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PAPER TALK
Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc has intimated he would like to sign Angel Di Maria from Manchester United.
Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez could be joining MLS side Orlando City.
Raheem Sterling's imminent record-breaking £49m transfer from Liverpool to Manchester City will earn QPR £9m from the deal thanks to a 20% sell-on clause.
Manchester City midfielder David Silva believes a winter break would be good for the Premier League and also benefit the England national team.
Liverpool are now ready to up their attempts to sign Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke after cashing in on Raheem Sterling.
Victor Valdes's agent has confirmed the goalkeeper wants to stay at Manchester United and has no interest in a move to Turkey.
Paris Saint-Germain are set to offer £47m for Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria
Fabian Delph pulled the plug on Manchester City after speaking to former Etihad players Scott Sinclair and Micah Richards.
Norwich City are keeping tabs on Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gayle.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is considering a £20m move for Barcelona’s Pedro.
Tottenham Hotspur are keen on signing Everton duo James McCarthy and Kevin Mirallas.
BBC
Manchester City's attempts to sign Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba are being held up over an issue with the 22-year-old French international's image rights. Pogba will also have to ask for a transfer request to push the move through. (Daily Star)
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho wants to sign forward Pedro, 27, from Barcelona and is willing to meet the Spanish international's £22m buyout clause. (Sport - in Spanish)
Paris St-Germain are interested in signing Argentine winger Angel Di Maria from Manchester United but the French club's manager Laurent Blanc says a deal would be difficult for the 27-year-old due to competition from other clubs and the cost of the player.(L'Equipe - in French)
Manchester United are ready to block 24-year-old goalkeeper David De Gea's proposed move to Real Madrid unless a deal can be done before the club leaves for its tour of the USA. (Sun - subscription required)
The transfer of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City leads the back page of Monday's Daily Star
Southampton hope to sign Netherlands midfielder Jordy Clasie, 24, a as replacement for Manchester United-bound France midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin. (Sun - subscription required)
The arrival of Germany World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger, 30, at Old Trafford can make Manchester United genuine title contenders once again next season. (Daily Telegraph)
New boss Steve McClaren expects Newcastle to finish in the top eight of the Premier League after the club record £14.4m signing of Dutch international midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, 24, from PSV Eindhoven. (Guardian)
Arsenal's Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil, 26, has paid for 11 children to have life-saving surgery in Brazil. (Independent)
Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood has praised captain and England midfielder Fabian Delph, 25, for choosing to stay at Villa rather than join Manchester City. (Birmingham Mail)
Victor Valdes' agent says the Spanish goalkeeper wants to stay at Manchester United. The 33-year-old had been linked with a move to Turkish side Antalyaspor. (AS - in Spanish)
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis says he would sell Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain, who has been linked with Manchester and Arsenal if they meet the 27-year-old's £64.7m buy-out clause. (Daily Express)
QPR will pocket £9m from Raheem Sterling's imminent £49m transfer from Liverpool to Manchester City. The England winger, aged 20, was signed by Liverpool for £500,000 in 2010 but a 20% sell-on clause was part of the deal. (Daily Mail)
Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge believes the Reds are better off without Manchester City-bound Raheem Sterling and that £49m is overpriced for the England forward. (Skysports)
Benjamin Stambouli will become the second Tottenham player to join Watford this summer as the 24-year-old French midfielder is set to join the Hornets for £4m. (Mirror)
West Brom are interested in QPR winger Matt Phillips, 24, and are prepared to pay £10m for the Scottish international. Manager Tony Pulis is also keen on Nottingham Forest winger Michail Antonio, 25.(Mirror)
Iker Casillas' parents have blamed Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for the Spanish goalkeeper's departure to Porto. The 34-year-old's mother also labels the Portuguese side a second division team, adding that her son deserves better. (El Mundo - in Spanish)
Crystal Palace's Scott Dann is to sign new deal to stay at Selhurst Park. The 28-year-old English defender had been a target for Everton. (Croydon Advertiser)
GUARDIAN RUMOUR MILL
Peter Butler
In April 1964, Matt Busby and Bill Shankly got together for a chat. Phil Chisnall was a promising young inside forward at Manchester United but with Denis Law, David Herd, Bobby Charlton, George Best, Nobby Stiles and Johnny Giles ahead of him in the pecking order at Old Trafford, he was struggling to get a game and a transfer to Merseyside seemed a better fit for all parties.
Busby told me that he had received an offer from Shanks, but that there was no pressure for me to go. I was only 22 and, rightly or wrongly, made the decision to move. I thought that I would get in the Liverpool team and my career would pick up again. But it was special sitting in the room with Busby and Shankly as they negotiated my future between them.
A month later, Liverpool would clinch the First Division title (despite only being promoted in 1964), four points ahead of second-placed United. Chisnall was the last player to be directly transferred between the two clubs. That was 51 years ago. Fifty-one! But reader, sharpen your quills and prepare to re-write the history books because United’s Javier Hernández has been linked with a move to Anfield.
Having had a reasonably successful loan spell last season with Real Madrid, the Mexican had looked set for a move to Sevilla, but the Andalusians have instead opted to sign Ciro Immobile on loan from Borussia Dortmund. And with Liverpool set for a Raheem Sterling-shaped boost to their coffers, they appear to have moved to the front of queue and now only have to see off other interest from … Orlando City. So we’ll wait and see who wins that tug of war.
