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BBC
Manchester City have rejected a £72m bid from Bayern Munich for Germany forward Leroy Sane, 23. (Metro)
City want £137m for Sane if he does not wish to sign an extension to his contract, which expires in June 2021. (Telegraph)
Manchester United are struggling to reach an agreement with 25-year-old Juventus and Argentina forward Paulo Dybala and his representatives, putting a swap deal for Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 26, under threat. (Independent)
England defender Harry Maguire, 26, has been left out of Leicester City's squad for Friday's friendly against Atalanta because of the ongoing uncertainty over his future, with the Foxes wanting a £90m deal if Manchester United are to sign him. (Telegraph)
Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, 30, is a target for Roma and the Italian club believe they can get the Croatia centre-back for between £11m and £12m. (Gazzetta dello Sport, via Mirror)
The Reds are considering up a move for Bordeaux and Guinea forward Francois Kamano and are willing to pay £20m for the 23-year-old. (Sun)
Tottenham are closing in on a £55m deal for Real Betis midfielder Giovani lo Celso, with the 23-year-old set to agree a five-year contract. (Mundo Deportivo, via Mail)
Spurs are exploring a deal for 24-year-old Sporting Lisbon and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes as an alternative to Lo Celso. (Evening Standard)
Betis have already rejected several offers from Tottenham for Argentina international Lo Celso. (SevillaABC - in Spanish)
Manchester City have re-entered talks with Juventus over Portugal right-back Joao Cancelo, 25. (Telegraph)
Manchester United rejected the chance to sign 19-year-old Juventus forward Moise Kean, leaving the Italy international clear for a move to Everton. (90min)
Crystal Palace have joined Burnley and West Ham United in trying to sign 33-year-old England centre-back Gary Cahill, who is a free agent after leaving Chelsea.(Mail)
Tottenham are confident of signing 19-year-old Fulham and England Under-21 left-back Ryan Sessegnon - but would like to offload England defender Danny Rose, 29, first. (Express)
Newcastle are on the verge of signing French winger Allan Saint-Maximin, 22, from Nice in a £16.5m deal. (Talksport)
Argentina centre-back Nicolas Otamendi, 31, wants to stay at Manchester City despite being linked with a move away from the club. (Sun)
Brazil right-back Dani Alves is close to a move to Sao Paulo. The 36-year-old is a free agent after leaving Paris St-Germain. (Goal)
Crystal Palace have made contact with Cardiff City about Real Betis' 25-year-old Spanish midfielder Victor Camarasa, who spent last season loan at the Bluebirds. (Wales Online)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Simon Burnton
Manchester United’s pursuit of Harry Maguire seems to be coming to some kind of conclusion, with the player left out of Leicester’s friendly against Atalanta this evening because he is currently occupying the wrong headspace. United’s latest offer, of £70m plus some bells and whistles, was some way from Leicester’s extraordinary evaluation (which is widely quoted at £85m though today’s Times “can reveal that they want even more for the defender, demanding £95m with £85m up front and a further £10m in add-ons”). Thus the player is marooned and feeling frustrated, per the Telegraph, “that his professional behaviour has not persuaded Leicester to reach a compromise”.
Meanwhile United want Sean Longstaff but value him at half Newcastle’s £50m asking price, and want to sell Romelu Lukaku but value him at nearly twice Internazionale’s £54m highest offer, all of which suggests there’s a lot of optimistic valuation going on. And Real Madrid still haven’t made a genuine move for Paul Pogba, with both Marca and AS having large pictures of Donny van de Beek dominating their front page, agreeing that Real Madrid plan to turn to the €60m-rated Dutchman should their efforts to sign the maverick Frenchman come to nought.
The top news story in Tuttosport is the imminent full-back exchange that will see João Cancelo head for Manchester City and Danilo plus €30m in cold, hard cash come in the other direction. Fabio Paratici, the Italian club’s general manager, “has been fully immersed in English for days,” they report, “between telephone conversations conducted in the language of Shakespeare and trips to London, where he headed yesterday for the second time in a week”. While there he was apparently discussing the sale of Mattia Perin to Aston Villa (presumably unsuccessfully, as they signed Tom Heaton yesterday), monitoring Arsenal and Wolves’ interest in Sami Khedira and negotiating with United over both Paulo Dybala and, somewhat more surprisingly, Mario Mandzukic.
