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BBC:
RB Leipzig and Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol, 21, is close to a record £86m move to Manchester City. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Fulham manager Marco Silva, 45, has turned down a £17m contract offer from the Saudi Pro League. (iNews - subscription required)
Paris St-Germain and France forward Kylian Mbappe, 24, wants a package worth at least £206m to join any club this summer. (Mail)
Aymeric Laporte is attracting interest from Arsenal and Juventus, with the 29-year-old France centre-back facing an uncertain future at Manchester City. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
AC Milan have made a bid of 14m euros for Chelsea and USA winger Christian Pulisic, 24. (The Athletic - subscription required)
Manchester City are keen to keep England right-back Kyle Walker, 33, who has been the subject of interest from Bayern Munich, and will offer the defender a new contract. (Fabrizio Romano)
Brentford have agreed a club-record fee of £23m to sign 22-year-old Republic of Ireland centre-back Nathan Collins from Wolves. (Sky Sports)
Serie A champions Napoli have seen a bid of 35m euros rejected by Wolves for another of their centre-backs, 26-year-old English centre-back Max Kilman. (The Athletic - subscription required)
Former Fulham loanee Manor Solomon, 23, is set to join Tottenham, with the Londoners agreeing a five-year deal with the Israel international due to his contract with Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk being suspended. (The Athletic - subscription required)
West Ham have made a formal approach for Leeds United's 24-year-old America midfielder Tyler Adams. (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Luton Town are in talks with Birmingham City to sign Dutch winger Tahith Chong, 23, from the Championship club. (Mail)
Former Manchester United and Nottingham Forest midfielder Jesse Lingard, 30, is training with MLS side Inter Miami, following Wayne Rooney denying the England international will join DC United. (Mirror)
Former Juventus, Paris St-Germain and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, 45, has been offered a £25m-a-year deal to move to the Saudi Pro League. (Mail)
Benfica are close to signing Juventus' 35-year-old winger Angel Di Maria, who won the 2022 World Cup with Argentina. (Fabrizio Romano)
Sergio Ramos, 37, has been identified as the next target for Inter Miami, with the MLS club keen on the former Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain centre-back after the Spain international recently became a free agent. (Mirror)
Former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos will cost Nottingham Forest 'between £13m and £17m' if he arrives from Stuttgart, with Eintracht Frankfurt and Napoli also interested in the 25-year-old Greece international. (Mail)
SKY PAPER TALK:
THE SUN
Manchester United are preparing a second bid of £40m to land Rasmus Hojlund.
David De Gea is a target for Cristiano Ronaldo's club Al Nassr as his Manchester United career hits breaking point.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed where the Catalans are in the chase for Fenerbache's Arda Guler.
Kylian Mbappe is considered a "prisoner of money" by Real Madrid chiefs, according to reports.
DAILY MAIL
Kylian Mbappe is reportedly requesting a salary package worth €240m (£206m) if he is to join any club this summer.
Gianluigi Buffon has reportedly been offered a lucrative deal to continue his career in Saudi Arabia.
DAILY MIRROR
Manchester United have launched a surprise move for Feyenoord keeper Justin Bijlow, with Financial Fair Play restricting Erik ten Hag's search for a new shot-stopper.
Roma are eyeing up a shock move for Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood this summer.
THE ATHLETIC
Watford and PAOK are in advanced talks over the sale of William Troost-Ekong.
Southampton are set to sign former Chelsea defender Derrick Abu.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have turned down a €35m (£30m) offer from Napoli for Maximilian Kilman.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Newcastle United are looking into possible loan signings this summer with Manchester City's Kalvin Phillips and Chelsea's Conor Gallagher both of interest, but they appear to have reached a stalemate in their negotiations with Southampton over Tino Livramento.
THE GUARDIAN
THE GUARDIAN
The PGA Tour regarded the European Tour Group as an "underinvested and borderline distressed asset" during analysis aimed at facilitating a merger between the parties last year.
United States winger Tim Weah completed a transfer to Juventus on Saturday, fulfilling a dream his father once had of playing for the storied Italian club.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester City are in advanced talks to sign Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig.
