Tottenham’s search for a striker has now taken them to Roma, where they are busily discussing a possible £11.5m move for their 20-year-old Paraguayan ace Antonio Sanabria. Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign two forwards this summer, with Alkmaar’s Vincent Janssen pencilled in as the other, and have turned to Sanabria after cooling their interest in Marseille’s Michy Batshuayi because of his club’s £30m asking price and the player’s lack of overwhelming enthusiasm for the move.
West Ham, who had also been interested in Batshuayi, are also looking elsewhere for a goal-sniffer and have settled on another sometime Spurs target in Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette, who could also cost £30m. They have also been linked with Juventus’s Simone Zaza – as indeed have Swansea, Southampton and Everton – but Wolfsburg have made the first move in that particular dance by slapping a £20m bid onto a Turin table. The Saints’ interest could become a little keener should Liverpool make a rumoured £25m move for last season’s top scorer, Sadio Mané, while Leicester think they’ve found a forward in Brazil, though Internacional are said to want £2m more than the £7m they have been offered for 24-year-old Eduardo Sasha.
Chelsea also want a goalscorer, and have apparently already opened discussions with Real Madrid over Álvaro Morata, with Roman Abramovich flying to Bordeaux to watch him in action for Spain against Croatia the other night. With Antonio Conte apparently hoping to bring at least one full-back to Stamford Bridge, other clubs are lining up to take away the ones they’ve already got. Top of the pile is Cesar Azpilicueta, who is being chased by Paris Saint-Germain, Athletic Bilbao and is also being courted by his former manager José Mourinho, who wants him to move to Manchester United. Talking of Chelsea, their 33-year-old former midfielder Raul Meireles is in talks with Bournemouth over a free transfer.
Manchester United have identified the midfielder they most want to sign if the midfielder they really most want to sign – Borussia Dortmund’s Henrik Mkhitaryan – doesn’t actually sign – and it’s Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey. According to the Sun, José Mourinho “wants him to be Manchester United’s answer to Frank Lampard” (presumably Frank Lampard circa 2009-10, rather than the current mainly injured and otherwise rubbish iteration) and “is ready to test the water with a £35m bid”.
Manchester City have elbowed Bayern Munich and Liverpool out of the way as the three clubs jostle for position at the head of a queue forming for Schalke’s Leroy Sané, the German international winger who would cost up to £40m. City are likely to make some of that money back by selling Seko Fofana to Udinese for £3m plus a few add-ons here and there.
Watford’s delight at seeing their mountainous centre-back Sebastian Prödl turn out for Austria in their Euro 2016 game against Portugal turned to joy when they decided they quite liked the guy playing next to him, Martin Hinteregger. It turns out the 23-year-old’s current club, Red Bull Salzburg, are willing to sell him for £7.5m, opening the door to a possible switch to Hertfordshire. Hinteregger isn’t the only European Championship-featuring up-for-grabs defender: Legia Warsaw are willing to sell 28-year-old Michal Pazdan, who has played in every game for Poland and was the man of the match against Germany, for just £2.5m.
Freshly-relegated Newcastle are resigned to losing Moussa Sissoko, who has a £15m price tag hanging limply around his neck and as it stands looks like he might end up at West Brom. Freshly-promoted Burnley are meanwhile trying to sign players, with Stoke’s Charlie Adam and Joe Ledley of Crystal Palace both on their shopping list. And neither relegated nor promoted Blackburn appear set to snap up Danny Graham the moment the Sunderland striker’s contract expires next week.
Finally, Wayne Rooney is mulling over a possible second career as a singer when he is forced to hang up his boots. “I love singing and music in general,” he said. “Whenever the opportunity arises to have a go, I’m not shy.”
