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BBC
The Football Association wants Gareth Southgate to stay on as England manager even if the team lose the Euro 2024 final against Spain on Sunday. (Mail), external
The USA have made former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp their top candidate to replace Gregg Berhalter. (Independent), external
Klopp is not interested in the USA role and would like a break from management. (Athletic - subscription), external
Klopp is also wanted by his native Germany. (Team Talk), external
Al-Ittihad are closing in on Aston Villa's 25-year-old France winger Moussa Diaby. (Yahoo), external
Al-Ittihad are in talks with Manchester United's 32-year-old Brazil midfielder Casemiro. (L'Equipe - in French), external
Bayern Munich's 24-year-old Netherlands defender Matthijs de Ligt wants to join Manchester United immediately. (Sky Sports), external
Bayern want 50m euros (£42.1m) for De Ligt. (90min), external
Paris St-Germain have offered €70m for Portugal international midfielder Joao Neves compared to Manchester United's €60m but Benfica want a fee closer to the 19-year-old's €120m release clause. (A Bola - in Portuguese)
Arsenal's offer for Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori is €40m plus €10m in add-ons but Bologna want €50m plus a percentage of any future sale as negotiations between the two clubs continue. (Sky Sports Italia), external
Crystal Palace are determined not to sell 26-year-old England winger Eberechi Eze to Tottenham or Manchester United. (Football Insider), external
Nice are interested in Luton Town's 22-year-old English defender Teden Mengi. (Foot Mercato - in French), external
Arsenal have submitted an opening bid for Ajax's 18-year-old English goalkeeper Tommy Setford. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Benfica have turned down offers by from Paris St-Germain and Manchester United for 19-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Neves. (A Bola - in Portuguese), external
AC Milan are interested in RB Salzburg's 23-year-old Serbia defender Strahinja Pavlovic, who is also wanted by Newcastle. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external
West Ham have fended off interest from Manchester City and will keep 16-year-old English midfielder Chinaza Nwosu at their academy. (Football Insider), external
Chelsea have ended their pursuit of Atletico Madrid's 20-year-old Spanish striker Samu Omorodion. (Marca - in Spanish)
Sky Paper Talk
THE TIMES
The FA will launch a charm offensive designed to persuade Gareth Southgate to remain as England manager regardless of the outcome of the European Championship final against Spain.
THE SUN
Manchester United are lining up a shock move for Netherlands Euro 2024 hero Xavi Simons.
Patrick Vieira is high on US Football's wanted list in the race to replace axed coach Gregg Berhalter.
Dani Olmo's admirers, who include Manchester United, have been given another five days to trigger his £55m release clause - thanks to Spain's run to the Euros final.
Darts chiefs ripped up their schedule for the World Matchplay after England's Euros heroics, bringing forward both Sunday sessions at Blackpool so fans do not miss the 8pm final with Spain.
THE INDEPENDENT
Jurgen Klopp has rejected an initial approach by the United States looking to make him the new manager of the men's national team.
DAILY MAIL
England are set to enjoy huge support at Sunday's Euro 2024 final - with early indications suggesting as many as 50,000 could be backing Gareth Southgate's team when they face Spain in the Olympiastadion.
Liverpool officials plan to hold immediate talks with Darwin Nunez and the Uruguayan Football Federation (UFF) after the Reds' 25-year-old forward charged into the Copa America crowd in Charlotte on Wednesday.
One of England's Euro 2024 stars Jude Bellingham could require shoulder surgery in the coming weeks after officials from his club Real Madrid watched the midfielder at Wednesday's semi-final victory over the Netherlands.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
England will head to a Downing Street reception on Monday before an open-top bus parade to Buckingham Palace the following day if they win the European Championship on Sunday.
DAILY EXPRESS
Newcastle have joined West Ham in the race to sign Lille's Canada striker Jonathan David.
EVENING STANDARD
Manchester United are set for talks with Ferdi Kadioglu's camp over his transfer from Fenerbahce.
Chelsea are among the frontrunners to sign Maximilian Beier from Hoffenheim.
PSG have offered a whopping £170m to sign Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Khvaratskhelia from Napoli.
THE ATHLETIC
Erling Haaland will be the most expensive Fantasy Premier League asset ever after his price rose for the 2024-25 season.
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk said he will consider his club and international future following Netherlands' Euro 2024 semi-final defeat by England.
Athletic Bilbao president Jon Uriarte has criticised the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for not "protecting" Nico Williams from an "uncontrolled and unreasonable" amount of questions about his club future during the European Championship.
The Athletic
West Ham’s striker hunt is the transfer business they must to get right this summer
By Roshane Thomas
It was a goal that displayed brilliant technical ability, one which has become the trademark finish of the striker who scored it and that had West Ham United still ruing their failed move for Ollie Watkins in January 2020.
That was when West Ham, then managed by David Moyes, first expressed an interest in signing Watkins from fellow London side Brentford, who were then in the second-tier Championship. Four and a half years later, and the now Aston Villa striker’s 90th-minute winner against the Netherlands on Wednesday, which saw England advance to the final of the European Championship, was a reminder of what West Ham could have had.
They wanted to augment their striking options as then club-record signing Sebastien Haller (signed for £45million from Eintracht Frankfurt the previous July) had struggled to adapt to English football, but Brentford were reluctant to sell.
West Ham signed wide man Jarrod Bowen from another Championship side, Hull City, instead during that winter window and while the 27-year-old has become one of their leading lights and is also in the England squad in Germany this summer, he is not a recognised centre-forward. In truth, up front remains an area of the field West Ham are still trying to get right.
