BBC
Napoli are interested in England forward Mason Greenwood, who is on loan at Getafe from Manchester United, but may face competition from Juventus if they want to sign the 22-year-old. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)
Atletico Madrid are also keen on signing Greenwood. (Star)
Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel wants the club to give assurances that they will bring in a defensive midfielder and a playmaker in the summer before he commits to changing his mind and staying with the Bundesliga side beyond the end of the season, with Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes, 29, a target. (Independent)
United are interested in signing 18-year-old French defender Leny Yoro from Lille. (Give Me Sport)
Chelsea, along with French club Paris St-Germain, see the signing of Napoli and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 25, as a priority this summer. (Caught Offside)
Real Madrid have cooled their interest in 23-year-old Canada left-back Alphonso Davies, whose contract with Bayern Munich runs out in summer 2025. (COPE - in Spanish)
Napoli are looking at 20-year-old Atletico Madrid forward Samu Omorodion, who has been on loan at Alaves this season, as a possible replacement for Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, 25. (Sky Sports Italy)
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has the support of prominent figures at the club prior to an end-of-season review that will determine his future at Stamford Bridge. (Guardian)
Chelsea and England midfielder Conor Gallagher is not interested in moving to Newcastle United, who are long-standing admirers of the 24-year-old, this summer. (Football Insider)
Real Madrid are set to offer Espanyol 1.5m euros (£1.29m) to keep 34-year-old Spanish striker Joselu on loan before deciding whether to sign him permanently over the summer. (Sport - in Spanish)
Aston Villa's 31-year-old Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who is currently on loan at Al-Duhail SC in Qatar, could rejoin his former team Vasco da Gama in a loan deal with an obligation to buy for £5m. (TNT Sports Brazil, via Mail)
Juventus are considering whether to sack manager Massimiliano Allegri, despite lifting their first major trophy in three years with victory in the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday. (Sky Italia - in Italian)
Juve have offered Bologna's Thiago Motta a three-year deal to replace Allegri as their new manager. (Fabrizio Romano)
Sheffield United are planning a move for Nottingham Forest's English defender Joe Worrall, 27. (Team Talk)
Sunderland will demand a fee of £12m for midfielder English Jobe Bellingham, 18, who is of interest to brother Jude's former club Borussia Dortmund. (Football Insider)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY MIRROR
Thomas Tuchel wants Bayern Munich to try and sign Bruno Fernandes from Manchester United if he is going to perform a U-turn and commit his future to the German club.
Cole Palmer has backed Mauricio Pochettino to stay as Chelsea manager next season.
Ange Postecoglou's prickly attitude after Tottenham's defeat to Manchester City tracks back to staff members joking they should play a youth team against the reigning champions.
THE SUN
Arsenal are in pole position to sign RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, according to reports.
Aston Villa are set to sell at least one star name this summer despite bagging a £50m Champions League payday.
PSG are eyeing Jean-Philippe Mateta - as Crystal Palace brace themselves for losing up to four key players this summer.
Harry Maguire wants to scrap VAR for penalties and red cards - and only keep it for offsides.
Liam Rosenior has turned down the chance to make an immediate return to management with Plymouth, according to reports.
Premier League clubs will be blocked from taking competitive games abroad by the new Football Regulator.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Wolves have warned that the Premier League could be "irrevocably damaged" if clubs do not ditch VAR, urging rivals to listen to their fans.
Premier League referees will make on-field VAR announcements next season that will be broadcast over stadium public address systems, under new plans by Craig Pawson to make the process more transparent to match-going fans.
West Ham striker Michail Antonio has revealed he is having therapy after falling out of love with football.
Exeter Chiefs left supporters panicking over the future of England centre Henry Slade after posting an ambiguous video that was branded "pathetic" on the club's social media regarding his contract extension.
DAILY MAIL
Luke Shaw is a doubt to make England's European Championships squad after Erik ten Hag revealed the left-back is still struggling with a muscle problem.
Newcastle United will be based at the state-of-the-art Adidas headquarters in Germany this summer.
Professional Fighters League (PFL) founder Donn Davis, believes an agreement could be reached for Francis Ngannou to one day fight Jon Jones and says the bout could take place in Saudi Arabia.
A number of top-flight clubs want the Premier League to widen their referees pool to allow Europe's elite officials to take charge of matches.
Xavi's Barcelona future has been plunged into fresh chaos after the Catalan manager angered board members with his recent comments about the club's economic situation, according to reports.
THE GUARDIAN
Mauricio Pochettino has the support of key figures at Chelsea before an end-of-season review that will determine his future.
