Chelsea are expecting offers of more than £50m for 23-year-old England forward Noni Madueke, who has agreed personal terms with Arsenal over a move. (Telegraph - subscription required), external
Tottenham and West Ham remain in talks over a deal for Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus, after the Hammers rejected an initial offer of £50m for the 24-year-old. (Sky Sports), external
Sporting's 27-year-old Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres is prepared to give up about £2m in wages to help push through his £70m move to Arsenal. (Record - in Portuguese), external
Arsenal were linked with RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, 22, but the German club's asking price of €100m (£86m) for the Slovenia international put the Gunners off. (Sky Sports Germany) , external
Borussia Dortmund are looking to extend the loan of Chelsea midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, 21, with the English youngster's £40m release clause making a permanent deal unlikely. (Talksport), external
Chelsea need to raise more than £60m in sales to be able to register their new signings for this season's Champions League. (Times - subscription required)
Crystal Palace are closing in on the signing of Ajax's 27-year-old left-back Borna Sosa for £2m. (Athletic - subscription required), external
Koln striker Damion Downs is expected to have his medical at Southampton on Tuesday. The 21-year-old American will sign a four-year deal with the Championship club. (Florian Plettenberg), external
Roma are interested in signing 24-year-old Brighton and Denmark midfielder Matt O'Riley. (La Gazetta Dello Sport - in Italian), external
Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen is prepared to join Galatasaray, where he was on loan last season, but the Turkish club will have to pay Napoli his £65m release clause as the Italian club are not prepared to take any less. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external
Leeds are interested in Hoffenheim's Anton Stach but will likely face competition for the 26-year-old Germany midfielder's signature. (Kicker - in German), external
Everton's 35-year-old Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye has signed a new contract running until 2027. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Genoa sporting director Flavio Ricciardella agreed a deal to sign Jamie Vardy, only for manager Patrick Vieira to veto the move for the 38-year-old former England striker, who was released by Leicester last week. (La Repubblica - in Italian, subscription required), external
Norwich have agreed a deal to sign 23-year-old Denmark defender Mathias Kvistgaarden from Brondby. (Tipsbladet - in Danish)
Guardian Rumour Mill
John Brewin
The Arsenal striker mystery may have reached its denouement: who will be unmasked as the man to knock down the ball to an onrushing Declan Rice. The answer appears to be Viktor Gyökeres, who is close to sealing his dream move from Sporting. If Benjamin Sesko is the great, lost Gunner, it’s because RB Leipzig want to charge €100m (around £86m), when Gyökeres will cost £70m and lower wages. Victor Osimhen, another striker in the reckoning, seems likely to convert his loan at Galatasaray to a permanent move, should a £65m fee be paid to Napoli. Yet another candidate, Real Madrid’s rather good Rodrygo, seems poised for a move to Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
Chances are that Noni Madueke will be one of Gyokeres’s suppliers as the Arsenal-Chelsea trade route opens up once more. The winger wants Arsenal but Chelsea are open to accepting other bids than the Gunners’ £50m. Also, isn’t he a right winger, where Bukayo Saka plays? Seems Arteta wants a surfeit of players in each position, following the addition of Martín Zubimendi to a packed midfield. Chelsea need to sell £60m of talent to make Champions League regulations after the slapped wrist – and fine – received from Uefa on Friday.
More London-based news: West Ham are willing to sell Mohammed Kudus to Spurs, just not for the £50m they have been offered. That figure seems standard these days, and although Kudus has a release clause of £85m, the Hammers will have to accept less. West Ham need to sell to buy to overhaul a squad that struggled last season.
Some weekend rumours to mop up. Manchester United’s treatment room is to be blessed by the free transfer signing of Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who announced his departure from Everton last month. Another possible United signing is Chelsea’s Christopher Nkunku, another player with a mixed fitness record. Chelsea will accept a fee of £35m. United are also linked with another Everton alumni: Moise Kean, these days at Fiorentina, and still just 25 years of age.
