Signing the next big thing from Portugal can be a tricky business. You might end up with Cristiano Ronaldo, you’ll probably end up with either another Renato Sanches or Hélder Postiga. Still though, sometimes it’s worth rolling the dice, and when you’re Ed ‘Snake Eyes’ Woodward, there’s no messing about. Bruno Fernandes, who spent years in Italy at Udinese and Sampdoria doing nothing more than OK, has been doing rather better recently at Sporting Lisbon, leading some media outlets to report that United will drop a combined £150m for the 24-year-old as well as Benfica’s young scamp, João Félix.
Daniel Levy has sold enough craft beer to make sure that Mauricio Pochettino has some coin for this summer (and that he doesn’t have to start Victor Wanyama in a Champions League semi-final) with André Gomes, currently on loan at Everton from Barcelona, top of his shopping list. Nice’s young full-back, Youcef Atal, is also on the radar but would cost up to £34m - a price that Chelsea would also consider, if their transfer ban is overturned.
A creative midfielder will badly be needed at Spurs once the Luka Modric hotline is opened once again by Zinedine Zidane, who plans to wire approximately £128m to north London in exchange for Christian Eriksen. AS in Spain say that the Dane has already ‘reached a verbal agreement’ to move to Real Madrid, with Spurs’ hand perhaps forced by the fact that Eriksen’s contract runs out next summer.
Juventus love a free transfer: Dani Alves, Fabio Cannavaro, Andrea Pirlo, Emre Can, Sami Khedira, Aaron Ramsey, Paul Pogba, Luca Toni, and Kingsley Coman have all joined the Old Lady for nil euros in the past and PSG’s forgotten man, Adrien Rabiot – who hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since December – could be the next to fly through the door marked ‘Bosman’.
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Not that Juve need another central midfielder, but Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has said that it is his preference to sell Tanguy Ndombele to the Turin side. “Honestly, I would like to see Ndombele at Juventus with Miralem Pjanic, a player that broke out at Lyon and a player I am still very attached to,” Aulas told Tuttosport. “In the sale of a player, if offers are equal, I would offer him to Andrea Agnelli. Are Juventus after Ndombele? Yes, it’s true. But PSG are also there; Manchester United and City, too.”
