The Telegraph is reporting that Manchester United are “ready to battle PSG for Jadon Sancho in a tug of war.” While Ed Woodward seems exactly the sort of dad who would put himself forward for such an excursion at a school fete, it doesn’t seem like the best way of resolving things, particularly as Dortmund are unlikely to let the young Englishman leave for less than the £100m they sold Ousmane Dembélé for a couple of years ago.
Having taken up Partridge-style residencies at hotels across London in a bid to discover ‘the next Sancho’, Bayern Munich scouts have briefly turned their attention from Chelsea’s Callum Hudson Odoi to Arsenal’s Xavier Amaechi. The 18-year-old winger is yet to make a first-team appearance but has impressed in Premier League 2 this season. Amaechi signed for the club when he was 12, is an Arsenal fan and has a contract until 2022 so it could prove another difficult task for Bayern’s finest.
Gareth Bale’s Mr 15% has been earning his coin/driving yet another wedge between his client and Real Madrid. The injury-prone Welshman has struggled to hold down a starting berth this season and Jonathan Barnett let rip into the nearest microphone. “This generation of Real fans will be talking about Gareth’s goals for years to come. Frankly they should be ashamed of themselves,” he said. “Gareth deserves the greatest of respect. The way the Real fans have treated Gareth is nothing short of a disgrace. In the six years he has been in Spain, he has won everything. He’s one of the best players in the world. Those fans should be kissing his feet.”
If that reads like a textbook come-and-get-me plea to Europe’s elite, Barnett was quick to backtrack. “Gareth loves it there. As for going to another club, no one could afford him. Despite what the Spanish press are reporting, he’s happy, he speaks reasonable Spanish and there is no problem between him and the rest of the Real players. There has not been one single discussion about Gareth leaving Madrid. He isn’t going anywhere this summer. Despite what’s been reported, he’s content, he wants to stay at Real and they want him.”
In slightly less high-profile news, Real’s Martin Odegaard, the Alen Halilovic du jour, is close to agreeing another loan move next season. Currently cruelly denying a Chelsea loanee some precious minutes in the Vitesse Arnhem XI, he is doing OK enough to play for Ajax in 2019-20, according to Spanish media.
Neil Lennon remains favourite to get the permanent gig at Celtic, although RB Salzburg’s manager Marco Rose is also being heavily linked with the job. The Austrian side beat Celtic twice in the Europa League this season, won their domestic league last year, with Rose also attracting admiring glances from Schalke and Hoffenheim. The other hot take coming out of Scotland concerns Scott Sinclair, who could leave Glasgow this summer for free if Celtic do not take up their one-year extension option.
Brendan Rodgers has been told to find £40m to turn Youri Tielemans’s loan move from Monaco to Leicester permanent. Money is also a bit of problem for Notts County at the moment, so they could well sell 17-year-old Kion Etete to Spurs – the striker scored twice for Tottenham’s Under-18s at the weekend while on trial.