Lando Norris returns to racing after his first Formula 1 win confident he and his McLaren team are in a position to begin a challenge for the world title against Max Verstappen.
THE TIMES
Kieran Trippier has criticised Newcastle United's decision to go to Australia three days after the Premier League season ends to play two friendlies against Tottenham Hotspur and the A-League All Stars, calling the timing "not ideal".
DAILY EXPRESS
Uncertainty reigns at Manchester United with captain Bruno Fernandes reportedly among a host of first-team players 'disgruntled' by the approach of INEOS.
Former Premier League star Hatem Ben Arfa is excelling in the burgeoning sport of padel after seemingly hanging up his boots.
THE ATHLETIC
Brazil striker Endrick sustained a minor thigh injury after being forced off on a stretcher while playing for Palmeiras on Wednesday night.
Chelsea are set to sign 19-year-old Barcelona midfielder Julia Bartel.
Spain's former men's national team director Albert Luque and their former marketing director Ruben Rivera have been sacked as part of the fallout from former president Luis Rubiales' kiss on Jennifer Hermoso.
The Athletic
How Tim Steidten won the power battle with David Moyes – and what to expect next
By Roshane Thomas
Internally, West Ham United believe the best is yet to come and expect a busy summer, with Tim Steidten tasked with building the squad.
With David Moyes set to leave at the end of the season, technical director Steidten has been given carte blanche over player recruitment.
Moyes and Steidten often disagreed on transfer targets. In January, Moyes pushed hard to sign Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City with no option to buy. Steidten never favoured loan deals with no option to buy. Phillips made three starts and returned to Manchester City having sustained a calf injury in training.
Moyes and Steidten’s relationship initially became fractious during last summer’s transfer window. Moyes wanted to sign players with Premier League experience, while it was Steidten’s preference to explore the European market. Following the 2-2 draw against Liverpool last month, Moyes banned Steidten from entering the first-team dressing room at the London Stadium and training ground at Rush Green until the end of the season.
But Steidten has won the power struggle and been given the keys to build West Ham. His brother Moritz joined in February as head of international scouting and recruitment from Werder Bremen. Steidten, whose office is at the training ground, recommended Maximilian Hahn, who joined as head of technical scouting and analysis from the German side. The use of casual scouts across Europe has been more frequent following his arrival.
Last summer, Steidten played an important role in the arrivals of Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos. Having hired private jets for representatives of the two players, Steidten’s sales pitch and willingness to go the extra mile won them over.
For example, before Kudus joined, Steidten flew to Bulgaria to watch the Ghanaian score a hat-trick in the first leg of Ajax’s Europa League qualifying play-off tie against Ludogorets. Two days later, Kudus and Steidten flew from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to Stansted, an hour’s drive north of London, by private jet, arriving at 10am. From there, Kudus visited West Ham’s training ground to complete his medical. He has scored 13 goals and registered six assists this season.
Steidten’s track record at Leverkusen shows he can recruit well, following the additions of Jeremie Frimpong, Moussa Diaby (now at Aston Villa), Edmond Tapsoba and Piero Hincapie between 2019 and 23.
Crucially, in October, he also accelerated contract talks with Jarrod Bowen, who signed a seven-year deal.
July will be one year since Steidten arrived from Leverkusen, having rejected an offer from an unnamed Premier League club to join West Ham. “I am at every game and every training session because I feel that I am in the right place, in the right league,” Steidten told NWZ Online in April.
“I would have been one of several directors there (at the other Premier League club). I wanted to have full responsibility. I wanted to have full control. It was a stark change for all three (Steidten, David Sullivan and Moyes). David Moyes, I think, noticed through my transfers that my work was important. I learned an incredible amount from him when it comes to perspectives on football.”
Steidten’s impact behind the scenes has grown to the level where the board favours Steidten having full control, with a head coach who has less influence over transfers.
Julen Lopetegui’s arrival will be the first time in West Ham’s 129-year history that they have appointed someone without the manager’s title for the men’s team. West Ham are expected to announce him as Moyes’ replacement at the end of the season. The 57-year-old Spaniard has been on West Ham’s radar for more than eight months, having been out of work since leaving Wolves in August, just days before their first game of the season.
Lopetegui, a former Spain and Real Madrid manager, is looking forward to working under Steidten. He has previously worked under Monchi at Sevilla and has no issues with the technical director model. And as far as the German is concerned, Lopetegui was always his No 1 choice.
Steidten drew up a list of managers to interview, with the hierarchy involved in his selection. Steidten held talks with Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim, Lopetegui and the former Germany manager Hansi Flick. But it was Lopetegui who impressed most when he outlined his long-term vision for the club.
