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BBC
Real Madrid want to sign Tottenham and England striker Harry Kane, 26. (Sport)
Borussia Dortmund and England forward Jadon Sancho, 20, will reject a summer move to Manchester United if they fail to secure Champions League football. (Sun)
Leicester, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are interested in signing Rangers and Colombia striker Alfredo Morelos, 23. (Talksport)
West Ham have been in contact with Alexis Sanchez’s agent as they consider a potential move for the Chile forward. The 31-year-old is currently on loan at Inter Milan from Manchester United. (Sport Witness)
Manchester City's Spanish midfielder David Silva, 34, may be offered a farewell game at Etihad Stadium in the summer if the coronavirus outbreak prevents him from saying goodbye to the club's fans after a 10-year spell that has seen him win the Premier League title four times. (Mail)
Former Manchester United and Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov believes RB Leipzig and Germany striker Timo Werner, 24, would be better off joining Bayern Munich than Liverpool this summer. (Mirror)
Leicester, Tottenham and Everton are all interested in 25-year-old French defensive midfielder Baptiste Santamaria, who plays in France's Ligue 1 for Angers. (Express)
The developers of the Football Manager computer game have tried to simulate the rest of this season's Champions League with the game predicting Manchester City will beat Bayern Munich in the final. (Mirror)
Premier League clubs have bought their own coronavirus testing kits amid fears over behind-closed-doors matches. (Star)
Manchester United’s Dutch defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah, 22, faces an uncertain future as boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ponders whether to trigger a one-year contract extension. (Mirror)
Celta Vigo's Russia international striker Fedor Smolov, 30, has flouted Spain's lockdown to return to his home country, becoming the second Celta player to break the rules of the state of emergency to fight the coronavirus. (AS, in Spanish)
Sport Witness
West Ham initiate contact with player’s agent – Want ‘information’ on signing him this summer
By Sean Lunt
West Ham United have been in contact with Alexis Sánchez’s agent Fernando Felicevich as they consider a potential move this summer.
Sánchez is currently on loan with Italian side Inter Milan, having been shipped out by Manchester United last summer.
He has struggled in Italy, though, with injuries limiting him to just 15 appearances in all competitions and just one goal and three assists to date.
According to FC Inter News, they are not keen on keeping him in any capacity beyond this summer, mostly because of his disappointing performances but also because his €12m a year wages are ‘unthinkable’ for Antonio Conte’s side.
Sánchez will, therefore, be returning to Manchester United, but that will only be ‘temporary’ as they are not keen on having him either.
They no longer consider him a part of the project and are already looking for a solution to the problem, namely a club that can afford the vast wages he currently earns at Old Trafford.
Despite those being a huge stumbling block, there is interest in the Premier League, and Bundesliga and West Ham are among them.
The Hammers have contacted his agent Fernando Felicevich to ask for ‘information’ ahead of a possible move, although that is the extent of their interest so far.
It seems doubtful that they could pull it off, though. Even if Sánchez halves his wages, he will still be an expensive signing for any club.
West Ham are not exactly super-rich, and David Moyes would surely feel that, if such money was available, it would be better spent elsewhere than on a 31-year-old whose career continues to decline.
C&H
Report: PL and government plan for game’s return in June
The Premier League are tonight reported to be at an advanced stage in talks with the Government over a return for football in June.
According to the Mirror there is already a tentative agreement for the top flight to resume behind closed doors after the 20 clubs mapped out a plan with senior officials on a resumption of matches.
With the peak of the current problems expected over the next couple of weeks the Mirror claims Government health officials will sanction games.
The newspaper claims the plan was discussed at length, with an accord reached in principle on a finish to the Premier League season should the situation improve as expected.
The plan – which has been discussed at the highest level – would see games played under strictly-controlled conditions behind closed doors.
League officials have also discussed extensive measures to keep the players in a sterile environment as much as possible, limiting contact with the wider public.
To ensure fans don’t try to attend games, there have also been talks with TV companies to extend the number of games screened during June, with clubs hopeful some can even be shown on terrestrial TV.
Sky and BT have rights to show some of the remaining fixtures but not a capacity to show all, and discussions have centred on a free-to-air agreement that will allow far more to be screened.
Guardian
West Ham plan £30m rights issue to cover revenue shortcomings
Coronavirus suspension leads to lack of income
Stock to be offered to existing shareholders first
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham’s board plans to inject at least £30m into the club by launching a rights issue in response to the financial problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
With English football suspended because of the crisis and Premier League footballers yet to agree to reduce wages, there is growing concern within boardrooms about income. Some clubs have reacted to the postponement of the season by placing non-football staff on furlough.
West Ham, who are owned by David Sullivan and David Gold, are looking to go down a different route. The club, whose full-time and part-time staff remain on full pay, have agreed to a rights issue, which is an invitation to existing shareholders to buy additional shares. Sullivan, whose 51% stake makes him the majority shareholder, has already agreed to do so.
Whether the money raised rises above £30m will depend on how many accept the offer. If they decide not to take up their rights the shares will be offered elsewhere.
It is understood the process will take place in May. While West Ham have no financial problems at the moment, that is likely to change if there is no prospect of their season resuming. Clubs are set to suffer serious losses of earnings and have warned players they could lose up to an estimated £1.137bn if the season does not resume. That is partly because they may have to return £750m in broadcasting money if the season is not completed.
West Ham have lost money in gate receipts and broadcasting revenue. Their matches against Wolves, Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham were due to be shown on television. West Ham, whose accounts for the last financial year showed an expected pre-tax loss of £28.8m, would also normally be selling next year’s season-tickets now but the club shops are shut.
Given that context West Ham are keen to protect themselves. They are in favour of players reducing pay through wage cuts, deferrals or a combination of both. Karren Brady, the club’s vice-chair, has criticised the Professional Footballers’ Association for standing in the way of cuts.
“With no date for restarting the league, this is having severe financial implications,” Brady wrote in the Sun. “Bearing in mind the majority of the broadcast revenue goes to pay the players’ wages it is unthinkable that the PFA don’t seem to understand this.”
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