Manchester United have been trying to hijack Barcelona's deal for Vitor Roque at the 11th hour.
Barcelona are in the hunt to sign Fenerbahce starlet Arda Guler.
EVENING STANDARD
Chelsea are set to continue talks over a deal for Moises Caicedo.
THE GUARDIAN
The PGA Tour regarded the European Tour Group as an "underinvested and borderline distressed asset" during analysis aimed at facilitating a merger between the parties last year.
United States winger Tim Weah completed a transfer to Juventus on Saturday, fulfilling a dream his father once had of playing for the storied Italian club.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester City are in advanced talks to sign Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig.
Manchester United have been trying to hijack Barcelona's deal for Vitor Roque at the 11th hour.
Barcelona are in the hunt to sign Fenerbahce starlet Arda Guler.
EVENING STANDARD
Chelsea are set to continue talks over a deal for Moises Caicedo.
HAMMERS NEWS:
West Ham United are reportedly keen to sign Danilho Doekhi from Union Berlin this summer.
According to Voetbal International, West Ham are battling Roma for the signature of Danilho Doekhi giant Union Berlin defender in the summer transfer window.
Hammers boss David Moyes really needs to strengthen his central defensive ranks at the London Stadium this summer.
Craig Dawson was sold in January, whilst Angelo Ogbonna probably only has one season left at the very highest level. Meanwhile, Kurt Zouma continues to struggle with injury problems.
And it seems as though Moyes has a specific player in mind to bolster his defensive options this summer…
Voetbal International reckon that the Hammers are keen to sign the Dutchman, but Roma want him as well.
Doekhi would be a great addition for us – he is big and powerful, incredibly strong and dominant in the air and is tenacious in the tackle with decent pace.
He is a huge threat from set pieces – something that will see him fit right in at the London Stadium. In 25 Bundesliga games for Union Berlin last season, he bagged five goals and one assist (Who Scored) – not bad for a centre-back!
During those appearances, the 25-year-old averaged 1.5 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 3.6 clearances and 2.4 successful aerial duels per game (Who Scored).
I believe that Danilho Doekhi would be the perfect long-term replacement for Ogbonna at West Ham, and he’d certainly be a useful backup for Kurt Zouma as well.
Whether the Hammers manage to beat Roma to the Union Berlin ace’s signature this summer remains to be seen though.
LEEDS LIVE:
Tyler Adams is one of a number of first-team stars who is unlikely to remain at Elland Road for the new season. The USA international impressed in his debut campaign in the Premier League, and his absence during the relegation run-in due to injury was a huge blow.
Leeds landed Adams in a deal worth around £20 million from RB Leipzig last summer in the wake of Kalvin Phillips departure. The USA international has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs in recent weeks, including Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
Now, West Ham have made an initial 'approach' for Adams among a number of defensive midfielders, according to the Mail Online. David Moyes' side are preparing for the impending exit of Declan Rice, with the club captain set to seal a £105m transfer to Arsenal.
No valuation is given in the report for Adams, with Alex Scott, James Ward-Prowse, and Denis Zakaria also said to be under consideration. Adams still has four years to run on his contract.
O/S:
Ben Johnson helped England U21s reach the last-four of the 2023 UEFA European U21 Championship finals with a 1-0 quarter-final victory over Portugal.
The West Ham United defender appeared as a second-half substitute as the Young Lions continued their perfect start to the tournament in Georgia on Sunday.
Newcastle United winger Anthony Gordon scored England’s goal eleven minutes before half-time, smashing into the Portuguese net after build-up play involving Chelsea’s Noni Madueke and Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.
Portugal came on strong in the second half, hitting the crossbar through a header from Henrique Araujo of Benfica, and England coach Lee Carsley sent on defensive reinforcements to help see the game out.
Among them was Johnson, who replaced Norwich City’s Max Aarons 16 minutes from time in Kutaisi to win his tenth England U21 cap.
The Hammer was involved immediately, being shown a yellow card for a foul on Ajax forward Francisco Conceição just three minutes after his introduction.
But, more importantly, the full-back helped England hold on to win their fourth match out of four at the tournament, all of them achieved without conceding a single goal.
