Tuesday news (includes West Ham)

[Mex Martillo]

Thanks Alan 2:34 Tue Aug 20 Interesting article from the Athletic

[Texas Iron]

Cheers… Sullivan…all talk and no trousers re tickets…

[Thanks Alan]

bill green 2:13 Tue Aug 20

[bill green]

Thanks Alan

[Alan]

"BBC Chelsea and England forward Raheem Sterling, 29, has been the subject of an enquiry from Juventus amid uncertainty over his future. (Mail) Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal have Manchester City's England defender Kyle Walker and Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo on their transfer shortlist. (Guardian) Manchester City are interested in a move to re-sign Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 33, from Barcelona. (Athletic - subscription required) Real Sociedad are refusing to lower their valuation for Spain midfielder and Arsenal target Mikel Merino, 28. (Mirror) Brentford expect England striker Ivan Toney to join Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League and are hoping to receive about £50m for the 28-year-old. (Times - subscription required) However, Chelsea could be tempted into making a late move for Toney. (Sun) Fulham are considering whether to go back to Crystal Palace with another bid for 28-year-old Denmark defender Joachim Andersen. (Sky Sports) And Fulham are also preparing to make a third bid for Manchester United's 27-year-old Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay. (Teamtalk) Arsenal have rejected a bid of £25m plus add-ons for 23-year-old England striker Eddie Nketiah from Nottingham Forest. (Sun) Newcastle still believe they can sign England defender Marc Guehi, 24, from Crystal Palace, but they are also considering Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez, 27, along with Chelsea's 25-year-old English centre-back Trevoh Chalobah. (i Sport) Manchester United are willing to wait until transfer deadline day to sign Manuel Ugarte, 23, with the hope that Paris St-Germain will lower their £51m valuation for the midfielder. (Guardian) United are working on a season-long loan deal to sign Uruguay international Ugarte, which would include an obligation to buy in 2025 (Fabrizio Romano) Tottenham and Argentina midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, 28, has attracted interest from Aston Villa, Real Betis and Roma. (Express) Everton have enquired about triggering a 60m euro (£51.2m) release clause for Atletico Mineiro's 18-year-old Brazilian forward Alisson Santana. (Globo - in Portuguese) Nottingham Forest are considering a fresh bid for Feyenoord and Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez, 23, after their offer of 25m euros (£21.3m) was rejected. (Athletic - subscription required) Wolves are monitoring Sheffield United's Bosnia and Herzegovina centre-back Anel Ahmedhodzic, 25. (Football Insider) Chelsea have informed Napoli they want at least 40m euros (£34m) for Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 31, with the Blues set to reject a loan offer with a 30m euro (£25.6m) obligation to buy from the Italian club. (Ben Jacobs) Chelsea and England Under-21 defender Bashir Humphreys, 21, is set to join Championship side Burnley on loan with an obligation to buy. (Athletic - subscription required) Burnley's Brazilian defender Vintinho, 25, has agreed personal terms to join Brazilian club Botafogo. (Globo - in Portuguese) Sky Paper Talk THE TIMES Manchester City are considering making a shock move for Ilkay Gundogan after Barcelona sanctioned the departure of the midfielder. Brentford expect Ivan Toney to join Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, with the Premier League club hoping to receive about £50m for the striker. Chelsea have turned down an offer from Napoli for Romelu Lukaku worth about £25.6m - initially to take him on loan for one season. THE GUARDIAN Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal have Manchester City defenders Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo on a three-man shortlist to reinforce their defence. The Real Sociedad president has admitted he has held talks with Arsenal over a move for Mikel Merino, but warned that they must match the asking price for the Spain midfielder. Manchester United are willing to wait until transfer deadline day to try to sign Manuel Ugarte and there does not have to be any outgoings to finance the deal. Raheem Sterling fears he will play no further role at Chelsea after his surprise omission from the squad against Manchester City. THE SUN Brentford are keen to get the Ivan Toney deal done and dusted by the weekend and are likely to accept £45m for the wantaway striker, with Chelsea still considering a late swoop. Manchester City's bigwigs want Pep Guardiola to make a decision about his future before Christmas. Newcastle are considering moving for Liverpool's Joe Gomez as an alternative to Marc Guehi. Arsenal have rejected a £25m plus add-ons bid for Eddie Nketiah from Nottingham Forest. DAILY MIRROR The upheaval at Manchester United since the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe in February reportedly could be turned into a documentary. Hannibal Mejbri is most likely to move to France or Spain before the transfer deadline, despite earlier interest from Rangers. DAILY MAIL Raheem Sterling has been the subject of an enquiry from Juventus amid uncertainty over his future. Bruno Guimaraes is Newcastle United's new team captain and is now almost certain to remain at the club. Newcastle are aware that Liverpool defender Joe Gomez is exploring options after missing the Reds' 2-0 win over Ipswich on Saturday. Barcelona's Ferran Torres could be headed for a surprise return to the Premier League as Newcastle are reportedly preparing a bid for the winger. Brighton are prepared to shatter the Scottish transfer record to land Celtic star Matt O'Riley - and are confident of securing a deal to land the coveted midfielder. DAILY TELEGRAPH Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, in a deal that will pave the way for Conor Gallagher to move to Spain and push out-of-favour Raheem Sterling even further down the club's pecking order. Wolves are planning to spend only £20m of the £94m banked from the sales of Pedro Neto and Max Kilman, as the club continue to safeguard their financial position. THE ATHLETIC Nottingham Forest are working on a deal to sign Eddie Nketiah from Arsenal. DAILY RECORD Michael Beale insists Rangers should have sent out the same message for him as they are doing now with Philippe Clement - and revealed he would never have taken the job in the first place if he had known so many key personnel would leave. Financially-stricken Inverness Caley Thistle believe they are set for a new dawn after £3m of historic debts were wiped out - with backing from Sir Alex Ferguson. Rangers are on course to be back at Ibrox by the end of next month after taking delivery of the third and final shipment of steel in the timescale outlined by chairman John Bennett. SCOTTISH SUN Aberdeen are weighing up a move for Scotland striker Kevin Nisbet. Brighton have emerged as favourites to sign Matt O'Riley after opening talks with Celtic over a £25m deal. Euro hopefuls Kilmarnock have pulled back from making an official request to the SPFL for Sunday's game at Aberdeen to be postponed. The Athletic West Ham fans and the London Stadium ticket row: ‘My son is heartbroken that he can’t go’ By Roshane Thomas As hordes of West Ham United fans descend towards the London Stadium ahead of the season opener against Aston Villa, a small group of supporters are handing out leaflets in protest against the increase in ticket prices and withdrawal of concession season tickets in large sections of the ground. The front of the leaflet says: “My grandad took my dad, then my dad took me. That’s the way it used to be and I always hoped I’d be able to take you, son.” There is a QR code on the back, urging fans to sign an online petition in the hope the club overturns the concession policy and price tickets. It has amassed over 17,000 signatures. The decision to withdraw concession season tickets in bands one to four has annoyed the fanbase. Unless new supporters are willing to sit in bands five or six, the seats furthest from the pitch, they will have to pay a flat adult price. Tickets for the over-66 and under-21 categories have seen an average rise of 7.5 per cent. The most expensive season ticket is in the 1966 West Stand, which costs £1,720 for adults, concessions and under-21s and under-18, an increase of £100 from 2023-24. The second highest season ticket is the 1966 Billy Bonds Stand, which costs £1,445, an increase of 6.25 per cent. West Ham have made tweaks since the policy was originally introduced. Individual matchday concessionary tickets will now be available for games in Band 5 and 6. A West Ham statement said this came “having listened to feedback from supporters and further to meeting with fan group representatives this week”. The statement added: “This will be the case for all further Category AA and A fixtures throughout the 2024-25 season, while concessionary discounts will be available in every seating band for all Category B and C fixtures and all home cup games, with the exception of 1966 and 1966 West seating areas.” Not that this has placated West Ham fans. “Keep up the fight — it’s ridiculous what this club is doing,” says an elderly fan who gesticulates with his fists as he walks past. There were 62,463 in attendance for the 2-1 home defeat to Aston Villa, but a planned boycott of the Betway Cup friendly against Celta Vigo on August 10 saw only 15,000 fans attend. Off the field, a summer overhaul has seen the additions of Wes Foderingham, Luis Guilherme, Maximilian Kilman, Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug, Guido Rodriguez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jean-Clair Todibo. There is excitement over what new head coach Julen Lopetegui could achieve, but there is resentment in the stands over the club’s handling of the controversial changes. Paul Colborne, the chair of Hammers United (Roshane Thomas/The Athletic) Paul Colborne, 68, chair