Moyes’ successor this summer, new head coach Julen Lopetegui, will hope he has better success with his hunt for a striker than the Scot did.
Although he has his sights set on a Villa forward, the man he’s after is not a prolific, reliable goalscorer in the same fashion as team-mate Watkins.
That man is Jhon Duran, a largely unproven 20-year-old who has scored eight goals in 49 appearances since joining Villa from MLS side Chicago Fire in January last year. Lopetegui and Tim Steidten, West Ham’s technical director, have identified Duran as their main offensive transfer target this summer. West Ham’s interest in the Colombia international dates back to January, when Villa rejected a loan offer. That bid included an option to buy but Villa weren’t prepared to do business.
Colombia have qualified for the Copa America final against holders Argentina on Sunday (early Monday UK time) but Duran has played for only 13 minutes at the tournament and been an unused substitute in four of their five matches. Having previously linked with Chelsea and Italy’s AC Milan, Villa manager Unai Emery is open to Duran leaving and the player wants more first-team opportunities but, last season, there were concerns over his physical condition after he returned to England after international duty.
West Ham can ill-afford to get this wrong, with the signing of Gianluca Scamacca in summer 2022 a case in point.
The Italy international joined from Sassuolo in his homeland for £30.5million. There was excitement over his arrival, with Scamacca having been the second-highest Italian scorer in Serie A the previous season with 16 goals from 36 appearances.
But within months, coaches at West Ham became concerned about his physical condition — Scamacca completed the 90 minutes in just three of his first 20 appearances. In the May of that season, fellow West Ham striker Michail Antonio infamously said that Scamacca did not suit Moyes’ style of play when appearing on the Filthy Fellas podcast. The Italian was sold back to Serie A, joining Atalanta, just over two months later.
Lopetegui plans on playing a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 system. West Ham’s summer targets also include Youssef En-Nesyri, of Spain’s Sevilla, French club Lens’ Elye Wahi and Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson. They have not made any approaches for Brentford’s England international Ivan Toney. Jota Silva joining from Portugal’s Vitoria Guimaraes seems unlikely with West Ham having signed fellow winger Luis Guilherme of Palmeiras in Brazil.
“We’re trying to build up the squad,” said Steidten, speaking at Lopetegui’s introductory press conference this month. “We’re not limiting ourselves to one position (forward) — we’re looking at all areas.
“England is our home ground, so we have to be in that market if possible. We are looking elsewhere, too. That’s part of our job: to find the right players for West Ham. It will be a busy summer for me and Julen. We don’t have to sell in order to buy players this summer.”
West Ham are currently in Austria for pre-season training, and Danny Ings is their only recognised striker at the moment. Young forward Divin Mubama was released, having rejected multiple contract offers. The other noticeable attacking departure this summer was Said Benrahma to French side Lyon.
The club are yet to receive any approaches for Ings. Lopetegui was interested in signing the striker from Aston Villa when he was manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the 31-year-old former England international has scored just four goals in 52 appearances since joining from Villa in January last year.
“It’s been frustrating for me, but it has been frustrating for the fans as well, because I’ve not played much, and (have) not been able to score goals,” Ings told West Ham’s website earlier this week. “But I know I am still capable of that, so hopefully I will get more opportunities to try to showcase myself and show the fans I really do care, and really do want to be successful here.”
Antonio will return to training at a later date, having been in Jamaica’s squad at Copa America. The 34-year-old faces an uncertain future, with West Ham rejecting an offer from Brazilian side Gremio last month. He has also attracted interest from clubs in MLS and the Saudi Pro League.
West Ham’s No 1 goalscorer in Premier League play, Antonio got seven goals across 30 appearances last season. He will soon enter the final year of his deal, which does not include a one-year option to extend it.
For a number of seasons, there has been a heavy reliance on Antonio as West Ham’s lone striker. His unique playing style has made it hard for the club to recruit a similar replacement. In the past three years, there have been failed moves for Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy, Armando Broja of Chelsea, Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke, Corinthians’ Yuri Alberto, Terem Moffi of Nice, Darwin Nunez (then of Benfica, now at Liverpool), Julien Alvarez (then of River Plate, now with Manchester City) and also Luis Diaz before he moved from Porto to Anfield.
Steidten has backed Lopetegui with the signings of Wes Foderingham, Guilherme and £40million Wolves defender Max Kilman. The task of landing a proven striker will be his most important challenge yet.
Sport Witness
West Ham ‘have moved’ for signing – Set to rival Everton for summer deal
West Ham United ‘have moved’ to try and sign Hellas Verona defender Jackson Tchatchoua and look likely to rival Everton for his signature.
That’s according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who say the Cameroonian Is popular in the Premier League and both Everton and West Ham have shown an interest.
The newspaper reports that West Ham ‘have moved’ for the defender, who is valued at €8m by the Italian club.
They only signed the 22-year-old on a permanent basis this summer, paying €3m to get him from Charleroi in Belgium after a successful loan spell last season.
But they’re now eyeing an immediate €5m profit on him thanks to interest from the Premier League, where Everton and West Ham are keen.
The Toffees were the first to show an interest in him when it was reported earlier this month that they had shown an interest, with that followed up by another report earlier this week that they were ‘ready to buy’ him.
Now West Ham appear to have entered the race, with Gazzetta reporting that they ‘have moved’ for the defender and are ready to rival Everton for him.
Whether that means they’ve lodged a formal bid or simply been in contact isn’t mentioned but we’ll assume the latter given it’s not specifically stated otherwise.
Either way, Jackson Tchatchoua now has two Premier League clubs in his talk and with an €8m asking price, it’s easy to imagine both stepping up their interest.
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