Having beaten Chelsea on the pitch yesterday, Manchester United hope to further frustrate the Premier League leaders in the race to prise Youri Tielemans away from Anderlecht. According to the Express, the 19-year-old midfielder, who already captains the Belgian club despite his young age, was scouted by Chelsea as Anderlecht drew with Manchester United in the Europa League last week. United, Inter, Juventus, Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain are also believed to be interested in securing the services of a young man who seems to have the football world at his feet.
With four different Chinese Super League clubs ready to embark on a bidding war for the services of Diego Costa, Antonio Conte is understood to be willing to let the striker leave Stamford Bridge, but only if Real Madrid agree to let Álvaro Morata move to Chelsea. Tianjin Quanjin, Guangzhou Evergrande, Hebei China Fortune and Jiangsu Suning are all interested in bolstering their squads with the out-of-sorts Brazil-born Spanish international, who spent most of yesterday’s match between Chelsea and Manchester United alternating between the pockets of Marcos Rojo and Eric Bailly. Costa has scored just one goal in his past six appearances for Chelsea despite a stunning start to the season.
Having had an offer for Costa rebuffed in January, Tianjin Quanjin are preparing a ridiculously high £90m bid for the 28-year-old and needless to say it will be accepted if Real Madrid agree to let Morata move to London. The 24-year-old Madrid native is contracted to his hometown club until June 2021 but is understood to be frustrated with his place below Karim Benzema in the Real pecking order. Manchester United are also circling and their people may try to sign Atlético Madrid’s Belgian winger Yannick Carrasco while they’re in the Spanish capital.
Schalke left-back Sead Kolasinac is caught in a tug-of-love between Arsenal and AC Milan and will decide very soon which of the two clubs he will join when he becomes a free agent this summer. The 23-year-old’s father told a Bosnian TV station that his son would decide his next move this week, despite recent reports that he had already inked a deal with Arsenal.
Currently on loan at Sunderland from Manchester United, Adnan Januzaj will almost certainly need to find a new club when his contract expires this summer. Having failed to impress at Old Trafford or the Stadium of Light, the 22-year-old hopes to find another Premier League club to help him reignite his stalled career.
Despite interest from Crystal Palace and West Ham, Glen Johnson is ready to sign a new contract with Stoke City. The 32-year-old right-back’s current deal expires at the end of this season but he is reported to be happy with life at the Britannia Stadium since his move from Liverpool two years ago.
Despite having all but secured their Premier League status for another season over the weekend, Watford are likely to dispense with the services of Walter Mazzarri and replace him with Claudio Ranieri. Expect to see Troy Deeney hoisting the Premier League trophy skywards in about 12 months time.
And finally, Tottenham Hotspur will offer Dele Alli a new and improved deal in the hope that it will stop Real Madrid trying to turn the youngster’s head, while Liverpool want Borussia Dortmund’s 18-year-old prodigy Christian Pulisic. The USA international has previous in England, having played for Brackley Town as a seven-year-old when his mother Kelley, herself a former varsity footballer of some repute, spent a year on a teaching exchange and the family moved to the village of Tackley, eight miles north of Oxford. It was then that young Christian discovered he had a gift for the game, which his father Mark helped nurture by bringing him to games of all levels from the Premier League down.
