Saturday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Arsenal are lining up a £55m bid for Barcelona's French defender Jules Kounde, 26. (Sun - subscription required), external

Nottingham Forest may still move for Manchester City's English midfielder James McAtee, 22, even if they keep hold of forwards, England international Callum Hudson-Odoi, 24, and Swedish 22-year-old Anthony Elanga - both of whom have admirers. (Sky Sports), external

England striker Jamie Vardy, 38, could make a move to Wrexham when his Leicester City contract ends in the summer - if the Welsh club win promotion to the Championship from League One. (Talksport), external

Manchester United will switch their attention to landing RB Leipzig's Dutch forward Xavi Simons, 22, if a move for Wolves' Brazil striker Matheus Cunha, 25, fails. (Teamtalk), external

Real Betis are preparing a season-long loan offer to Manchester United to extend their deal for Brazil winger Antony, 25. (Telegraph - subscription required, external), external

Chelsea are in talks with representatives of Borussia Dortmund's English winger Jamie Gittens, 20, with a view to a move worth 50-60m euros (£42-52m). (Sky Germany - in German), external

Chelsea are also confident they can secure the signing of Ipswich Town's English striker Liam Delap, 22, ahead of Manchester United. (GiveMesport), external

Strasbourg have reached an agreement to keep English manager Liam Rosenior, 40, at the club, despite interest from Premier League clubs. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Manchester United face a battle with French champions Paris St-Germain for Napoli's £40m-rated Slovakian midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, 30, but Barcelona are also interested. (Tuttomercato - in Italian), external

Borussia Dortmund's Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, 27, could leave the club this summer amid interest from Chelsea and Newcastle United. (Footmercato - in French), external

Chelsea goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic, 25, is wanted by Bayer Leverkusen following the Serbian's displays on loan at Strasbourg this season. (Kicker - in German), external

Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen, 29, wants to stay at the club and fight for his place rather than move this summer, despite the Dane's contract ending in 2026. (AS - in Spanish), external

Serbia striker Dusan Vlahovic, 25, Turkey forward Kenan Yildiz, 19, and Italy wing-back Andrea Cambiaso, 25 - a target for Manchester City - may have to leave Juventus if the Serie A club fail to qualify for next season's Champions League. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external

Former Chelsea academy goalkeeper Nicolas Tié has quit football at the age of 24 to join the French army. (Ouest-France - in French)





Sky Paper Talk

THE SUN

Arsenal are lining up a £55m bid for Barcelona defender Jules Kounde.

Jamie Vardy has been tipped to move to Wrexham when he leaves Leicester at the end of the season.

Manchester City's Premier League rivals each face a £5m bill - if the dethroned champions win their crunch legal battle with League bosses.

Bournemouth are buying back their stadium as plans to more than double the capacity gather pace.

Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel is reportedly set to leave the club this summer, with both Chelsea and Newcastle United interested.

THE TIMES

Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot could miss the rest of the season with a calf injury.

  Endemic fan violence in Argentina has prompted River Plate to introduce facial recognition technology to replace tickets for Sunday's Superclásico against Boca Juniors.

Donald Trump has taken back personal control of the company that runs the Turnberry golf course in Scotland, documents have revealed.

Rory McIlroy looks certain to receive a new honour to mark his triumph at the Masters, which completed a career grand slam, but the 35-year-old may have to wait until later in his career to get a knighthood.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

White men have been blocked from applying for jobs at Premier League football clubs. A potential legal error by the world's richest league has led to a number of teams - including Manchester United and Liverpool - recruiting for coaching roles open "only" to ethnic minorities and women.

A minute's silence will be observed in memory of Pope Francis during Celtic's Scottish Premiership match at Dundee United.

Chelsea are unlikely to make a move to re-sign Kevin De Bruyne, despite head coach Enzo Maresca hinting that he wants to add more experience to his squad this summer.

DAILY MAIL

Eni Aluko has issued a passionate apology to Ian Wright after facing backlash for claiming he was blocking opportunities for female pundits by 'dominating' women's football coverage.