Carsley’s Young Lions will take on Israel in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Johnson started as England defeated the same opponents 2-0 in their final group-stage tie, but will miss the last-four clash through suspension after being booked for the second time in the tournament.
England are seeking just their third European U21 Championship title and the first since 1984.
The other semi-final will see Spain take on either France or Ukraine, with the final taking place in Batumi on Saturday 8 July.
O/S:
TIM BREAKER'S SCRAPBOOK
Former West Ham United defender Tim Breacker, who made 296 appearances for the Club between 1990-1999, celebrates his 58th birthday on Sunday 2 July.
The right-back recalls his favourite memories in Claret and Blue...
FRANK ADVICE
I’ve always been tagged as Billy Bonds’ first-ever signing and I still look back with immense pride that such a great professional and a great bloke wanted me to be a part of his team.
Although I was playing in the top-flight for Luton Town, it was an easy decision to drop down a division to sign for West Ham United in October 1990. They’d been unbeaten in their opening 10 games and had just hammered Hull City 7-1. I certainly wasn’t going to walk straight into the side but, when Julian Dicks limped off injured just before half-time, I finally came on for my debut at Swindon Town. And, on 83 minutes, my fellow substitute Frank McAvennie scored the only goal of the game to keep up an unbeaten run that would go on for 21 matches and, ultimately, see us promoted, come May.
I settled in well and Alvin Martin and Tony Gale made me really welcome, while I quickly became good mates with Steve Potts, too. But it was Frank, who’d made the first real impression, when I bumped into him at the Boleyn Ground following my medical. Here was a goal-scoring legend - starring for a technically-brilliant West Ham United side - who’d played at the World Cup and even been on chat shows.
“Can you tackle?” he asked. “Well, I am a defender,” I replied. “Take my advice,” continued Frank. “Don’t worry about playing the fancy stuff, just launch someone into the Chicken Run and the West Ham fans will love ya.” Welcome to the so-called Academy of Football!
BILLY BONDS’ CLARET & BLUE ARMY
Going into January 1991, we were five points clear at the top of the table and our FA Cup run would be a welcome distraction from the pressures of the promotion race. It took a replay to see off fourth-tier Aldershot in the third round before we faced my old club Luton Town. Three months on, it was surreal returning to Kenilworth Road, where I’d made many friends down the years.
Once again, it took a replay to get through to the fifth round where we beat Crewe Alexandra before playing Everton in the quarter-finals. Floodlit matches at Upton Park were always brilliant but the atmosphere that night was the best I ever experienced. On 33 minutes, my cross enabled Colin Foster to volley us ahead and then Stuart Slater – who was unplayable all evening – doubled the lead after an hour. Dave Watson pulled one back but it was too late for Howard Kendall’s top-flight side.
I’d been struggling with a niggly knee injury and underwent a minor operation fully expecting to be back for the semi-final against Nottingham Forest. Sadly, things didn’t go as planned and I didn’t recover in time. I was devastated to miss out but I still went up to Villa Park and sat in the stands with our fans.
We were holding our own until Galey was controversially sent off and, as everyone knows, although Forest went on to win 4-0, those brilliant Hammers supporters stuck with their team, chanting ‘Billy Bonds Claret & Blue Army’ all the way through to the final whistle. We were gutted to go out of the Cup but our fans were just different class.
ITALIAN JOB
One pre-season game will always stick in my mind. Having just been promoted, the 1991/92 campaign was always going to be a tough one and the writing was probably already on the wall in the Makita Tournament at Highbury, where we lost 1-6 to Sampdoria.
We had a few injuries and I had to move across to centre-half to face Attilio Lombardo and Silas, who had played for Brazil at the 1990 World Cup. Despite the score, I didn’t think that I did too badly but who knows what would’ve happened if Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini had also been fit!
The following season, we found ourselves playing in the Anglo-Italian Cup and our home matches against AC Reggiana and Pisa were really physical, niggly affairs. But it was the two away ties that stick in my memory. In November 1992, we went to Cremonese on a Wednesday afternoon expecting a massive crowd but there were only a few hundred Italians in the tiny attendance of 1,639 that was mainly made up of coach-loads of noisy West Ham supporters, who had incredibly made the long trek and, even though we lost 0-2, they comfortably out-sang those home fans.
