Newcastle have scouted Borussia Dortmund's 20-year-old English winger Jamie Gittens, and could also make a summer move for his team-mate, Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, 27. (Mail - subscription required), external
Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney, 34, is a target for Championship-bound Wrexham, with the former Scotland international set to be offered a deal worth £50,000 a week when he leaves the Cottagers on a free transfer. (Talksport), external
Liverpool expect Florian Wirtz to stay at Bayer Leverkusen or join Bayern Munich but will make an approach if the 22-year-old Germany attacking midfielder wants to leave the Bundesliga. (Times - subscription required), external
Veteran English forward Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City this summer but the 38-year-old has no intention to retire and believes he could still play in the Premier League. (Sky Sports), external
Fresh talks between Bayern Munich and their 26-year-old France defender Dayot Upamecano have begun over a new deal until 2030. (Sky Germany), external
Lazio will pay Arsenal a fee worth 9m euros (£7.57m) to sign 25-year-old Portuguese left-back Nuno Tavares in a loan deal with an obligation to buy. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Manchester United and Denmark striker Rasmus Hojlund, 22, faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford with boss Ruben Amorim having to sell players before he can buy this summer. (Telegraph - subscription required), external
Bournemouth have set a £45m price tag for their 21-year-old Hungary left-back Milos Kerkez, who is wanted by Liverpool. (iSport), external
Arsenal's search for a striker is focused on either RB Leipzig and Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko, 21, or Sporting's 26-year-old Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres. (Independent)
Sky Paper Talk
THE TIMES
Football's lawmakers do not plan to make changes to the VAR protocol around delaying an offside flag despite the injury to the Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, on the basis that the policy already tells officials to immediately signal if they are certain a player is offside.
Liverpool are expected to approach Bayer Leverkusen and formally trigger the £30million release clause that will make Jeremie Frimpong the first signing of the club's summer recruitment drive.
New stadium developments in Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham could head the list of the 16 venues to host the 2035 Women's World Cup in the UK.
The FIFA president Gianni Infantino was humiliated by a walkout of European members after he delayed the organisation's annual congress by hours to join Donald Trump's tour of the Gulf.
THE TELEGRAPH
Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea are all showing interest in Brighton forward Joao Pedro ahead of a possible summer transfer.
Ange Postecoglou is in line to earn a bonus in the region of £2 million if he can clinch Tottenham Hotspur's first European trophy for 41 years.
Wrexham have made an approach for Fulham midfielder Tom Cairney in a sign of their ambition following promotion to the Championship.
DAILY MAIL
Marcus Rashford can leave Manchester United for £40million this summer, but Aston Villa do not have first option on the England star.
Arsenal have made strikers Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres their key targets as they look to bolster their attacking options in the summer window.
Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio has been indicted along with three former youth players at the club, for the alleged distribution of a sexual video involving a minor.
THE SUN
Eddie Hearn expects Chris Eubank Jr to rematch Conor Benn next - back at Tottenham's stadium on September 27.
Nottingham Forest are set to launch an internal investigation into their medical team's handling of Taiwo Awoniyi's horror injury on Sunday.
THE ATHLETIC
Brazil forward Neymar is in talks with Santos over extending his contract through to 2026.
DAILY MIRROR
Football fans going to the Europa League final are facing travel chaos because of airport strike action.
Real Madrid are keen on a move for the Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras, but Manchester United could still have a significant say over whether a deal is completed, according to reports.
DAILY RECORD
Kyogo's future at Rennes has been plunged into further doubt after the transfer chief who brought him to France from Celtic left the club.
SCOTTISH SUN
Derek McInnes has been spotted leaving Rugby Park for the last time as Kilmarnock boss.
David Ancelotti has had 'positive talks' about becoming the next Rangers manager, according to a report.
The Athletic
It’s the end of an era at West Ham as Moyes’ ‘Band of Brothers’ continues to be broken up
By Roshane Thomas
It was during Vladimir Coufal’s day off that he decided to immerse himself in West Ham United’s history.