of Hammers United, is among those distributing leaflets. “If you want to get a new season ticket and don’t want to sit in band five or six, it’s going to cost you ridiculous amounts of money,” he says. “Not all grandparents or parents can get to band five or six because there’s so many stairs. But let’s say they can, they’ll be away from their family and friends. “My fear is the younger generation will be forced to watch other clubs. Those who can afford it will probably not want to attend because their friends aren’t here. It will honestly kill our fanbase. That’s why we’re here giving out leaflets and the fanbase have been united over this, which is great to see. Hammers United have written to (owners) David Sullivan, Vanessa Gold, Tripp Smith, Daniel Kretinsky and we have had replies, although it wouldn’t be right to divulge what they have said.” Couple Lisa Kemp, 49 and Freddie Kemp, 52 sympathise with the younger generation. They are unable to bring their grandkids and strongly oppose the price rises and concession changes. “They are pricing out young fans,” says Lisa. “It’s always two steps forward, 100 steps back with West Ham. The fans are the heart and soul of the club. When times get tough we’ll still be here cheering on the team, not people who show up for one day to watch West Ham.” The next home game in the league is against Manchester City on August 31. At the time of writing, there are still 960 tickets available in the upper tier, with prices ranging from £55 to £100. Supporter James Kemp, 43, was unable to attend the loss to Aston Villa. He believes he is being priced out of attending games. “It’s extremely disappointing, and hurtful, that I’m unable to take my boy to matches this season,” he says. “I simply cannot afford to pay full adult prices for my six-year-old. This club is nothing without its fans, and the next generation of supporters are being squeezed out. My son is heartbroken that he can’t go and watch the team, especially the new signings. He eats, sleeps and breathes West Ham as the club is so special to him. “He loves watching his heroes play at London Stadium, and it pains me that he won’t be able to go this season as it currently stands. It’s been handled terribly. When we moved to the stadium, David Sullivan promised that it would make things more affordable for fans. Well that’s laughable now. Most failings in any business or organisation are down to poor implementation and communication. I feel like we fans have not been consulted or, indeed, our opinions heard. My son and I are Claret Members, as we live in Southampton, and so attending all home matches, particularly midweek games, is near impossible. “The only matches he might be able to attend are Carabao or FA Cup matches, if they reduce costs for these matches. I’ve sat ‘in the gods’ at London Stadium and there’s no way my boy is travelling all that way and back to essentially watch replays on the big screens to see what happened. I have other friends with kids who are in a similar position and they too are unable to attend. My father-in-law, who has been a season ticket holder for many decades now, is also affected as he won’t get to make those memories with his grandson at matches.” Charlie Knott, 23, has also been affected by the increase in prices. “It’s infuriating, growing up being known as the family club of the Premier League, to now having to try and scrap together to just go and see the club I’ve never doubted I wouldn’t be able to see,” he says. “I have a nine-month-old daughter and after paying bills it’s hard to be able to afford to go to games. “To see children and concession prices hiked to match the standard adult entrance fee is wrong. The only way I’ll be able to attend games now is through being drawn at home to a lower league side in the Carabao or FA Cup. “Unless things drastically change, I don’t think I’ll be able to see West Ham play Premier League football at the London Stadium anytime soon.” Sport Witness ‘Discussions progressing well’ for West Ham to sign player – Hammers would offer club profit Carlos Soler’s underwhelming stint at Paris Saint-Germain could end this summer. While there has been talk of Spanish clubs coming forward for the ex-Valencia man, Soler’s future could well lie in England. L’Equipe report today that the La Liga side interested in Soler was Real Sociedad, but they need to make more financial room to have a chance of signing the midfielder. This has given more power to West Ham’s increasing interest. Even though Brighton are also interested, it is West Ham who are advancing on the Soler front. The Hammers, it is mentioned, are ‘discussing the details’ of the move with PSG, who want around €20m for the Spaniard. At the same time, Foot Mercato have also reported on Soler’s situation, saying that whilst there’s no agreement, ‘discussions are progressing well’, and a loan with a compulsory purchase option could be the solution. They too confirm that Real Sociedad will find it difficult to sign Soler, suggesting that the Hammers are quite clearly in the lead."