With Roberto Martínez on borrowed time at Everton, the Mirror has declared that Mark Hughes is being considered as his successor for the Goodison Park hot seat. The Stoke City manager spent two seasons at Everton during the twilight years of his playing career, scoring only once in 18 appearances after signing as a 36-year-old.
The Stoke Sentinel reports that Hughes’s current charge Marko Arnautovic is “playing it cool” as far as talk regarding his future is concerned. The 27-year-old Austrian is contracted to the Potters until 2017, but fans are concerned he may be sold this summer so that the club can trouser a fee rather than lose him for nothing a year down the line. “I have had three years here, I’ve another year left and Stoke are still talking to my agency,” said the winger, who has scored 13 goals for club and country this season.
West Ham have removed the double-barrelled Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from their summer shopping list, leaving it up to Manchester United and Liverpool to duke it out for his services. The Hammers have prioritised the signing of a new striker and are hitching their skirts in the general direction of Liverpool’s Christian Benteke and the Marseille goal-getter Michy Batshuayi.
The sight of the marauding Leicester City midfielder N’Golo Kanté covering every blade of grass at the Emirates would gladden the hearts of most Gooners, but Arsenal will face stiff competition from Manchester City for the signature of a player who has been told he can leave Leicester only when they’ve found a similarly energetic Duracell bunny to replace him. Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Swiss enforcer Granit Xhaka has also been identified as somebody who might add some much-needed steel to what passes for Arsenal’s spine, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic may also pitch up at the Emirates to remind Olivier Giroud how it’s done.
Manchester United are ready to cash in their chips on Memphis Depay and will offer him to Southampton in exchange for the Senegalese midfielder Sadio Mané. United are also keen on taking the up-for-sale Barcelona defender Marc Bartra, who will be made available for around £10m and is also wanted by Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. Thomas Vermaelen has also been deemed surplus to requirements at the Camp Nou and reports suggest Liverpool have already opened “formal talks” with the Spanish side regarding a cut-price summer move.
And finally, the former Blackburn Rovers flop Nikola Kalinic has rediscovered his goal-scoring mojo with Fiorentina and Rumour Mills of the Italian variety say Tottenham may bring the Croatian striker back to Blighty.
