Chelsea are preparing to raid Roma for two of their top stars, with midfielder and long-term target Radja Nainggolan back on the shopping list and centre-back Antonio Rüdiger among those being seriously considered for the place in the squad about to be vacated by John Terry. “A £70m bid lodged for the pair would seriously test Roma’s resolve,” the Sun reports.
There is, however, less encouraging news for Antonio Conte on the striker front, with the same newspaper reporting that Romelu Lukaku is going off the idea of a return to Chelsea because “he is worried as to how he would fit in with Antonio Conte’s style of play”, making it more likely that he will instead swap Everton for Manchester United. The Mirror, meanwhile, report that the widely-coveted Monaco forward Kylian Mbappé is ready to reject United “because of their style of football”. Opinions, eh? They’ve all got one.
Wherever Lukaku ends up going, Everton need to sort out a replacement. And they might have already found one, with the 25-year-old Italian Diego Falcinelli a £9m target, according to the Sun. Falcinelli has been on loan from Sassuolo – where he has played 28 times in eight years, time mostly spent on a string of temporary moves to alternative employers – to Crotone this season, where he has scored 12 times for a struggling side, including four in his last five games.
Harry Maguire is a popular chap, with Newcastle “desperate” to snap up the Hull defender, and Tottenham a potential rival. The Sun allege that Mauricio Pochettino “has told his spies to find a player ready to compete” for a place in his defence, though their story doesn’t in so many words state that any of them have identified Maguire as a particular prospect, only that Spurs “must decide quickly” if they want him. Newcastle, the freshly-crowned Championship champions, are planning something of a summer spree and Everton’s James McCarthy is another name on their wish list, with a £20m deal possible.
David Moyes has scarily suggested that Sunderland will hold Jordan Pickford hostage, forcibly restraining him in a small, dark room in the bowels of the Stadium of Light until the end of the summer. Asked about the future of the Black Cats’ highly-rated goalkeeper Moyes said: “I think that him being a [Sunderland] fan would be a telling factor if the alternative was to go and sit on the bench somewhere else. If I was Jordan I wouldn’t do that, I’d want to be playing regularly but [and this is the key bit] Sunderland hold his contract and Jordan can’t go anywhere unless we decide to let it happen.” Arsenal, Everton, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and West Ham will all be keen on breaking him out of captivity, according to the Telegraph.
Milan’s director of sport, Massimiliano Mirabelli, set tongues wagging across the continent when he was spotted at the Bernabeu during last week’s Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid. After some consideration, the conclusion the world jumped to was that Alvaro Morata could be on his way to San Siro come summer, but Mirabelli has rubbished the rumour. “I went to Madrid to watch a game, and not for Morata,” he sniffed, before giving fresh hope to rumourmongers everywhere: “We know that we must introduce players to raise the current quality level. When the transfer window opens, we’ll act accordingly. We have clear ideas.”
