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BBC
Manchester United may turn their attention to Leicester City and England midfielder James Maddison, 23, after long-time target and Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish, 24, was involved in another off-field incident. (Star)
Borussia Dortmund say England forward Jadon Sancho will cost at least £110m, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all interested in the 20-year-old. (Times - subscription required)
Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham United are keen on Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren, 30, with the Croatia international out of favour at Anfield. (Teamtalk)
Liverpool are not interested in re-signing Brazil midfielder Philippe Coutinho, who is on loan at Bayern Munich from Barcelona. (Mirror)
Manchester United are leading the race to sign 27-year-old Coutinho. Brazil midfielder. (Express)
Meanwhile, United are optimistic that France midfielder Paul Pogba, 27, will stay at Old Trafford because few European clubs will be able to match his £100m fee. (Independent)
Real Madrid are monitoring Sao Paulo's Igor Gomes, 21, while Barcelona, Sevilla and Ajax are all also interested in the Brazil Under-20 midfielder. (AS)
Chelsea and Brazilmidfielder Willian, 31, is keen to continue playing in the Premier League if he leaves Stamford Bridge, putting Arsenal and Tottenham on alert. (ESPN Brazil - in Portuguese)
On-loan Arsenal midfielder Dani Ceballos, 23, would rather move back to Real Betis than stay at Emirates Stadium, if parent club Real Madrid do not want the Spaniard back. (Estadio Deportivo, via Express)
Burnley manager Sean Dyche is open to finishing the Premier League season behind closed doors, with a 'World Cup-style' tournament. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Guardian
Anniversary Games under threat if West Ham refuse to compromise on stadium
West Ham insist they have priority over other events
Club do not want to play at stadium converted for athletics
Jacob Steinberg and Sean Ingle
The prospect of the Anniversary Games taking place at the London Stadium in July is in further doubt after West Ham indicated they could force UK Athletics to reschedule its flagship event if the Premier League season is extended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The new head of UKA, Joanna Coates, has called on West Ham to waive their tenancy rights if there is a fixture clash, and the London Legacy Development Corporation urged the club to compromise. But West Ham have responded strongly to suggestions they could have to play matches in front of retracted stands and an athletics track.
The Anniversary Games, UKA’s most lucrative event, is due to take place on 4-5 July but West Ham are legally entitled to insist that E20, the stadium’s owner, move or postpone other events if they clash with their matches.
West Ham are the stadium’s principal tenants and have said they have written confirmation that E20 will respect the terms of their contract, which states their matches have overriding priority. They believe the agreement remains in place until the end of the 2019-20 season and added that they were determined “not to compromise when it comes to playing our fixtures”.
However, it is also understood the contract states that West Ham have to show “an element of reasonableness” to accommodate other events. UKA’s belief is that the contract says athletics must take place at the stadium and, with the sporting calendar thrown into chaos, that West Ham will have to compromise. The dispute could be difficult to resolve given that insiders have admitted that the Premier League side are ultimately entitled to point out they have primacy of use.
West Ham said: “E20 CEO Lyn Garner wrote to West Ham United on 29 March and confirmed that all our competitive matches take precedence over other activity at the stadium and that E20 is in discussions with UKA, as they recognise that the Concessionary Agreement contractually obliges E20 to move or postpone other events at the stadium to ensure our matches to go ahead.
“We want to reassure our supporters that, as and when the Premier League resume the season, the London Stadium will be configured for football matches and not inappropriately set up for an athletics meeting or a concert.
“Our contract with the stadium requires E20 to provide the stadium configured for football if the season is extended. It also requires them to work with UK Athletics and others to reschedule their meetings so that there is no clash with West Ham’s fixtures.”
UKA is unlikely to make a decision on whether to stage the Anniversary Games for at least another six weeks – with one insider saying they would wait until after a European Athletics meeting in early May, which will look at the feasibility of holding the European Championships in Paris in August. If the Anniversary Games goes ahead it would provide UKA with a healthy financial windfall at a time of deep uncertainty.
A concern for West Ham is whether the work required to convert the stadium from football to athletics would interfere with their matches. It is estimated that the conversion would take seven to 10 days and would be done by around 200 workers. Decisions are yet to be taken over two other events at the stadium: Major League Baseball on 13-14 June and a Green Day concert on 26 June.
An LLDC spokesman said: “These are unprecedented circumstances and we will work closely with all those holding events. Whilst West Ham do have a priority use for football there is also a clear obligation to work collaboratively to avoid date conflicts and, if necessary, play their games with the seating and track set up for athletics.”
TeamTalk
EXCLUSIVE: Four London clubs queuing up to land Liverpool star
Dejan Lovren is weighing up a summer move to London with up to four of the capital clubs keen to land him, we can reveal.
The experienced Croatian stopper is set to be allowed to leave Liverpool this summer, with Jurgen Klopp sanctioning his departure – due to his outstanding service to the club.
Klopp does not want to force Lovren to stay with the club and sit on the bench, with Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk first choice.
Joel Matip is set to remain, with the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson also options to fill in – but the Reds will be signing a replacement for Lovren.
Now Lovren, 30, will look at his options with a host of clubs on the continent keen to land him. Sources close to the player have confirmed to TEAMtalk that sides from Italy, Spain, Germany and France have all made approaches.
