West Ham Online

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BBC

Real Madrid are hoping to snap up Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate, 26, on a free transfer next summer, when the Frenchman's contract is due to expire. (Marca - in Spanish), external

Arsenal are actively pursuing moves for Sporting's Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 27, and RB Leipzig's Slovenia attacker Benjamin Sesko, 22, though will only sign one forward this summer. (Mirror), external

However, Arsenal think the asking price for Gyokeres is too high so will focus on signing Sesko or Aston Villa's England forward Ollie Watkins, 29. (Record - in Portuguese), external

Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund, 22, has emerged as a top target for Serie A side Inter Milan. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

The Old Trafford side have decided to keep hold of Netherlands forward Joshua Zirkzee, 24. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Manchester United made contact with representatives of French striker Hugo Ekitike, 22, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, this weekend. (Bild), external

Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham are all keeping tabs on Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho, 20, after the Argentine was told to find a new club. (Mail), external

Al-Hilal have improved their offer to Napoli striker and Manchester United target Victor Osimhen, 26, proposing a deal with an annual salary worth up to £42.6m. (Goal, external)

AC Milan have opened talks with Arsenal over signing the Gunners' Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, 28. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Multiple enquiries have been made from Premier League and Serie A clubs about the availability of Bayer Leverkusen's Czech striker Patrik Schick, 29. (Sky Germany via Florian Plettenberg), external

Paris St-Germain have agreed personal terms with Bournemouth defender Illia Zabarnyi, 22, and are in talks over a fee with the Ukrainian's club. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Galatasaray have made an offer for 33-year-old Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Portuguese giants Porto want to buy Southampton's English winger Tyler Dibling, 19. (Record - in Portuguese)




Sky Paper Talk

DAILY MIRROR

Ollie Watkins has made no secret of his love for Arsenal - and it now seems as though the Gunners will make a fresh attempt to sign the England striker after failing to do so in January.

Manchester United have reportedly decided to cut their losses with Rasmus Hojlund, but Joshua Zirkzee is set to stay at Old Trafford.

Arsenal are staging their own "beauty pageant" as they are actively pursuing deals for both Viktor Gyokeres and Benjamin Sesko.

Arsenal have no intention of cashing in on Riccardo Calafiori this summer - but they will sanction an exit for Oleksandr Zinchenko with AC Milan courting the former Manchester City star.

DAILY MAIL

Real Madrid have started work on a bargain swoop for Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate after already snapping up Trent Alexander-Arnold for free, reports claim.

The pitch that the Club World Cup final will be played on has been criticised following a goalless stalemate between Porto and Palmeiras in New Jersey.

Bournemouth are continuing talks with Paris Saint-Germain over the £60m sale of centre-back Ilya Zabarnyi who has been offered a five-year contract by the European champions.

Tottenham are weighing up an approach for Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite.

THE GUARDIAN

The Crystal Palace ownership saga has taken another twist with the club's largest shareholder, John ­Textor, listing his holding company Eagle Football for an initial public offering in the US.

THE SUN

Napoli have £45m to spend on Jack Grealish or Alejandro Garnacho - but they will not take both.

Rayan Cherki has arrived in Manchester with a score to settle - and says he wants to "kill" Manchester United.

Ange Postecoglou is giving serious consideration to a Saudi Pro League switch.

Millwall defender Japhet Tanganga has his sights on a move to Europe in a cheap deal.

SCOTTISH SUN

Nicolas Khun is a £15m summer target for former club RB Leipzig.




Guardian Rumour mill

Michael Butler

Having been left out of Manchester City’s Club World Cup squad entirely, Jack Grealish is badly in need of an Italian renaissance. Having rescued one Briton from Manchester last summer in the form of Scott McTominay, Napoli could repeat the trick this year. Grealish’s wages are a sticking point – the 29-year-old earns close to £300,000 a week at City following his £100m move to the Etihad in 2021 and would need to take a drastic pay cut if a permanent deal with Napoli is to be arranged. A loan deal is more likely, with City continuing to pay a portion of Grealish’s wages, unless Napoli opt for another adopted Mancunian entirely, United’s Alejandro Garnacho, who has also been linked with Spurs. Both the Argentinian and Grealish are thought to be available for around £40m.

“That’s the dream, to play for Arsenal one day,” Ollie Watkins said in 2020, and the Aston Villa could yet get his wish, with the Gunners unsure over the €80m (£68m) price tag for Viktor Gyökeres and uncertain they can convince Benjamin Sesko to make the move to north London. With Villa missing out on Champions League qualification, Watkins could be a more feasible option.

Apparently Bournemouth’s reward for overachieving last season is that now, every elite club wants to sign their best players. Much of the attention for the Cherries has been on overcoming the departure of Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid and the potential transfers of Milos Kerkez to Liverpool in a deal thought to be worth £50m and Kepa Arrizabalaga to Arsenal. The Mill has dived deep into the internet and found that Kerkez’s brother has shared an Instagram post of the left-back saying: “Soon to be Liverpool player.”

To make matters worse for Bournemouth, the interest from PSG in Ilya Zabarnyi won’t go away and while life on the south coast is probably a fine thing, life with the European champions on a far greater wage is arguably preferable, if you don’t mind the whole Ligue 1 procession and Qatari money thing.

Having signed Leroy Sané last week, Galatasaray are in the market for another German in Marc-André ter Stegen. The imminent arrival of Espanyol’s Joan García could dump Ter Stegen on the scrapheap at Barça but he is reportedly unsure of a move to Turkey.

A player that has just won the Süper Lig title with Gala is Victor Osimhen, who is returning to parent club Napoli after a successful loan spell last season. Osimhen wants a permanent move to another European giant but could yet end up in Saudi Arabia, Al-Hilal having returned with an improved bid for the Nigerian – the astounding salary on offer is thought to be close to £43m a year.

Like an ex all up in your DMs, Nicolas Kühn’s former club, RB Leipzig, want to re-sign the German winger from Celtic. Kühn spent three years with Leipzig at academy level, where he impressed enough as a teenager that Ajax spent €2m on him, and has continued that way in Glasgow, scheming and scuttling on the right wing to help Celtic to domestic glory and a decent run to the Champions League league phase playoffs. They are expected to demand around £15m for the 25-year-old, around five times what they paid for Kühn in January 2024.