There was much speculation about the future of Tony Pulis following his absence from a West Brom friendly against Delhi Dynamos at The Hawthorns on Saturday, but the Welshman is expected back at the club on Monday despite rumours he is pondering a future elsewhere. Rather than run the rule over trialists Marouane Chamakh and Momo Sissoko, who are both free agents, Pulis rocked up at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium to watch Bournemouth take on Milan in a testimonial, but the Mirror report that was always his intention so we shouldn’t read too much into the Hawthorns no-show.
Italian sports daily Tuttosport claims Juventus plan to court Matteo Darmian in January, to replace Stephan Lichtsteiner, who hasn’t actually gone anywhere … yet. The Manchester United full-back has yet to feature in a competitive match under José Mourinho and was linked with a move to Inter a few days ago, but now it is the Swiss international who is understood to be off to Inter as he nears the end of his contract. Darmian is being touted as his replacement in Turin, where he is likely to end up playing second fiddle to Dani Alves.
Having failed to score in 10 consecutive matches, Harry Kane will welcome the beginning of September by inking a new and improved £120,000-a-week contract with Tottenham, despite putting his scrawl on a £50,000-a-week deal just seven months ago. The striker’s next Premier League goal will be his 50th and his next opportunity to score will almost certainly come at Stoke City on Saturday. Spurs are also reported to be keen on securing the futures of Jan Vertonghen and Erik Lamela.
Elsewhere in north London, Arsenal want Alexis Sánchez and Mesut Özil to commit their futures to the club. With two years left on his deal, the Chilean wants a fixed-price release clause on any sheaf of papers he signs, while the German midfielder will not be getting out of bed for anything less than £200,000 per week.
And having become Italy’s youngest ever debutant goalkeeper when he played the second half of his country’s 3-1 friendly defeat at the hands of France in Bari last Thursday, Gianluigi Donnarumma is now the subject of speculation linking him with Real Madrid. The 17-year-old Milan goalkeeper is believed to have got antennae twitching at the Bernabéu, where Real blazers are apparently prepared to concede defeat in their attempts to sign David de Gea.
