TRANSFER GOSSIP The Daily Mail back page Manchester United are preparing a £100m package to bring Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria, 26, to Old Trafford, which would cover the Argentina internationals £50m transfer fee and wages. (Daily Mail)(external) Southampton manager Ronald Koeman wants to make Lazio midfielder Alvaro Gonzalez, 29, his eighth signing of the summer and is preparing an £8m offer for the Uruguay international. (Daily Mirror)(external) Manchester United have reignited their interest in Romas Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman, 28, with Juventus confident they will hold onto 27-year-old Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal. (Daily Express)(external) Tottenham are willing to listen to offers for Lewis Holtby, who they signed from Schalke for £1.5m in January 2013, as QPR and Crystal Palace line up moves for the 23-year-old midfielder. (Daily Mail)(external) Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are on alert after Paris St-Germains contract talks with their 29-year-old Argentine winger Ezequiel Lavezzi broke down. (Daily Star)(external) Manchester United are eyeing up a move for AC Milan defender Philippe Mexes, 32, as a cheaper alternative to Romas £24m-rated centre-back Mehdi Benatia, 27, according to Corriere dello Sport. (Football Italia)(external) Celtic are closing in on the one-year loan signing of winger Mubarak Wakaso, 24, from Rubin Kazan. (Daily Record)(external) Marseille midfielder Morgan Amalfitano, 29, is eager to secure a move to West Ham United following a training ground bust-up with coach Marcelo Bielsa.(Sky Sports)(external) Napoli appear to have beaten Swansea City to the signature of Dutch midfielder Jonathan de Guzman, 26, who has spent the last two seasons on loan at the Liberty Stadium from Villarreal. (La Gazzetta - in Italian)(external) Tottenham are ready to reject a £10m offer from Southampton for 23-year-old England winger Andros Townsend, who is also attracting interest from QPR. (Daily Express)(external) Barcelona manager Luis Enrique says he is still in the market for new signings despite spending £115m on five players, including £75m on 27-year-old Luis Suarez this summer.(Marca) (external) GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC Monitoring) Chelsea are looking at AS Roma striker Mattia Destro, 23, in case Fernando Torres, 30, decides to leave the club. (Le Figaro)(external) Bayern Munich could make moves for defenders Mehdi Benatia, 27, and Diego Godin, 28, who play for AS Roma and Atletico Madrid respectively. (LEquipe)(external) Arsenal are in advanced negotiations with Italian side Napoli for the loan transfer of 24-year-old Chilean forward Eduardo Vargas.(Tuttosport)(external) AS Monaco had offered their striker Radamel Falcao, 28, to Barcelona, but the Catalan club declined the proposal as they had already signed Luis Suarez. (Mundodeportivo)(external) Liverpool will look to make a move for Paris St-Germain forward Edinson Cavani, 27, if they fail to recruit Colombia striker Radamel Falcao.(Bild)(external) Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 28, is Real Madrids preferred candidate to succeed veteran Iker Casillas at the Bernabeu. (Bild)(external) Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has said that the club is not looking at making any transfer moves. (Marca)(external) Inter Milan could face stiff competition from AS Monaco for FC Portos Brazilian defender Ronaldo, 28. (Le Figaro)(external) OTHER GOSSIP The Daily Mirror back page Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, 41, received a text message from Suarez wishing him and his former Reds team-mates luck ahead of their opening-day win over Southampton. (Telegraph)(external) Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood, 45, has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Tony Pulis at Crystal Palace after a favourable interview. (Guardian)(external) Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, 28, has been offered a new five-year deal by manager Manuel Pellegrini, which is set to be signed this week. (Daily Express)(external) Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher, 30, believes the side need to rediscover the fear factor that they had over teams to help them improve after an opening day Premier League defeat against Swansea at home. (Daily Star)(external) Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger faces defensive problems in the build up to the first leg of his sides Champions League qualifier at Besiktas on Tuesday and could recall centre-back Per Mertesacker earlier than he wanted because of a foot injury to Laurent Koscielny.(Daily Telegraph)(external) Sunderland striker Connor Wickham, 21, is attracting interest from other clubs and Black Cats manager Gus Poyet says the summer transfer window should be shut before the start of the top-flight season. (Independent)(external) QPR, who lost 1-0 to Hull City on their return to the Premier League, will have to learn hard lessons if they are to survive in the top flight, says Hoops midfielder Joey Barton, 31. (Times - subscription required)(external) Brazil forward Neymar, 22, who scored four goals in five games at the 2014 World Cup, will not be a true footballing star until he wins the tournament, says Brazil coach Dunga.(Daily Mail)(external) Everton manager Roberto Martinez is eager to take the pressure off the clubs £28m record signing Romelu Lukaku, 21, who failed to score in the opening day 2-2 draw with Leicester City.(Guardian)(external) Senegal striker Demba Ba, 29, who left Chelsea to join Besiktas in the summer, insists he only struggled at Stamford Bridge because manager Jose Mourinho picked players on reputation rather than performance. (Sun - subscription only)(external) BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA Daniel Sturridge thanked his Liverpool team-mates after scoring the winner against Southampton Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo, 29, stripped down to purple underwear to take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge craze on Twitter(external) and raise money for charity. Liverpool match-winner Daniel Sturridgetweeted(external) to declare himself a happy fella after the 2-1 win against Southampton and thanked his team-mates for helping him to his first goal of the season. AND FINALLY An over-eager fan ran onto the pitch and kissed Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero after he sealed a 2-0 win at Newcastle United and then asked for his shirt. (Daily Mirror
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 07:56:22 +0000