Arsenal have joined Chelsea and Manchester United in the battle for Real Madrid’s Álvaro Morata, Arsène Wenger seeing the Spaniard – who is miffed at being considered Karim Benzema’s understudy – as the man to step into Alexis Sánchez’s balletic shoes. Morata however would prefer to join Antonio Conte, who signed him for Juventus in 2014 before swanning off to manage Italy instead without ever coaching him, at Stamford Bridge. The bad news there is that Chelsea’s biggest wigs, according to the Sun, think signing Romelu Lukaku is a better idea.
Wouldn’t it be ironic, or at the very least mildly interesting, if Morata were to join Chelsea only for Conte to leave again? It’s a possibility, with the Italian apparently demanding a massive pay rise in return for him delivering the league title, and perhaps a domestic double, in his first season at the helm. The Italian is paid a mere £5m a year (that’s the Mirror’s figure; the Mail says he is paid £6.5m. Either way, reader, you’ll agree it’s a pittance), which makes him the least generously remunerated of all the managers of current top-six sides – Pep Guardiola makes three times as much, asserts the Mirror – and he is now ready for parity. “Money is important only to give the real value of a player or coach,” he says. “If you show you deserve it, you have earned the money.”
If Chelsea don’t offer it, and further to our lead rumour on Wednesday, he may be tempted to jump ship and head to Internazionale, who are offering £10m per season. Either way, it’s boom time for Conte’s bank balance, and he’s not the only person in Chelsea’s dressing-room who can start planning something of a spending spree: the players will split a £5m bonus pot if and when they secure the league title, reports the Times.
In the meantime, Chelsea are busily recruiting yet more promising young players to loan out indefinitely before forgetting about. The latest starlet in their radar is Jann-Fiete Arp, the 17-year-old Hamburg striker. Borussia Dortmund are reportedly also interested, but Hamburg’s sporting director, Jens Todt, wants him to stay precisely where he is and sign a new contract while he’s at it, saying: “We want to extend with him, without if and but.” Sure, but just imagine how good their front line would be if they managed to retain If and But as well.
Chelsea scouts have certainly been busy – they were in Bournemouth last week, watching Adam Smith in the game against Stoke and wondering if he might be the man to vie with Victor Moses for the role of right-flank shuttle-chugger next season. Tottenham, the club where Smith started his career but never made a first-team appearance, are also interested, says the Sun.
But the summer’s biggest bunfight might be over a less youthful full-back in Pablo Zabaleta, who according to the Evening Standard is wanted by West Ham and has – naming no names – “plenty of suitors”. In other veteran news, Liverpool’s Lucas Leiva says “I feel I have many years that I can still play at the top level” and might spend at least the next one of them at Brighton.
Gareth Bale’s possible move to Manchester United was mentioned in Tuesday’s Mill and Friday’s Independent exclusively announces that the Welshman is ready to accept the move, though José Mourinho isn’t sure he wants it to happen. “United officials are currently working exceptionally hard to deliver the key signings to make the team champions this season,” they write, “and are at the point where a number of different options are being broached or investigated every day.”
The Mill finds the use of the word “exceptionally” particularly interesting, suggestive as it is that United officials are working significantly harder than all the other officials from other clubs who are also working hard to deliver key signings. It is all the more curious for the newspaper’s later assertion that “only three targets have seen any kind of significant progress”, which suggests they have been working half-heartedly at best, taking regular time-outs to enjoy extended coffee breaks, take in the latest blockbuster at the cinema, and brief friendly journalists who promise to write about how hard everyone is working. You’ll want to know who those three targets are, and the answer is: Antoine Griezmann, Torino’s one-man gossip factory Andrea Belotti and Burnley’s Michael Keane.
Southampton are getting ready to usher Claude Puel towards the exit, and have identified the miracle-working Hull manager Marco Silva as their first-choice replacement, reports the Express. The Independent goes a step further, naming Sheffield Wednesday’s Carlos Carvalhal as their second choice, and saying both have already been “sounded out via intermediaries”. And Galatasaray want to sign Danny Welbeck from Arsenal but won’t, reports the Mail.