How will such deals be paid for? Marcus Rashford’s dream move to Barcelona is a possibility but then again, after failing to land Nico Williams, Luis Díaz of Liverpool is Barcelona’s leading target. That’s if the Catalan club can get players registered. United still want Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo. Expect an improved bid soon.
Move off? West Brom winger Mikey ‘Jinky’ Johnston’s move to Flamengo has stalled as fans at the Brazilian club have complained they don’t want him.
Guardian
How a Colombian podcast shed light on Bobby Moore and the ‘bracelet of Bogotá’
The allegations England’s captain had casually stolen the jewellery on the eve of the 1970 World Cup sparked a diplomatic frenzy
Luke Taylor
Bobby Moore was surrounded by news reporters after the diplomatic frenzy surrounding the allegations. Photograph: Alamy
It remains one of the most notorious and unresolved episodes in World Cup history. Now diplomatic cables have emerged in Colombia shedding fresh light on the diplomatic frenzy caused by the arrest of Bobby Moore, then captain of the reigning champions, England, days before the start of the 1970 tournament in Mexico.
The previously unseen documents show how Moore’s trip to the Fuego Verde jewellery shop in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, sparked a desperate campaign from the British Foreign Office to free the West Ham centre-back. The enormous pressure exerted on Colombia by the Foreign Office may have swayed the judge’s decision in the case, a new podcast series El Capitán y el Brazalete de Esmeraldas (The Captain and the Emerald Bracelet) concluded.
The podcast hears from the shop assistant, Clara Padilla, who accused Moore of swiping the £600 emerald bracelet while accompanied by Bobby Charlton and another teammate. Padilla broke her silence for the first time in more than 50 years, shortly before she died of cancer in February, to maintain that Moore had indeed taken the bracelet five decades ago.
“I just wanted people to know that I was never lying, I never accused Bobby Moore falsely,” she told the podcast days before her death. “I know what I saw.”
The allegations that Moore had casually stolen the jewellery on the eve of the World Cup threatened to prevent him from travelling to Mexico, potentially derailing England’s chances of defending the trophy and sending the English tabloids into a frenzy.
Leading theories included the Brazilian Football Association conspiring to eliminate their toughest potential opponents or that Colombia’s murky emerald trade was trying to squeeze money out of Moore. At the time Moore said only: “I’m not too sure what it’s all about. As far as I can make out, there’s nothing in it. I can assure you of that.”
But Moore’s biographer, Jeff Powell, wrote in a later edition of his book that “perhaps one of the younger lads with the squad did something foolish, a prank with unfortunate circumstances”, hinting that Moore had told a different version of events to him.
The cables examined by the podcast add weight to the theory that the scandal was a team prank that blew out of control. They also suggest the investigation could have been swayed in Moore’s favour by intense diplomatic pressure, with Colombian officials doing whatever they could to bury the investigation.
Bobby Moore leaves the Fuego Verde jewellery shop in Bogotá, where it was claimed he had stolen a bracelet. Photograph: AP
In one telegram at the height of the scandal, the British ambassador, Richard Rogers, told London that officials from Colombia’s national intelligence agency had assured him “no legal action would be taken without consultation with the embassy”, adding: “We also ensured that the magistrate concerned was privately made aware of the awkward implications of the case for Colombia because of the strong interest of British and world public opinion.”
The document shows the UK was strongly reminding Colombia that it was set to host the 1986 World Cup and the scandal could tarnish its global image and burn its chances of hosting the tournament. Others suggest their diplomatic reach extended further. In a later telegram, Rogers said the director of Colombia’s national intelligence agency, Gen Luis Etilio Leyva, had paid a visit to the judge overseeing the case. With the green light from the president and foreign minister – both under pressure from the UK – Leyva warned Judge Pedro Dorado of the political consequences of jailing Moore.
The idea that Padilla had framed Moore quickly became “the official story”, said Camilo Macías, one of the podcast’s producers. “Moore had the full backing of the British and Colombian governments, Colombian police and intelligence agencies, the British and Colombian media, and much of the public opinion on both sides. Against this overwhelming chorus, Clara’s voice was buried.”
