Monday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Manchester City winger Savinho remains top of Tottenham's wanted list, with boss Thomas Frank keen to sign the 21-year-old Brazil international after Spurs missed out on deal for England winger Eberechi Eze, 27, to Arsenal. (Independent), external

Tottenham have indicated to Manchester City they are willing to pay £60.7m for Savinho, who is keen to make the move to the Londoners. (Talksport), external

In a bid to make it a double signing, Tottenham have also made an improved £43m (50m euros) offer for Como and Argentina midfielder Nico Paz, 20, but the Italian club are holding out for a deal closer to £60m (70m euros). (Sky Sports Italia - in Italian), external

Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool have interest in signing Real Madrid and Brazil winger Rodrygo, but the Spanish club are yet to receive a bid for the 24-year-old. (Marca - in Spanish), external

West Ham and Brazil attacking midfielder Lucas Paqueta, 27, is also of interest to Tottenham and Aston Villa. (Mail), external

Monaco will accept a bid of about £47.5m for 23-year-old French attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche, who is another target for Tottenham. (Football Insider)

Paris St-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has agreed personal terms with Manchester City, with the two clubs in talks over a deal which will see the 26-year-old Italian join Pep Guardiola's side. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Newcastle are bracing themselves for another bid from Liverpool for Swedish striker Alexander Isak, 25, after Monday's Premier League fixture between the two sides. (The I paper - subscription required), external

Belgian goalkeeper Senne Lammens missed Royal Antwerp's match on Sunday because of the 23-year-old's proposed £17m transfer to Manchester United. (Guardian), external

Bayer Leverkusen defender Piero Hincapie wants to leave with a number of Premier League clubs interested in the 23-year-old Ecuadorian. (Fabrizio Romano), external

West Ham boss Graham Potter is safe from the sack for now, but the 50-year-old Englishman needs to improve results soon if he wants to remain in his role at the London Stadium. (Mirror), external

Chelsea will press ahead with moves to sign Manchester United and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho, 21, and RB Leipzig's Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons, 22, if they are able to offload some of their unwanted players. (Sky Sports), external

Leeds are negotiating a deal to allow 24-year-old Belgian winger Largie Ramazani to join Valencia on loan. (Athletic - subscription required), external

Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign 16-year-old Irish midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna from Shamrock Rovers. (Mail)




Sky Paper Talk

THE SUN

Brendan Rodgers is Nottingham Forest's top target when they make their move for a new boss.

Steve Parish is keen on Spanish right-sided Villarreal forward Yeremy Pino, 22 as one of the Crystal Palace replacements for Eberechi Eze.

DAILY MIRROR

Graham Potter's job at West Ham is safe for now, but the ex-Brighton boss needs to improve results soon if he wants to remain in his role at the London Stadium.

THE GUARDIAN

Fenerbahce are in talks with Nottingham Forest over a deal to sell Dominik Livakovic to the Premier League club.

DAILY MAIL

Galatasaray are expected to renew contact with Manchester City on Monday for goalkeeper Ederson after the Brazilian was left on the bench for Saturday's defeat by Tottenham.

Tottenham held further talks with Manchester City on Saturday over a proposed deal for winger Savinho.

Tottenham have reportedly seen a £61m bid for highly-rated playmaker Nico Paz rejected as their frustrating summer in the transfer market drags on.

Manchester United have reportedly turned down the chance to sign Chelsea teenager Tyrique George in a swap deal involving Alejandro Garnacho.

THE ATHLETIC

Arsenal have agreed a deal for Shamrock Rovers midfielder Victor Ozhianvuna, in a transfer which is expected to constitute an Irish record.

THE INDEPDENDENT

Leeds have agreed an £8m fee with Leicester for full-back James Justin as Daniel Farke closes in on his 10th summer signing.

DAILY RECORD

Michel-Ange Balikwisha was given an emotional Antwerp send-off as the winger gets set to join Celtic in a £4.5m deal.

Feyenoord forward Calvin Stengs is next on the Celtic agenda having dropped out of the first-team picture since the summer arrival of Robin van Persie.

SCOTTISH SUN

Kasper Schmeichel has insisted Jamie Vardy would make ANY team better, as transfer speculation links the former Leicester hero with a move to Scotland.

THE SCOTSMAN

Celtic target Michel-Ange Balikwisha has bid an emotional farewell to Royal Antwerp supporters ahead of an imminent move to the Scottish champions.




Guardian Rumour mill

Will Unwin

After Manchester United so kindly signed Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui last summer, Bayern Munich may return the favour this time around. With Rasmus Højlund and Jadon Sancho coming to the end of their Old Trafford careers, the German side might offer the duo a chance to start a new life on the continent. Sancho has previously impressed in the Bundesliga at Borussia Dortmund and could welcome a return to the league.

Getting a lesson from Tottenham was enough to make some people at Manchester City a bit twitchy. Efforts are supposedly being made in the market to add some quality in defensive areas. Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma is said to have agreed terms over a move to the Etihad Stadium, while City are stepping up interest in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi. City could sell two centre-backs before the window slams shut, with Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji available.

Another potential City departure is Savinho, who is wanted by Tottenham. The Londoners are willing to pay more than £60m for the winger. Thomas Frank could also make a £43m move for Como’s Nico Paz but the Italians want a fee closer to £60m.

Leeds will bolster their defensive ranks with the signing of James Justin after a £10m deal was agreed with Leicester. Everyone is so eager to get it all done, that the right-back has already completed a medical and is readying himself to sit in an empty stand and hold a scarf aloft.

With that pesky bookings investigation out of the way and the realisation of how bad West Ham are, Lucas Paquetá might be ready to wander to pastures new. One potential destination is Tottenham, who could even be tempted to pay £65m for the Brazilian. Aston Villa might also give Paquetá the chance to move up the table.

