Anthony Martial will be allowed to leave Manchester United, but not to join Chelsea or Tottenham. United want £70m for the Frenchman, but they have no intention of allowing an English club to pay it – nor will they have to, with Paris St-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich all said to be interested. United’s asking price is nearly double Bayern’s transfer record of £37.35m, and according to the Times the Germans may offer Arturo Vidal or the former Manchester City centre-back Jérôme Boateng in part-exchange. José Mourinho has meanwhile identified Harry Maguire as his No1 most important transfer target, a move that Leicester are trying to hold off by offering the player a bumper new contract worth £80,000 a week. The Telegraph suggests that “United would be prepared to pay more than £50m” for the large-headed Englishman, and “it could ultimately come down to whether the player starts to agitate to leave”.
Chelsea have put a Martial-aping £70m price tag on the head of Willian, who is wanted by Barcelona. The Spaniards’ highest bid so far is either a measly £55m (if you read the Sun) or an encouraging £65m (Mail). Davide Zappacosta could also be on his way out of Stamford Bridge, with Internazionale keen to sign him on loan with a view to a £25m permanent deal, according to the Sun. Arsenal could take their summer spending to the magic nine-figure mark if they trigger Steven N’Zonzi’s £30m release clause at Sevilla.
The sales are on at Liverpool, though from the sounds of things there will be few bargains as the Reds attempt to raise £100m by selling off their discards. Divock Origi is tempting Valencia for £26m and Danny Ings, who is wanted by Newcastle, Leicester, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Southampton, is valued at £20m. Then they will sell one of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius, with Fulham keen on the latter, and wash their hands of Lazar Markovic, for whom Anderlecht, Getafe or Leganés would have to pay £7m. Pedro Chirivella would cost £2m less, at which price Swansea, Sporting and Nottingham Forest are keen, and then there will be loan moves for Marko Grujic – Lazio and Cardiff are interested – Ben Woodburn and Middlesbrough, Wolfsburg and Reading target Sheyi Ojo.
Brighton think they are going to win the race to snap up Alkmaar’s Iranian winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh, with Leicester, West Ham and Napoli also interested in a £20m deal. The player’s agent, Amir Hashemi, has admitted that “we are discussing a transfer” with an identified party which “is not a Dutch club”. Huddersfield meanwhile also want a winger, and they think Middlesbrough’s Adama Traoré is the one for them: Boro want £18m for the 22-year-old Spaniard, who is also interesting Wolves, Chelsea and Paris St-Germain. Southampton’s search for a wideman has taken them to Hamburg’s Filip Kostic, but Mark Hughes says he will “probably have to sell” someone before he can make a bid. Huddersfield are also interested in Everton flop Davy Klaassen, though Werder Bremen might pip them to him.
If Fulham’s attempts to sign former loanee Aleksandar Mitrovic from Newcastle come to nothing, they will instead launch negotiations with, er, Newcastle, this time to sign Dwight Gayle. That at least is the Mirrror’s story, though the Sun say they have bid £26m for Real Sociedad’s Willian José. Too bad, avers the Mail, who say Sociedad want £45m for the forward, that Fulham and Swansea are both keen on Sheffield Wednesday’s Fernando Forestieri, and also that West Brom will sign Gayle.
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