Moore was released three days before the tournament kicked off in the Azteca. Even Harold Wilson, the British prime minister, was abreast of the events, fearing if the government did not get Moore on a plane to Mexico City, Labour could lose the next election. Documents show Foreign Office officials became uncomfortable with the PM’s involvement.
As the face of the supposedly dirty plot to frame Moore, Padilla’s photo was splashed across the front page of the Daily Mirror. The 24-year-old was vilified at home, too, where Colombians adored British footballers after several English players, including the Manchester United winger Charlie Mitten, played for the Bogotá side Independiente Santa Fe.
Padilla says she was forced to leave for the US, where she had lived ever since, after receiving up to 15 phone calls a day as well as numerous death threats. “I was a victim for many, many years of being accused of all kinds of horrible things. The worst one was that I was lying, that I was trying to destroy Bobby Moore,” she told the podcast.
Close to her death from cancer, Padilla maintained that she told no lie and revealed previously untold details of how Moore snatched the bracelet. “They came in and two of them sat down to flirt and distract me,” Padilla said, alleging that two of the England pranksters turned on their charm to compliment her English language skills and her good looks.
“Bobby Moore was there in the door where the display cabinet was and I saw him open the cabinet, take the bracelet and put it in his pocket, looking at me the whole time. It was like he was teasing me.”
Sir Keith Morris, chargé d’affaires at the time, has insisted the UK did not exert undue pressure on its Colombian counterparts but admitted the case was given special attention given the team were national heroes. “Would we have done quite as much for any British citizen? No. But there was a national interest involved,” Morris said. “He [Judge Pedro Dorado] was, I am sure, aware of Colombian public opinion on the subject. He found a solution to fit the case.”
C&H
West Ham’s dilemma grows as Captain fantastic lifts another trophy
Winning captain, winning goal and ‘player of the tournament’ – yet Alvarez can’t get a game at West Ham
WEST HAM’s list of players up for sale this summer- apparently – includes most of the first team squad as Graham Potter launches a clearout before remoulding the squad in his own style. Anecdotally we’ve been told that apart from Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Crysencio Summerville, pretty much anyone is for sale.
How that will work out come the start of pre-season with more than a dozen ‘transfer listed’ players rocking up at Rush Green is anybody’s guess. Hardly a joyful reunion with the coach who doesn’t want them. One who will be late returning is Mexican Edson Alvarez who last night became a double international trophy winner, scoring the winning goal in the CONCACAF final that gave his Mexico side a 2-1 win against USA and consequently getting himself named as player of the tournament.
Some achievement for ‘El Machin’ who can’t get a game at West Ham for love nor money.
Surely time for Graham Potter to reconsider his attitude to Alvarez. With well known disciplinary issues last season, Alvarez may well have been struggling for fitness under Lopetegui and slow, late to tackles and a walking yellow-card liability. However the Hammers desperately need leaders and Alvarez is certainly one of those. A double trophy winning leader to boot.
His high profile campaign in the CONCACAF tournament will, if nothing else, certainly have lifted his sale value so if Potter refuses to reconsider his midfielder’s reintegration that at least finding a willing buyer for the Mexican should be easier. Whether West Ham will do any better with the cash from an Alvarez sale is another challenge altogether for the recruitment team.
GFF
Marseille identify West Ham’s Nayef Aguerd as priority target
Olympique de Marseille have strengthened at the back this summer. Despite a second-place finish in Ligue 1 last season, OM’s defence was often suspect, and Roberto De Zerbi and Medhi Benatia have identified the sector as one needing improvement.
There have already been two arrivals. CJ Egan-Riley has joined Marseille following the expiry of his deal at Burnley. RC Lens’ Facundo Medina has also arrived for a considerable fee. He will play alongside compatriot and club captain Leonardo Balerdi, considering he remains at the club. Balerdi is notably a target for Juventus, although OM are looking to retain him.
There could be further recruits. As per L’Équipe, West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd (29) is a priority target for Les Phocéens. However, there are other teams abroad interested in the Moroccan centre-back. He is also earning a considerable salary at West Ham, who will have significant demands to part ways with their defender.