One month later, we flew out to Cosenza, where the rain had been bucketing down all day - we had to wade through the tunnel just to get onto the pitch, which was six inches under water. I don’t know how they allowed that match to be played in such impossible conditions but, in the end, with just 850 saturated supporters looking on, Clive Allen somehow managed to receive the ball off the ground and net the winner with a brilliant volley.
STING-RAY
I scored eight goals during my 298 appearances for West Ham United including one against my former club Luton Town in December 1992 and another against Queens Park Rangers, who I would join after eventually leaving the Hammers in 1999.
Back in March 1992, I was coming back from injury and found myself sitting on the Boleyn Ground bench as QPR took a 2-1 lead through Bradley Allen. With 70 minutes now on the clock, Billy Bonds decided to substitute Kevin Keen. “Tim, get yourself on, make some tackles and get us going,” he said.
Sure enough, I wasted no time getting in my first challenge, accidentally catching Ray Wilkins on the head. Apologising, I bent down and patted him without realising that I’d inadvertently touched the actual wound. I’m sure that Ray – who sadly is no longer with us - must have taken some spiteful challenges while playing for the likes of England, Manchester United and AC Milan but there was no absolutely malice in my tackle or that tap on the head.
Ray angrily reared up and suddenly it dawned on me that somehow I’d managed to upset the nicest man in football! While I got booked for my troubles, insult was then added to injury for poor Ray, when – with just a quarter-hour remaining – Bradley’s cousin Martin unleashed a low shot, which crashed back off the far post and I tapped-in give us a 2-2 draw. It had certainly been a busy five minutes.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
My most memorable goal came at Everton on New Year’s Day 1994. West Ham hadn’t won at Goodison Park since 1983 and, on my last appearance up there, I’d been sent off for fouls on Andy Hinchcliffe and then Peter Beagrie, who’d always make the most of any tackle.
Beagrie was a nightmare for any defender because he’d jump out of the way and then roll around on the floor but, equally, he was a very funny lad, too, and there was always good banter whenever we played against each other.
Returning to Merseyside two seasons later, there were just six minutes on the clock when I charged into the Everton area. Catching him by surprise, Beagrie had failed to track back with me and I nodded Mike Marsh’s chip beyond Neville Southall into the net. Not only did that header give us a rare 1-0 victory but I’d also scored the very first Premier League goal of 1994.
All of my wife’s family are Everton fans and just to wind them up, I’ve got a photograph of the goal on the wall in our Leicestershire home. Big Nev and Beagrie are just sitting there on the pitch staring at each other. After my harsh sending off two seasons earlier, I just tell Karen’s family that it was total Karma for me to score that winner at Goodison Park.
SORRY, SIR ALEX
Kenny Brown had famously stopped Manchester United from winning the league back in 1992 and, just three years later, we again threw a spanner in the works for Sir Alex Ferguson, who maintains that it’s the one game of his managerial career that he’d love to change.
After finding ourselves in relegation trouble going into Easter 1995, we thankfully found some form and had beaten eventual champions Blackburn Rovers (2-1) and Liverpool (3-0) in our previous two home matches, leaving us safe heading into the final Sunday afternoon of the 1994/95 season.
Manchester United arrived at the Boleyn Ground knowing that only a win could give them any hope of pipping Rovers to the Premier League title but, in an unbelievable atmosphere, Ludo Miklosko had an absolute blinder in goal, while we defended for our lives to hold out for the 1-1 draw that meant Blackburn were crowned champions. Towards the end of the game, I went up for a challenge with Steve Bruce, who forced my hand onto the ball in our consequent tangling of arms.
United were screaming at Gerald Ashby that it should’ve been a penalty and some of their players came running up to me demanding that I tell the referee that I’d hand-balled it. It’d clearly been accidental and I certainly wasn’t going to admit to something like that in those circumstances.
Nearly 25 years on, I’m Chief Scout at Bolton Wanderers but just a dozen miles down the road in Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson still claims that as well as having 20 goals that afternoon, they should’ve had that penalty, too!
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