The Athletic previously mentioned that part of his sales pitch was pushing for West Ham to become a club capable of qualifying for the Champions League. Lopetegui plans on using promising prospects in the academy and wants the core of the team to remain the same. Besides Lucas Paqueta, he does not intend to lose other star players.
Lopetegui turned down offers from Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad and La Liga side Villarreal. He spoke to Nottingham Forest after Steve Cooper was sacked in December and with Crystal Palace before they hired Oliver Glasner. While discussions advanced with the latter, they never reached any agreement. Lopetegui also held talks with Bayern Munich about replacing Thomas Tuchel, who will leave the German side this summer.
Steidten’s stock has grown and he was linked with the sporting director role at Liverpool following Jorg Schmadtke’s departure at the end of the January transfer window. However, West Ham have not received any approaches and it would require a substantial compensation package to take him from them.
Many outgoings are expected this summer, with Manchester City likely to revive their interest in Paqueta, while clubs could explore signing Kudus. Angelo Ogbonna and Ben Johnson are set to depart when their contracts expire at the end of the season, while Thilo Kehrer, Said Benrahma, Nayef Aguerd and Flynn Downes are open to leaving.
Although there will be a lot of pressure on Steidten this summer, his track record gives plenty of reasons to be hopeful. So far, he has given us few reasons to doubt him.
Sport Witness
‘Very interested’ – Tottenham, Aston Villa and West Ham set up for signing battle, ‘lottery’ for club
By Naveen Ullal
Last month, Sporx reported Aston Villa had sent their scout to watch Barış Alper Yılmaz. The Villans are now joined by Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United in the chase for the Galatasaray player.
That’s according to Milliyet, who say Tottenham, Aston Villa and West Ham are following the 23-year-old.
This season, Barış Alper Yılmaz has mainly been used on both wings, managing seven goals and 12 assists.
The report says he has impressed in each position he operated and this has caught the attention of clubs in England, Italy and France.
For the former, Tottenham, Aston Villa and West Ham are all tagged, and it’s claimed the representatives from these clubs will be in Istanbul on Sunday to monitor him closely against Fenerbahçe.
Milliyet further add ‘like English clubs, the Italian teams are also very interested’, meaning the Premier League trio are keen on the versatile player. As well as Tottenham, Aston Villa and West Ham, the Turkey international is also followed by Juventus, AS Roma and Lille.
With several clubs in the picture this could be a ‘lottery’ for Galatasaray and they expect €20m to sanction Barış Alper Yılmaz’s sale.
GFF
Thilo Kehrer confirms permanent move from West Ham to AS Monaco
Thilo Kehrer (27) has confirmed that his loan move from West Ham United to AS Monaco will be made permanent at the end of the season.
The German defender joined the Principality club on a loan deal with an option to buy. Since his arrival, he has established himself as a regular starter in Adi Hütter’s side, making 17 appearances in all competitions. Ahead of the final game of the Ligue 1 season, Kehrer has now confirmed that he will remain with Monaco.
“I am delighted to announce that we will continue our adventure together. Next season I will be here and I am very happy about that. The purchase option has been triggered,” began Kehrer in a press conference, attended by Get French Football News.
He added, “There is a lot of potential here. We can achieve something big with this team.” Kehrer, who will compete in the UEFA Champions League with Monaco next season, has revealed that he has signed a deal with Les Monégasques that runs until 2028.
Fabrizio Romano
@FabrizioRomano
AS Monaco trigger the buy option clause for Thilo Kehrer to stay at the club on permanent deal from West Ham.
#WHUFC are set to receive fee around €11m.
Sport Witness
West Ham join Brighton in race for Bundesliga talent – Competition growing for cheap summer option
By Lucas Sposito
West Ham United seem to have joined Brighton & Hove Albion in the hunt for Hertha Berlin youngster Ibrahim Maza.
It’s German newspaper Bild who feature a story claiming the Bundesliga side should soon have to deal with the big interest that some of their players have been drawing.
Hertha Berlin will have to make some sales to balance their finances this summer, and despite their wish to hold their big talents, some sales may be inevitable.
Maza is one of those players, with Bild claiming that the likes of West Ham, Brighton, Brentford and Leicester City have been interested in him, having recently watched him in Germany. Other Bundesliga clubs such as Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg are said to be keen as well.
The outlet claims the midfielder has a market value of €1.5m, although it seems like this big race can surely give Hertha Berlin a chance to make a bigger sale.
Back in March, the very same Bild had already reported Brighton’s interest in Maza, claiming the 17-year-old was in the Seagulls’ list. Now they’ll have to face a much bigger competition against West Ham and others.