Life in the Chelsea bomb squad is becoming quite tedious for those left on the outside of Enzo Maresca’s plans. Lesley Ugochukwu has left for Burnley and Carney Chukwuemeka looks to be on his way out with a £24m Borussia Dortmund return on the cards, but Axel Disasi is still there, twiddling his thumbs. Newcastle might be the ones willing to sign the defender, who spent time at Aston Villa on loan last season.

Not happy with the signing of Eberechi Eze, Arsenal are still in the market for a record transfer. On this occasion, the fee is rather more modest, coming in at about £1.73m. It will be the highest fee paid for a League of Ireland player in history when 16-year-old Victor Ozhianvuna joins from Shamrock Rovers.

In League Two, the race for Alassana Jatta is hotting up and the striker is eager to leave Notts County. After Plymouth’s £900,000 bid was knocked back, others are waiting in the wings. Huddersfield and Bolton have shown an interest, while QPR have previously made an offer. They could face competition from Swansea or even Kayserispor.





C&H

West Ham midfield target carried off injured

West Ham’s transfer window would make a good fly-on-the-wall Netflix style documentary: Graham Potter, Kyle Macaulay and David Sullivan between them have struggled to provide the ‘rebuild’ required and with just seven days to go, there are gaping holes in the midfield, no attackers under thirty and – well – a defence that cannot defend.  Fourteen midfielders were linked and named as being West Ham targets over the weekend – whilst some were media-hyped, most are probably true targets but either don[t want to come – who can blame them – or have a premium price tag.

One of the foremost names on the list can now be scratched out: Hammers target and pre-season’s standout opponent for Lille, versatile midfielder Ngal’ayel Mukau was injured yesterday and is now serious doubt for his club: Rotowire.com confirm that:

“Mukau was stretchered off in Sunday’s 1-0 victory against Monaco following a heavy knock, the club posted. [He] suffered a heavy knock in Sunday’s victory against the Monegasques and was stretchered off at the one-hour mark. The midfielder will likely be assessed in the coming days to determine the extent of his injury and whether he will have to miss time. “

Andy Irving appears to be well on the way out of the door with a deal confirmed between clubs for a permanent sale to Wrexham, even though personal terms have not yet been finalised.
News in overnight from as yet unconfirmed sources -Spanish-facing twitter account  @futbolin1900 claim Guido Rodriguez is now the third midfielder leaving West Ham’s troubled squad with a move agreed between clubs which will see the Argentinian head off to La Liga side Espanyol.

“Guido Rodriguez will be an Espanyol player in the next few hours’ reads the caption.

Which will not upset most West Ham fans one bit as Guido never really got up to speed with West Ham and a deal to end his tenure at London Stadium will be broadly welcomed provided that a replacement – most importantly an upgrade– is brought in before the end of September 1st . The terms of the Rodriguez move – loan, permanent exit, fees, share of salary etc are yet to be made public.




Sports View

West Ham United table offer to sign Marseille midfielder Adrien Rabiot

West Ham United have made enquiries to sign Marseille midfielder Adrien Rabiot this summer, according to French outlet L’Equipe.

West Ham are in dire need of reinforcements in the middle of the park at the London Stadium club following a woeful start to 2025-26.

The Hammers lost their opening two games of the new Premier League season to Sunderland and Chelsea, and manager Graham Potter is under pressure.

They need to make quality recruitment and Rabiot is on their radar after Marseille decided to sell him.

The 30-year-old France international has been told to leave after he was involved in a post-match altercation with Jonathan Rowe two weeks ago.

However, West Ham are not the only ones keen on recruiting his services, with Galatasaray, Aston Villa, Inter Milan and several clubs keen.

Rabiot brings much-needed experience to the table as he ‘works incredibly hard and covers a lot of ground’.

He has played almost 500 games across Ligue 1 and Serie A, with six titles to his name, and the Hammers need such a player in their midfield.

The 6ft 3in is strong aerially, with his tackling and overall defensive contribution some of his key strengths.



Caught Offside

Newcastle United & West Ham consider late move for ‘exceptional’ Man City star

Manchester City defender Nathan Ake has emerged as a surprise target for three Premier League clubs, with Newcastle United, West Ham United and Everton all considering moves for the Dutch centre-back.

Ake has been a reliable squad player for Pep Guardiola but has often found himself battling for minutes behind the likes of Ruben Dias and John Stones.

While his versatility, capable of operating as both a centre-back and left-back, has been crucial for City, the player is believed to be open to a transfer that would guarantee him more consistent starting opportunities, sources close to the agents industry have informed CaughtOffside.
Man City are ready to offload Nathan Ake

Man City are prepared to sanction a sale, placing Ake’s valuation between £30–35 million. His contract at the Etihad runs until June 2027, giving City no immediate pressure to sell, but their willingness to consider offers has sparked a flurry of interest.

Everton are among the clubs keen to strengthen their defensive options.

However, Premier League regulations complicate the situation: Everton already signed Jack Grealish on loan from City this summer, meaning they cannot secure Ake on similar terms.

A permanent transfer would be required, and without European football to entice the player, convincing him to join may prove challenging.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United and West Ham United are also keen on signing the Dutch defender but the Magpies are better placed to match the ambitions of the Man City defender.

Newcastle can offer continental competition this season and the promise of a prominent role in their squad.

Whether it is Newcastle, West Ham or Everton who act fastest could determine where the Dutchman calls home before the window closes.

Pep Guardiola has previously described Ake as an ‘exceptional’ defender.

[With Kind Regards]

gooders » 25 Aug 2025 11:33

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…

[gooders]

Thanks Alan