Manchester United identify Edinson Cavani as Robin van Persie replacement
If those dealings are a break with tradition, Arsène Wenger is heading down the well-trodden path of trying to sign a young French player for Arsenal. Juventus’Kingsley Coman has been deemed to have the goods and the north London club have made an enquiry to sign the 19-year-old, according to reports in Italy. Coman only signed for the Serie A champs from PSG last season and the Italian club are said to be reluctant to sell the midfielder, who could play a more prominent role if either Paul Pogba or Arturo Vidal actually leave.
Hot manager chat: Leicester want Marseille’s Marcelo Bielsa! Quite why a 59-year-old would want to swap the south of France for the east Midlands is beyond the Mill, but with the Argentinian maestro out of contract, Leicester are doing their best to convince Bielsa that looking after Danny Simpson and co is a worthy use of his time. And if that deals goes kaput, the club can always turn to Peter Schmeichel, who has reportedly thrown a metaphorical hat into a metaphorical ring.
Elsewhere, Tottenham want Everton duo Kevin Mirallas and James McCarthy, while Southampton are closing in on Feyenoord captain Jordy Clasie, who has confirmed that he will miss the club’s upcoming pre-season friendly to complete the T-crossing and I-dotting.
CLARET & HUGH
Mattia Destro’s agent is in London to finalise a move to West Ham, according to reports in Italy today.
Italy international Destro, who was loaned to AC Milan last season, has returned to Roma but been told he has no future.
Corriere dello Sport says West Ham have agreed a loan deal in principle with a view to a permanent transfer option at the end of the season.
According to Emanuele Giulianelli, Roma’s director of football Walter Sabatini is in Manchester attempting negotiating a deal to sign Dzeko. They say he will come to London to discuss Destro with West Ham after his business is concluded in Manchester.
HITC
Bilic suggests Cresswell is an example of a naturally fit player
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic has told the club’s official website that Aaron Cresswell is a good example of the sort of naturally fit player that he wants in his first team squad.
West Ham’s preparations for the new season are in full swing and Cresswell is someone that Bilic will be looking to challenge, as he tries to progress and develop further after winning the club’s player of the season award last time round.
“Aaron is a good player and has a great left foot. I wanted a player who could play for 90 minutes and he is a naturally fit player,” Bilic told whufc.com.
“It is always good for a defender who is good on the ball to play a little bit in midfield because you have less space there and it was good for him.”
Fitness is very important not just for Cresswell, but for the entire West Ham defence throughout next season.
There were occasions last season, against Tottenham and Manchester United, where West Ham conceded late goals, which directly led to a loss of points and momentum at important points in the season.
Improved fitness will help the club to just maintain that intensity and concentration a little bit longer, to ensure that a repeat of the same mistakes doesn’t happen again.
The challenge for Cresswell is that he’s not a surprise commodity.
He’s a player that opposition teams will now identify as a key threat and strength in West Ham’s team and they could look to make life as difficult as possible for him very early.
Teams could get two men onto him quickly and look to keep him isolated, which could cause weaknesses to develop.
LONDON 24
West Ham finally set to land first choice summer signing as spending nearly done
West Ham are set to announce the signing of Carl Jenkinson on loan for the season from Arsenal in the next 48 hours. The Hammers have been busy this summer and fans have already seen two of three of their new signings in action under Slaven Bilic. Dimitri Payet and Angelo Ogbonna are yet to get a run out but could do against Southend on Saturday. Jenkinson could also be in that squad after returning from his extended summer holiday after England under-21 duty took up most of his post-season break. Arsenal are refusing to sell the former Charlton man, instead another season-long loan is in order for the impressive full back who majorly impressed last term at Upton Park. Jenkinson was the first name on David Gold and David Sullivan’s shopping list and so they will be mightily glad to get it done. A striker is now the main concern for the Hammers who are set to make just one more major signing after Jenkinson.
LONDON 24
‘Star of the show’ Ravel Morrison impresses with brace on Lazio debut
Lazio new-boy Ravel Morrison scored twice and won the man of the match award on his debut for the club.
The Italian media claim Morrison was ‘the star of the show’ and his ‘sensational lob’ was only bettered by two clever assists for his team-mates in a thumping 8-0 win over Aurozono. Serie A kicks off later than the Premier League and so Morrison will have plenty of time to adapt to life in Italy, something that was rumoured to be tough for him. However, after banishing reports he could return to QPR this summer without kicking a ball for Lazio, Morrison is now hoping to become a hit in Italy and has started in the best possible way. The Lazio tweet translates as ‘It’s easy to play with Ravel Morrison’, from the playmakers new team-mate and four goal hero Keita.
SPORTS MOLE
Winston Reid hails "passionate" West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
West Ham United defender Winston Reid recently gave an insight into new manager Slaven Bilic's approach to coaching by describing the Croatian as "passionate".
The 46-year-old took over from Sam Allardyce last month and is expected to guide the Hammers to the Olympic Stadium next year.
West Ham have already been in competitive action this summer as they sealed a place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League with victory over Lusitanos last week.
"[Bilic is] very passionate," Reid told the club's official website. "You can see from the way he is on the sidelines - he wants us to win, he wants us to do our very best, he wants us to go out and for us to enjoy ourselves, but the most important thing at the end of the day is winning games."
West Ham's opening game of the Premier League season is away to Arsenal at the Emirates on August 9.
(Alan is away.)
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