Sporting have rejected a €50m offer from Tottenham for Bruno Fernandes, according to A Bola, but the Mirror reports that Spurs “have now sent two senior officials to Lisbon to try and finalise a deal”, armed according to the Mail with permission to bid £56m (though, according to the Telegraph, “there remains the possibility that Manchester United will spring into action and lodge their own bid now that Tottenham have sent a delegation to Portugal”). Tottenham’s move, says the Mirror, comes after they reluctantly give up on signing their first-choice midfielder, Real Betis’s Giovani Lo Celso, who would cost around £70m. But the Sun says they still plan to make “a last push” for the Argentinian, who they report could be signed for a mere £60m.
Manchester City are demanding that Bayern Munich pay them £145m (the Sun) or £137m (Telegraph/Times) if they are to sell Leroy Sané. “Reports in Germany,” the Telegraph continue, “have claimed Bayern are preparing a bid of around £73m.” So good luck with that.
Liverpool are considering a £20m bid for Bordeaux’s François Kamano, a 23-year-old Guinean striker who scored 13 goals in 51 appearances last season, who Jürgen Klopp hopes will reduce the burden on his first-choice front three while also being relatively cheap. Also shopping in France are Newcastle, who hope to conclude deals for Paris St-Germain’s Moussa Sissako and Nice’s Allan Saint-Maximin before the end of this very day, and have bid £11m for another PSG youngster, the full-back Stanley N’Soki.
Crystal Palace are trying to elbow their way to the front of the queue for Gary Cahill, ahead of Burnley and West Ham, and also want to sign Real Betis’s Victor Camarasa, Everton’s James McCarthy and the Olympiacos right-back Omar Elabdellaoui.
Star
West Ham compile three-man defensive shortlist as Pellegrini expresses pre-season worries
WEST HAM boss Manuel Pellegrini has reportedly compiled a three-man shortlist in a bid to sign a new centre-half before the transfer deadline.
By Duncan Robinson
The Hammers have so far been concentrating on bringing in attacking reinforcements this summer after seeing Andy Carroll, Lucas Perez, Marko Arnautovic, and Jordan Hugill all depart.
Pellegrini has managed to sign forward Sebastian Haller for a club record £45m but is still short in the striker department.
Mexico international Javier Hernandez is now the club's only recognised forward remaining at the club, along with Haller.
But Pellegrini has now expressed alarm at West Ham’s pre-season form where they have conceded 10 goals in their five games so far.
And the boss has made it clear to club bosses he wants an additional proven centre-half to compliment Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna and Fabian Balbuena.
Winston Reid is back an available for West Ham but cannot be relied on yet after only just recovering from long-term injury.
According to Football Insider, a three-man shortlist has been compiled in a bid to get a a new defender to the club before the transfer deadline next Thursday.
Alaves’ Guillermo Maripan and New York Red Bulls’ Aaron Long are two targets mentioned, while former Chelsea defender Gary Cahill has also been added to the list, according to the report.
West Ham are thought to have already tabled bids this summer for Maripan and Long but have been knocked back in their efforts.
It is thought that signing Long could be the most difficult with the American unlikely to be handed a work permit.
A deal for Maripan remains on the cards but, if that does not succeed, the club could turn their attention to landing Cahill, who is available as a free agent after being released from Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that Arsenal also contacted West Ham about signing Diop soon after Manchester United did the same.
The Gunners wanted to see if Diop’s valuation had changed from what United had been told the month before.
But both clubs ultimately failed to lure the defender away from the London Stadium due to his substantial £80m price-tag.
Pellegrini’s men are set to play one more pre-season friendly, against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, before they begin their Premier League campaign.
And, similar to last season where they faced a trip to Liverpool, West Ham could not have been handed a much more difficult start with champions Manchester City visiting the London Stadium on August 10.
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