Ruben Amorim is expecting Marcus Rashford back at the end of the season after his loan spell at Aston Villa, and will make a decision over the England star's future at Manchester United this summer.

DAILY MIRROR

Arne Slot insists he's never been told not to play someone at Liverpool down to financial reasons. The Reds boss has no idea if reports from Portugal are true surrounding Darwin Nunez after it was claimed if he plays another game for the club then it will trigger a further payment to Benfica of around £4.2m.

Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has issued a warning about the dangers of smoking, admitting he has "lost the fight" with his "very negative" habit.

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to sign two forwards in the summer transfer window in a bid to get the Gunners over the line in the title race after missing out on Premier League glory for a third successive year.

THE GUARDIAN

Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea, the referee for Saturday's Copa del Rey final between Real Madrid and Barcelona, was brought to tears on Friday, responding to a critical video published by Real's in-house TV channel (RMTV).

Enzo Maresca has said Chelsea's transfer plans depend on whether they qualify for the Champions League.

THE ATHLETIC

Tickets for Liverpool's likely coronation as Premier League champions when they face Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Sunday are being listed by touts online for more than £3,000 each.

Strasbourg head coach Liam Rosenior has extended his contract at the club until June 2028.

Carl Rushworth wants to leave Brighton & Hove Albion unless his chances of game time improve.

Enzo Maresca believes Cole Palmer's struggle for form is because of a drop in self-belief rather than due to Chelsea's tactics.

American consortium GSG LOFC Limited, led by New York businessman David Gandler, has completed a takeover of English League One club Leyton Orient.

SCOTTISH SUN

Hibs boss David Gray has been rewarded for his exploits this season with a bumper contract extension at the club.

Aberdeen have snapped up prolific Aussie winger Nicolas Milanovic, according to reports coming from Down Under.

Barry Ferguson is poised to hold talks with Rangers' new sporting director Kevin Thelwell.

Willie Collum has hit back at Hearts boss Neil Critchley over his Scottish Cup blast at John Beaton.

Premier League giants Newcastle United and French cracks Lyon are among five teams chasing former Celtic striker Eseosa Sule, it's being claimed.

Former Celtic flop Alexandro Bernabei has become a shock target for Spanish club Sevilla after reviving his career back in South America.

DAILY RECORD

Neil Critchley is unwilling to wait and wonder when it comes to the future of his out-of-contract Hearts stars, saying he wants answers by the end of the season.

Jimmy Thelin has no concerns about playing Jamie McGrath against Hibs and insisted he will continue to be an important player for Aberdeen for the rest of the season.




C&H

Brighton young talent on West Ham’s summer radar | “One to watch”

West Ham’s season crawls towards its lacklustre conclusion with an away trip to the south coast this afternoon. Amidst reports of wholesale changes at London Stadium,  the Irons are tasked with replacing out of contract players and adding new talent: In view of the venue today, the reports linking West Ham with an up and coming English talent who is ‘open’ to a move are worthy of consideration.

Brighton and Hove Albion’s young second choice goalkeeper Carl Rushworth is apparently attracting interest from both West Ham and Manchester United. The 23 year old has completed a long ‘apprenticeship’ with five loan spells culminating in two championship loans, last season with Swansea.

According to nytimes.com/theathletic: “Carl Rushworth wants to leave Brighton & Hove Albion unless his chances of game time improve. The goalkeeper’s future is set to reach a crunch point this summer after six years at the club without making a first team appearance.”

Certainly an inexpensive option for Graham Potter to consider at London Stadium as a back up to Alphonse Areola – West Ham have to consider what happens if their number one ‘keeper gets injured next season with just Wes Foderingham available, clearly a recruit is needed and a homegrown one would be even better for the Hammers.

As Alex Crook (talksport) put it, suggesting Rushworth could be interesting West Ham and Man U,  ‘one to watch’ this summer. And surely a better prospect than the newly relegated Southampton stopper Aaron Ramsdale.

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.