The right-back, who joined from Slavia Prague in October 2020, had been at the club for 19 months when he decided to take a stroll along Green Street. Coufal and his wife, Hana, visited the Boleyn Tavern pub. It is here where supporters congregated on matchday before making the short walk to Upton Park, the stadium where West Ham played from 1904 to 2016.
Coufal took pictures in front of the ‘Long live the Boleyn’ and Billy Bonds and Sir Trevor Brooking murals, located near the junction of Priory Road and Barking Road.
Reflecting on Coufal’s love for the club is especially poignant this week given the recent confirmation that his contract will not be renewed at the end of the season. This Sunday in the final home game of the season against Nottingham Forest, the Czech Republic international, along with Lukasz Fabianski, Aaron Cresswell and Danny Ings, will bid farewell to supporters. The quartet have made more than 800 appearances combined.
They were part of the side that won the UEFA Conference League under David Moyes in 2023. Coufal, Cresswell and Fabianski in particular were key elements of the ‘band of brothers’ group that transformed West Ham’s fortunes, finishing sixth and seventh in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Coufal helped instil some good habits in his team-mates, as he and Tomas Soucek regularly trained at Rush Green on their days off. His attacking efficiency culminated in 20 assists across his 178 appearances. His £5million acquisition can certainly be looked back upon as a shrewd piece of business.
One of the most memorable tales from his five-year spell is Coufal being nonplussed when Eintracht Frankfurt supporters invaded the pitch following their second-leg Europa League semi-final victory over West Ham in May 2022.
“I wasn’t scared,” said Coufal, channelling his inner Tomas Repka. “If a fan attacks me, it would be their problem, not mine.”
One of Coufal’s endearing traits is his modesty despite his status as a Premier League footballer. There is a bus stop opposite the training ground and Coufal once had no qualms about waiting for the next bus to make his way home. He took great joy in exploring east London. Before his son, Nicolas, joined West Ham’s academy, he often took the youngster to Millwall Park to practise. At Chadwell Heath, the family recently celebrated Nicolas extending his stay with the academy.
“Dreams come true if we work hard to achieve them,” Coufal wrote in an Instagram post. “You want to be like Daddy since you have started to walk with a ball and now you are on the path you have chosen to take.”
Coufal wanted to continue his five-year spell at West Ham. Two months after the club rejected multiple offers from Fulham for the right-back on the last day of the January transfer window, Coufal expressed his frustration with Czech outlet iDNES, that talks over a new deal had reached an impasse. It is his preference to remain in the Premier League and London. The £15million arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka last summer has led to limited game time for Coufal this season, with only 10 of his 19 league appearances so far being starts.
Cresswell and Fabianski have also had to adjust to being out of the starting XI. Cresswell, capped three times for England between 2016 and 2017, has made 366 appearances since joining from Ipswich Town in 2014. The emergence of Ollie Scarles and experienced full-back Emerson Palmieri has seen Cresswell feature sporadically in the left-back position.
The 35-year-old has, however, performed well in Graham Potter’s back three and his performances merited an extension. Cresswell has been a good mentor for Scarles following his rise from the under-21s. He is not one to bask in the limelight, Cresswell prefers to go under the radar. The Athletic previously reported the role he played in arranging club staff’s travel to Prague ahead of the Conference League final, and how he was there for former team-mate and close friend David Martin during his lowest moment.
It is why Cresswell is so highly thought of behind the scenes. Earlier this year, a member of staff waited for the defender hours after the players had left the training ground so they could film content for the club’s TikTok page. Cresswell apologised for the delay but being the last player to leave meant he was dedicated until the very end. It is a credit to his longevity that he played under six managers in Sam Allardyce, Slaven Bilic, Moyes, Manuel Pellegrini, Moyes again, Julen Lopetegui and Potter.
