All the top stories and transfer rumours from Friday’s national newspapers…
Official: World Cup kicks off a day earlier, Qatar play on November 20
FIFA has officially announced that the opening match of the Qatar World Cup has been brought forward by one day, with the opening match also being played by hosts Qatar.
The opening match of the Qatar World Cup will be played between the Netherlands and Senegal, according to FIFA’s originally optimised schedule. Under FIFA’s latest schedule changes, the opening match has been reverted to hosts Qatar, who will face Ecuador from South America.
Paris had interest in Rashford, but will not make further moves
According to Sky Sports’ Solhekol, Paris Saint-Germain will not make any further moves in the transfer of Rashford.
According to previous news, Rashford and Paris Saint-Germain are rumored to be in talks, with the Ligue 1 giants wanting to sign the England international.
And Sky Sports reporter Solhekol said, “My feeling is that Paris Saint-Germain won’t make another signing unless they can sell the player, and they need to complete multiple deals to make a move for Rashford happen.”
“Paris Saint-Germain initially had some interest in Rashford, but the word we’re getting is that they won’t make further moves in the Rashford transfer.”
“Look at United’s forward line, they’ve suffered injury problems, Martial missed the Brighton game through injury, we all know Cairo wants to leave and they want to sign another striker, it would be very surprising if United let Rashford leave.”
And another Sky Sports reporter, Sheth, believes that “United have a one-year extension option in Rashford’s contract and they are under no pressure to sell the player.”
“Given United’s striker problems and the transfer scandal surrounding Crowe, I don’t think they would consider losing another striker, let alone Rashford.”
Barcelona and Manchester City have not agreed on Bernardo Silva transfer
Barca have not reached an agreement with Manchester City over the transfer of Bernardo Silva and would have to spend £65 million to buy him, according to journalist Ben Jacobs.
Journalist Ben Jacobs reports that there is no agreement between Barcelona and Manchester City for the transfer of Bernardo Silva, nor is it close to being reached.
Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva is open to a move, but the two clubs are currently far apart in terms of price and Bernardo Silva will not push for a move away. The journalist said that Barca would need to pay a transfer fee of £65 million.
Barca want De Jong to make a final decision today, going to court is a last resort
According to journalist Ben Jacobs, Barca want De Jong to make a final decision today and going to court is a last resort.
The journalist Jacobs said: “Barcelona reiterated to Francke de Jong that he must take a 50% pay cut or leave. They want the player to make a decision immediately and they want a final decision today. The threat of legal action against the current contract has not yet developed further. Chelsea are reportedly optimistic about reaching an agreement for 80 million + euros but are waiting for De Jong’s decision.”
“Barca see the current situation as a direct choice between De Jong taking a pay cut or leaving. Although Laporta said he would ‘respect’ De Jong’s current contract, Barca insist they are prepared to take the allegedly criminal contract to court. The sources say legal action is a ‘last resort’, but it is more than just a pretentious threat.”
“Chelsea are pushing for a deal on the player side. They don’t want the deal to be delayed and neither do Barca. It’s clear that Francke de Jong is willing to stay in some way, but a departure is still more likely without a pay cut.”
Radio Corbet: Barca’s fourth lever in question, may not be able to register new recruits
There may be problems with the fourth economic lever that Barcelona are planning to activate, according to reports.
Sources from Radio Corbet say that in the last few hours there have been problems with the activation of Barcelona’s fourth economic lever, which includes the sale of a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios. The signing of this deal has been delayed and this could affect the registration of most of their new signings.
If Barca cannot raise €100 million from this sale, it will be impossible for the club to register the majority of their new signings in La Liga. Tensions within the club have been growing in the last few hours, with only two days left until Barca’s first La Liga game of the new season.
Although Barca had revealed to several media outlets on Tuesday afternoon that the sale of a 24.5% stake in Barca Studios had been concluded, the club never officially announced the news due to the problems that had arisen in the last few hours.
Atalanta midfielder Freuler moves to Nottingham Forest
Romano’s report confirms that Atalanta midfielder Freuler is on the verge of a move to Premier League promotion rivals Nottingham Forest, with the official announcement expected to be made today.
According to Romano, Nottingham Forest will sign Freuler for €9 million (£7.6 million) plus bonuses, and they will sign the Swiss international until 2025. Freuler is currently in England preparing to sign and the deal has already been confirmed by ‘Here we go’, with the official announcement expected today.
Freuler, 30, moved to Atalanta from Lucerne in January 2016 and has made 260 appearances for the club, scoring 21 goals, and has also made 46 appearances for the Swiss national team, scoring four goals.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Tottenham will trigger their option to sign Cristian Romero on a permanent deal this month in a deal worth £46.5m.
Manchester United have agreed a season-long deal for Ethan Laird to join QPR and be part of their Championship promotion campaign.
Grassroots sport is in a tug-of-war over heatwave season delays, as clubs express resistance to moving games despite lawyers warning they may be liable for injuries.
World Rugby has hit back in its first public response to the concussion lawsuit brought by former players, casting doubt on the numbers involved and criticising their tactical recruitment.
DAILY EXPRESS
Juan Mata is still searching for his next club after leaving Manchester United and is reportedly highly regarded by Leeds.
THE SUN
Manchester United’s share price saw its biggest daily rise in nine years as Michael Knighton announced a takeover bid.
Arsenal failed to secure a sell-on clause when they allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to leave for nothing to join Barcelona.
Chelsea are reportedly interested in a swap deal that would see Christian Pulisic go to Roma – and see Tottenham target Nicolo Zaniolo head the other way.
Hakim Ziyech is reportedly ready to accept a wage cut in order to seal a move to AC Milan.
Marseille have reportedly made contact with Manchester United over a loan deal for Eric Bailly.
Brighton are keen on Fleetwood wonderkid Paddy Lane.
THE TIMES
Paris Saint-Germain officials met the agent of Marcus Rashford last week as they attempted to gauge whether he is willing to leave Manchester United.
West Ham United are embroiled in a row with their landlord over beer prices after fans expressed anger at paying £7.30 for a pint at the London Stadium.
Chelsea’s hopes of signing Wesley Fofana have received a boost after Brendan Rodgers suggested the centre back could leave Leicester City this summer – but Barcelona are determined to keep hold of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, another target for the London club.
Nottingham Forest are confident of signing the Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis for a fee of up to £25m.
DAILY MAIL
Juventus are edging closer to the capture of Barcelona forward Memphis Depay as the Catalan giants continue their mad rush of attempting to register their summer signings ahead of the new campaign.
Manchester City are interested in signing Atletico Madrid defender Renan Lodi as they attempt to solve their left-back issues.
Leeds United are weighing up a move for Philadelphia Union left back Kai Wagner.
Former Newcastle United starlet Yasin Ben El-Mhanni is on trial at Championship club Reading as he looks to resurrect his career.
Liverpool defender Sepp van den Berg is the subject of loan interest from a host of Championship clubs.
Everton have made a move to sign Southampton striker Che Adams.
West Ham are threatening to sue the owners of the London Stadium if there is no cut in beer prices before the next home game.
Southampton stars have reportedly become disillusioned with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and were surprised he was not axed in the summer.
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