Arsenal are keeping tabs on Galatasaray winger Bruma (Daily Star)

– Sevilla are the latest side to enter the race for Chelsea outcast Cesc Fabregas (AS)

Real Madrid have been warned off Thibaut Courtois after sending a bizarre fax message to the Chelsea goalkeeper (The Sun)

– John Obi Mikel is open to talking to other clubs as he waits to see whether he will be offered a new Chelsea contract (Daily Mail)

– Inter Milan are ready to sell Chelsea and Tottenham target Marcelo Brozovic in January (Calciomercato)

Leicester

– Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater is a shock £30m January transfer target for Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho (The Sun)

Liverpool

– Liverpool have received a blow in their pursuit of Napoli star Lorenzo Insigne, who has stated his desire to stay with his current club (Daily Mirror)

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola: Made Bayern Munich "boring"

Juventus have joined the race to sign Atalanta’s Franck Kessie, who will be scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United (Calciomercato)

– Pep Guardiola and his brother have flown out to Portugal on an undercover scouting mission, with Benfica defender Alex Grimaldo the subject of their interest (Mais Futebol)

– Manchester City rejected the chance to sell Yaya Toure in the summer – because they didn’t want the Ivory Coast midfielder to come back to haunt them (Daily Mirror)

Yaya Toure’s Manchester City career could be over after after his controversial agent became embroiled in a heated war of words with manager Pep Guardiola

– Manchester City are looking to take advantage of Hector Bellerin’s contract situation at Arsenal and lure him to the Etihad Stadium (Daily Mirror)

– Brazilian wonder-kid Gabriel Jesus says his “desire to learn” was the reason why he chose Manchester City over a host of other leading European clubs (Sky Sports)

Manchester United

Juventus have joined the race to sign Atalanta’s Franck Kessie, who will be scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United (Calciomercato)

– Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater is a shock £30m January transfer target for Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho (The Sun)

– Man Utd’s Luke Shaw has suffered a groin tear – but wants to play through the pain (The Sun)

– Manchester United will not be loosening their purse strings for Jose Mourinho in January – unless an exceptional target comes on the market (Daily Mirror / The Independent)

Stoke

– Stoke forward Bojan Krkic, capped once by Spain, hopes to gain clearance from Fifa to switch his allegiance and play international football for Serbia (Calciomercato)

Sunderland

– Sunderland tried to sign Napoli back-up goalkeeper Rafael Cabral before eventually landing Mika from Boavista (Gazza Mercato)

Tottenham

Marcelo Brozovic: Midfielder currently on loan at Inter

– Inter Milan are ready to sell Chelsea and Tottenham target Marcelo Brozovic in January (Calciomercato)

– Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino says 17-year-old attacking midfielder Marcus Edwards reminds him of a young Lionel Messi (Guardian)

West Brom

– WBA will be taking an interest in the UEFA Champions League as they are keen on signing former Everton flop and current CSKA Moscow loanee Lacina Traore (Daily Mirror)

West Brom boss Tony Pulis is still deciding whether to sign former Arsenal and Crystal Palace forward Marouane Chamakh, 32, but will not be following up an interest in ex-Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, 31, following a trial spell (Express and Star)

West Ham

West Ham rejected France winger Dimitri Payet’s wish to talk to Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid over a possible move after Euro 2016 (Squawka)