The nadir of Cresswell’s time at West Ham was his red card in the Europa League semi-final against Frankfurt. But days later, supporters helped him get over the setback by singing his name in the next fixture against Norwich City. The following year, there was redemption for Cresswell as he helped the club win major silverware for the first time since 1980. In the family lounge at the London Stadium is a picture of the left-back with his son, Sonny, and daughter Sadie. He was an unused substitute in the final, but after the victory he expressed his gratitude.
It remains unlikely the defender will receive a testimonial, as mentioned in 2023. The last West Ham player to receive a testimonial was Mark Noble, the now sporting director, in 2016. But the adulation he will receive against Forest will be a fitting exit.
The ovation for Ings is likely to differ to that of Fabianski, Coufal and Cresswell. The forward struggled with consistency after joining from Aston Villa in January 2023, scoring five times in 69 appearances. But a memorable moment occurred in September when Ings scored a dramatic late equaliser in the 1-1 draw against Fulham. It was his first goal since March.
Last July, during the club’s pre-season tour of the United States, Coufal said he hoped his team-mate would score plenty of goals when asked what present he would get Ings for his birthday. But his strike against Fulham would be his only goal for the season and last for West Ham. The former England international joins the growing list of forwards whose efforts to be a leading marksman proved futile.
As for Fabianski, my journey at The Athletic started with the goalkeeper. The first West Ham article on this site was about Fabianski’s journey from Polish schoolboy to West Ham favourite. Although the club opted not to activate the one-year option in his contract, 40-year-old Fabianski departs with his head held high.
He erased doubts over his shot-stopping ability in games against Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest this season. Since joining from Swansea City in 2018, he has remained a calming presence for the back four and not prone to any major blunders, or corner‑flapping howlers. Fabianski has already turned down interest from one of his former clubs.
“Lukasz called back two days after my call,” Legia Warsaw’s sporting director Michal Zewkalow told Sport. “He said clearly that he is not coming back to Poland. For private reasons, he wants to stay in England for a few more years.”
It is end of an era with Coufal, Fabianski, Ings and Cresswell leaving West Ham. It is only fitting they receive a special send-off on Sunday.
Top photo: Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images
Sport Witness
“There will always be options” – West Ham star not dismissing Hammers exit despite being happy
By Naveen Ullal
At the weekend, Edson Álvarez came off the bench in West Ham United’s 2-0 league win over Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Mexico international missed three league games prior to that due to a back injury he suffered in April.
West Ham are currently 15th in the table and have secured a place in the Premier League next season.
The midfielder was a guest on TUDN‘s Faitelson Sin Censura, where he discussed his recovery from the fitness issue.
Álvarez said he came to an agreement with Graham Potter to work on his recovery once West Ham no longer had to worry about relegation.
“The injury wasn’t something we wanted to make so obvious; it was a back problem I’d been carrying for a few games,” he said.
“Then I came to the conclusion with my coach since we were safe in the Premier League, it was also a bit of a decision to look ahead to the national team. That’s why we made the decision to have a bit of rest, so I could recover properly from this back injury.
“I’m very happy to be getting playing time after almost a month without playing, and I’m looking forward to what’s coming next.”
Mexico have qualified for the Concacaf Gold Cup and the West Ham player is focused on the summer tournament.
TUDN’s David Faitelson quizzed the 27-year-old about the recent reports linking him with a move away from West Ham in the summer window.
Last month, we covered claims from Germany which stated his agent had contact with Borussia Dortmund over a potential summer move.
The former Ajax man has a contract until 2028. He hasn’t categorically ruled out an exit but insists that he’s happy at the Premier League club.
“Obviously, as a professional footballer, there’s always going to be a lot of buzz around you, in the sense that there will always be options, that there are teams that are watching you. That personal motivation to continue growing as a player, as a person,” Álvarez explained.
“I’m a West Ham player. I feel very happy. This club has surprised me a lot… I’m very happy here. The city of London helps me a lot, but this is football; it can change at any moment. I just want to be mentally and physically prepared for whatever may come, but for now, I’m very well and happy with the team.”
