Still basking in the warm, fuzzy after-glow of their smiting of Southampton at St Mary’s, Arsenal hope to sign the Monaco midfielder Thomas Lemar this summer. As more and more vultures circle over the Stade Louis II, the 21-year-old becomes the latest talent from Leonardo Jardim’s team to be linked with a move to the Premier League, along with Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City and Manchester United), Fabinho (Manchester United and Arsenal), Tiemoué Bakayoko (Chelsea and Manchester United) and Kylian Mbappé (Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea). The Mirror reports that Arsène Wenger’s determination to land the pint-sized left-footer, previously a Liverpool target, is “another clear sign he wants to stay on as manager beyond the expiration of his current contract”.
Barcelona have not – repeat: not – made a formal approach for Héctor Bellerín. In an exclusive pow-wow with the good people at Goal website, the Arsenal full-back’s agent, Albert Botines, uttered the following 95 words: “I have read lots of things about this supposed interest from Barcelona but it has been a long time since the club last called me. You never know what is going to happen in the future in the football world and of course he signed a renewal with a view to stay at Arsenal for a long time. But you never know, maybe there’s a club who likes him and things change. I can’t guarantee anything about the future but the natural thing would be for him to stay because he has signed a renewal.”
The Leicester playmaker Riyad Mahrez is wanted by Marseille, who are currently fifth in Ligue 1 and will have serious difficulty offering the Algeria international the Champions League football he craves. Mahrez is also believed to be wanted by Arsenal and Tottenham, and has previously been mentioned in conjunction with a move to Paris Saint-Germain. His expected exit from the King Power Stadium could prompt a stampede for the door marked “Do One”, with Kasper Schmeichel, Islam Slimani, Ahmed Musa and Leonardo Ulloa all expected to be playing their football elsewhere next season.
Barcelona have also been linked with Liverpool’s midfield magician Philippe Coutinho, but Jürgen Klopp has told reporters the Brazilian is not for sale. As Coutinho signed a new five-year deal in January, Klopp is confident he will stay at Anfield and joked in front of reporters that he wouldn’t let him leave Liverpool for a penny less than £400m.
Manchester City might spring Victor Valdés from relegated Middlesbrough, as the former Barcelona goalkeeper has an ardent admirer in his one-time boss Pep Guardiola. Meanwhile at Watford, those Troy Deeney-to-West Brom rumours just won’t go away and should he leave, his dressing room peg could be taken over by the on-loan-at-Roma-from-Barcelona defender Thomas Vermaelen.
The Celtic full-back and Rumour Mill staple Kieran Tierney has revealed he is well aware of whispers mentioning his name in conjunction with moves to Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal but says he is happy to keep doing his thing at Celtic for the foreseeable future. “You see stuff in the papers and on Twitter, people telling you and my friends as well, but I just need to concentrate on what I’m doing in training and playing well for Celtic,” said the 19-year-old. “It’s easy for me because I’m happy where I am. I’m not thinking about anything else other than Celtic and just doing what I can for the team and helping us win every game.”
