Friday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Newcastle are interested in Brentford and Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo, 25, but are concerned by his £60m price tag. (Telegraph - subscription required), external

Newcastle will also not enter a summer-long pursuit of Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen, 20, after learning from last year's failed attempts to sign 24-year-old England defender Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace. (i paper), external

Manchester United are considering a move for Germany centre-back Jonathan Tah, 29, in the summer after his contract expires at Bayer Leverkusen. (Sky Sports), external

Arsenal could face a battle with Paris St-Germain to sign Roma's 25-year-old Ivory Coast defender Evan Ndicka, who is valued between £25-34m. (Mirror), external

Chelsea are not looking to offload their record £107m signing, Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez, 24, who is a long-term target for Real Madrid. (Sky Sports), external

Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign 18-year-old French forward Enzo Kana-Biyik from Le Havre. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Bayer Leverkusen want to prevent their Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz from joining Bayern Munich this summer, with Manchester City and Real Madrid also interested in the 21-year-old. (Sky Germany - in German), external

Real Madrid are happy for Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, 26, to leave the club this season, with Chelsea's 30-year-old Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga, currently on loan at Bournemouth, being considered as a replacement. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external

Aston Villa are considering a move for Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 33, who will leave Manchester City at the end of the season. (Football Insider), external

Crystal Palace would want more than £80m if they are to sell England midfielder Adam Wharton, 21, this summer. (Teamtalk)




Sky Paper Talk

THE SUN

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to sell French club OGC Nice with potential offers from Saudi Arabia, according to reports.

Arsenal vowed to take the "strongest possible action" after a video emerged of a group of fans appearing to racially abuse Paris Saint-Germain players.

Marcus Rashford has flown to Dubai in a desperate bid to rescue his season.

Barcelona legend Xavi is the new favourite to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham should he leave at the end of this season.

Leeds United have joined Everton in the chase to sign Newcastle's Sean Longstaff.

DAILY MAIL

River Plate midfielder Franco Mastantuono has put Manchester United on notice after expressing his interest in joining Real Madrid.

Mohammed Kudus' contract contains a remarkable £125m release clause for Saudi sides this summer - but West Ham would be willing to listen to more realistic offers for their 24-year-old winger rather than demanding that lofty fee in full.

Real Madrid TV have launched a scathing fresh attack on another referee in the run-up to their LaLiga clash with Celta Vigo this weekend.

DAILY MIRROR

Manchester United have beaten Paris Saint-Germain and a host of other European clubs to a deal for Enzo Kana-Biyik, with the highly-rated teenage striker putting pen to paper on a long-term contract.

Manchester City have confirmed that their clash with Bournemouth later this month will be Kevin De Bruyne's farewell match.

Mikel Arteta faces a major striker dilemma this summer.

The FA has defended the decision to massively hike ticket prices for this year's FA Cup final.

THE ATHLETIC

Two members of Manchester United's senior leadership team - Richard Hawkins, director of football insights and innovations, and David Harrison, director of football operations - are expected to leave the club as part of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's second round of redundancies.

Spanish second division club Elche have banned the sale and consumption of sunflower seeds inside their stadium.

Chilean club Colo-Colo must play five home matches in continental competition without fans and will also not be allowed supporters for the next five away matches.

Barcelona are likely to be without Jules Kounde for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie against Inter due to a hamstring injury.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Newcastle United hold a strong interest in signing Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo but are concerned about the asking price.

THE TIMES

Arsenal face competition from other Premier League clubs, including Bournemouth, to sign Espanyol's highly rated goalkeeper Joan García this summer.

Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton have been hit by a Fifa transfer ban for failing to submit the necessary paperwork when they signed a player from Liverpool.





The Standard

To blame Graham Potter for West Ham’s plight misses the bigger picture

Potter is likely to start next season under pressure but many of West Ham’s failings pre-date him

It is hard to know what should be more concerning to West Ham supporters: another late collapse at Brighton on Saturday or Graham Potter’s strained appearance afterwards.

Potter slumped into his chair in the Amex’s auditorium after a 3-2 defeat to his former club with the air of a man who has just lived through a thousand years of agony and is now being forced to take questions on the experience.

“The pain at the moment is pretty hard,” he said, having braced himself with several deep breaths and some vigorous face-rubbing.

In truth, though, it was not so much what Potter said but how he said it; after a little over 100 days and 15 matches in charge of the Hammers, the 49-year-old already seems close to the edge, a man already in danger of being broken and desperately in need of getting through “a tough four weeks” until the end of the season.

He finished the briefing by irritably insisting, “If you want me to swear, I can swear,” delivered with the unconvincing energy of then-Labour leader Ed Milliband insisting, ‘Hell yes, I’m tough enough to be prime minister,’ during the 2015 general election campaign.

Potter’s ragged showing on his return to the Amex has contributed to the overwhelming sense that West Ham is not a happy place to be right now. Striker Niclas Fullkrug’s scathing assessment of his team-mates after the home draw with Southampton (described as not “helpful” by Potter) is still hanging in the air, while captain Jarrod Bowen urged the squad “to look at ourselves again” after labelling Saturday’s collapse from 2-1 up in the 88th-minute as “sickening”.

It was West Ham’s seventh game without a win and the problem for Potter is that they have not improved since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January. In fact, Potter’s win percentage (20 per cent) is now well below that of Lopetegui (30 per cent).

His limited impact at West Ham compares unfavourably to Vitor Pereira’s transformation of Wolves and, more pertinently, Everton’s improvement under former Hammers boss David Moyes. When Moyes joined Everton, 48 hours after Potter’s appointment, the Toffees were six points behind the Hammers in the table but today they are two points clear.

As a system coach, who has always been most comfortable on the training ground, Potter deserves time for his philosophy to bed-in, as well as a pre-season and a summer transfer window.

Many of West Ham’s failings pre-date him, such as a tendency to raise their game against better opponents (see the 1-0 win at Arsenal in February) but slip-up in matches they are expected to win.

He has inherited too many players who are either unwilling or unable to hit the required levels, while there is a compelling case that West Ham are a club where repeatedly pointing the finger at the coach is to miss the bigger picture of dysfunction at boardroom level.

Still, Potter is likely to start next season under more pressure than any other manager in the Premier League, with the possible exception of Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim, and he will need to show in the opening months of next term that he has what it takes to build on the club’s progress under Moyes.

West Ham have been spared a relegation dogfight this term by virtue of the three promoted clubs being unable to compete but Burnley and particularly Leeds already looked better-equipped to be competitive next term, which may spell trouble for chaotically-run clubs.

For now, Potter does at least have something to play for, with West Ham’s next two games against Tottenham and United, both six-pointers to avoid the ignominy of finishing in 17th, as the worst of the rest in this season’s top-flight.

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.