But Lovren is understood to be tempted by the move to the capital, and that is something that has alerted Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham and Crystal Palace – all of whom are ready to make an offer.
Football London
11 West Ham youngsters and wonderkids to watch out for in 2020 and 2021
The sport will have to look to the future once it returns and West Ham have some talented young players within their academy
By Sam Inkersole
Football, at the moment at least, is about looking to the future rather than the present amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
At West Ham, the “Academy of Football” as the club is known, there are plenty of youngsters in the under-23 and under-18 age groups who are targeting stardom in the future.
The likes of Declan Rice, Grady Diangana, Ben Johnson and Jeremy Ngakia have made the breakthroughs over the last 18 months from academy youngsters to first team players. Rice has been by far the biggest success, Diangana is not too far behind him while Johnson and Ngakia are just at the start of their careers.
Academies could become quite important next season, with the Premier League clubs not knowing if and when a transfer window could be open and how long for.
West Ham had a shake-up at Chadwell Heath last summer with Ricky Martin and Dmitri Halajko coming in to the club to replace former academy chief Terry Westley and coach Liam Manning, which has been a huge success.
The under-23s are currently embarking on an unbeaten PL2 campaign having been relegated last season to division two, while the under-18s are also chasing a title season with an unbeaten home record at Little Heath.
With that in mind, we've put together a starting XI - in a 4-4-2 set-up for nostalgias sake - of talented academy players and currently at West Ham to watch out for. Some you will know of, some you might not.
Goalkeeper
Krisztian Hegyi
West Ham have a wealth of young talent at goalkeeper with Nathan Trott and Joseph Anang on the books as well as two youth internationals in the under-18s with Daniel Jinady and Serinne Sanneh as well.
But one to watch out for is 17-year-old Hegyi, who the club saw off competition from Manchester United and Real Madrid to sign from Hungary. Hegyi has trained with the first team and played more with the 23s this season as his stock rises.
Right back
Harrison Ashby
An attack-minded right back, Scottish youth international Ashby has had an excellent season for the 18s and has stepped up to the 23s a few times this campaign as well.
He made his 23s debut earlier this season as an auxiliary centre back after an injury crisis, keeping a clean sheet alongside the next player on this list who is one to watch out for too...
Centre back
Jamal Baptiste
The centre half became the second-youngest Hammers under-23 player in history earlier this season when he made his debut in a Premier League International Cup win over Valencia two months short of his 16th birthday.
An England U17 debut followed not long after and he has been a regular in 23s match squads ever since making the step up. Baptiste is very highly regarded in east London and as seen as a real talent for the future.
Goncalo Cardoso
Signed from Boavista last summer for more than £1m, big things are expected of the Portuguese youngster, who has been a regular for his country across all age groups.
He is a centre back by trade but can also play at left back, as he has done on a few occasions this season for the 23s. He’s not quite broken through to the first team yet and this season might be too soon, but there is plenty of expectation that Cardoso could step up in 2020/21.
Left back
Sam Caiger
The adventurous left back Caiger returned this season after nearly two years out through injury and has chipped in with a couple of goals as well, both handily coming in a win over Spurs.
Another who is well thought of at Chadwell Heath, Caiger seems to be over his injury issues and making a name for himself in east London.
Midfield
Conor Coventry
The midfielder penned a contract extension back in January until 2023 before being sent out on loan to Lincoln City for a taste of senior football.
Coventry made his first team bow against Macclesfield Town last season in the Carabao Cup and took over the 23s captaincy after Moses Makasi departed. He’s continued to impress and more regular, senior minutes for West Ham might not be too far away.
Bernardo Rosa
Also adept at right back, the creative midfielder earned a Premier League 2 Player of the Month nomination for November as he made the step up to under-23 level from the 18s.
Regular minutes have followed this season for the Brazilian, who began his career at Vasco de Gama in his homeland before making the move to London in his early teenage years.
Nathan Holland
The outstanding winger has enjoyed his first taste of regular senior football this season at Oxford United, scoring in an FA Cup replay against Newcastle United, before his loan was cut short after suffering a hamstring injury not for the first time in his career.
Injuries have meant his career has been stop-start since signing for the club from Everton but he is the under-23s top-scorer this season having netted 11 times in PL2 before he was allowed to get some experience in League One.
Amadou Diallo
After turning 17 in February, Diallo was immediately handed his first professional contract at the club, signing on the dotted line with his boyhood club.
Diallo was in fact just 14 when he made his debut for the club's U18s against Arsenal in 2017 under former coach Jack Collison and last season he broke into the U23 setup, scoring two goals in his first three appearances at that level and has gone from strength to strength well above his age range,
Strikers
Xande Silva
A serious bowel obstruction that required emergency surgery last summer has set Silva back a bit but you wouldn’t be able to tell as he has netted three times on his return this season.
In 19/20, the Portuguese frontman was a revelation scoring seven goals in his first six games and making a first team debut at Burnley and his senior full debut in the FA Cup win over Birmingham. Again, regular first team minutes won’t be too far away for the striker
Mipo Odubeko
He’s only been at the club for three months having been poached from Manchester United but the frontman has made a big impact already in east London.
Odubeko netted 35 goals for United’s academy last season and has seven goals in six games for the Hammers under-18s since signing. He also scored with his very first touch off the bench on his under-23s debut earlier this year as well.
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