Apparently Arsenal are keen on Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette. Yes, really. They were interested in the Rumour Mill regular last summer but are now positively fascinated, given that - according to the Mirror – “Alexis Sánchez has left his team-mates in no doubt that he is leaving this summer”. But they aren’t putting all their eggs in one Gallic basket, with the Mail insisting that scouts have been sent out, like so many strange Oz-dwelling monkey-birds, “to find forwards worthy of filling Sanchez’s shoes” and have returned with the names not just of Lacazette but Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus and Porto’s André Silva.
At least Sánchez has made his position clear. If only Arsène Wenger would be so transparent: the Sun reports that club cheeses have demanded that he finally reveal whether he plans to sign the two-year contract that remains unpenned and abandoned in his in-tray by the end of this month.
Anyway, back to Lacazette, a player for whom they will face competition, with the Mirror insisting that Liverpool are girding their loins and preparing “a full-on assault” on the 25-year-old, which sounds more like a military invasion than an attempted transfer. And they’re not going to stop there, with Jürgen Klopp realising that if they qualify for the Champions League – a far-fetched dream given their current form, but not entirely outlandish – “they will need to bring in five or six high-quality signings”, and thus stand “ready to go toe to toe with some of Europe’s top clubs”. Also on the list is RB Salzburg midfielder Naby Keita, but the other three or four targets remain as yet unknown.
Manchester United are ready to pay big money to guarantee a big-name summer transfer, reports the Sun. The only unusual thing about that being that they’ll be paying the player to leave, rather than to arrive. Wayne Rooney is the man with the outsize cheque in the post, the club apparently willing to pay up the final two years of his £250,000-a-week contract in order “to get him out of the door” on a free transfer, with Everton his presumed destination, and make way for Antoine Griezmann, whom they are “very confident” of signing.
Fabio Cannavaro, World Cup-winning captain turned manager of Chinese side Tianjin Quanjian, has admitted his interest in Romelu Lukaku, the striker whose agent earlier this week declared him “99.999% certain” to sign a new deal at Everton. “The problem is Everton, who don’t want to let him go,” sniffed Cannavaro. One player the Italian could have signed from England is Marouane Fellaini, but he decided not to because the Belgian beanpole is a bit rubbish. “He was offered to me, but I told his agent that I was looking for a different profile,” Cannavaro said.
We appeaar to have a bit of managerial merrygoroundment in store, though Tottenham have a cunning plan to ensure they don’t get dragged into it. Their own Mauricio Pochettino is one of the names linked with the Barcelona job, with Luis Enrique having announced his imminent departure, but, reports the Mirror, Spurs will simply scare the Catalan giants away by “putting a huge price tag on his head”. Yep, that’ll stop them. Then there’s Garry Monk, whose success at Leeds, and lack of a contract that ties him to Elland Road beyond the summer, has not gone unnoticed. Derby, Norwich and Nottingham Forest are all apparently keen. “There’s lots of time to discuss my future between now and the end of the season, and it’s not a concern yet,” Monk deadbatted.
In other news, it was World Book Day yesterday, leading to Instagram – and, in due course, today’s tabloids – being flooded with pictures of celebrity offspring dressed up as their favourite literary characters. Wayne Rooney’s two sons, for example, went to school as Horrid Henry, and Jamie Oliver’s daughter Petal dressed as Roald Dahl’s Matilda. One of Rio Ferdinand’s children meanwhile decided that out of all the many books he has read and enjoyed, the character he likes best of all and would most like to temporarily resemble is … er … Neymar. Who really doesn’t count. Perhaps he meant Neymary Poppins?
