All the top stories and transfer rumours from Wednesday’s national newspapers…
Premier League team offers €90M for Valverde but the answer they received was that Fede is UNTOUCHABLE
According to Spanish journalist Tomás González, the English Premier League team offered 90 million euros for Valverde, and Real Madrid said he is untouchable.
Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro recently joined Manchester United and reports say that a Premier League team is interested in another Real Madrid midfielder, offering €90M for Valverde, but Real Madrid’s reply is “he is untouchable”.
The 24-year-old Valverde’s contract with Real Madrid will expire in 2027, and the Uruguayan midfielder’s current market value is 70 million euros.
Chelsea’s £70m third offer for Fofana still rejected by Leicester City
A report from The Athletic claims that Chelsea’s third transfer fee plus bonus offer of £70 million for Wesley Fofana has still been rejected by Leicester City.
The Athletic report says that Chelsea made this latest offer to Leicester City this week, but the Foxes immediately chose to reject it. The report further states that the offer has a high bonus trigger, so Leicester City may not end up getting the maximum transfer fee.
According to The Athletic, the highest offer Chelsea are currently willing to make is a transfer fee plus bonuses of £70 million, while Leicester City’s asking price for Fofana is said to be at least £80 million.
Champions League last 32 has produced 29 teams
The UEFA Champions League play-offs have produced three more group stage places, with Maccabi Haifa, Pilsen Victory and Benfica all successfully advancing to the last 32.
With this, 29 Champions League last 32 places have been confirmed for this season, and all the participating clubs’ divisions have been finally confirmed.
2022/23 UEFA Champions League Stages
First division: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto, Eintracht Frankfurt, Ajax
Second Division: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, Tottenham Hotspur, RB Leipzig
Third rank: Borussia Dortmund, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Benfica, Sporting Portugal, Leverkusen
Fourth rank: Marseille, Brugge, Celtic, Pilsen Victory, Maccabi Haifa, Dinamo Zagreb vs Bodoglint winner, PSV Eindhoven vs Rangers winner, Trabzonspor vs Copenhagen winner
West Ham United sign Emerson from Chelsea
West Ham United have officially announced the signing of 28-year-old Italian international Emerson Palmieri from Chelsea on a permanent transfer, with a four-year deal and a one-year option to extend his contract.
According to Romano, West Ham United signed Emerson for a transfer fee of £13 million plus a £2 million floating bonus.
Emmerson, who started his career at Santos, has also played for Palermo, Roma and Lyon. He has also made 27 appearances for the Italian national team and was a member of the Blucerchiati team that won the Europa League last year.
Benfica 5-0 Dynamo Kiev
Benfica hosted Dynamo Kiev in the second leg of the Champions League playoff at 3:00 Beijing time on August 24. In the first half, Grimaldo hit the post with a free kick, Otamendi scored with a header, Rafa Silva scored with a shot and Nérez extended the score. In the second half, Gonçalves’ low shot was parried. In the end, Benfica 3-0 Dynamo Kiev, eliminating the opponent from the Champions League group stage with a total score of 5-0.
Juve have chosen Milik
Reports from transfer specialist Di Marzio claim that Juventus have chosen Milik as a candidate to strengthen the team’s forward line, and they have also reached a verbal agreement with Marseille on the transfer of the Poland international.
According to Di Marzio, Juve finally decided to turn to Milik after Depay demanded a high salary, and today, local time, they will meet with the player’s agent to finalize a personal agreement, after which the Zebras will formalize the details of the deal with Marseille.
According to Di Marzio, Juve have reached a verbal agreement with Marseille on a deal in the form of a €2 million loan plus an €8 million buyout for Milik.
Di Marzio: Acerbi agent has arrived at Inter headquarters
Di Marzio news, Acerbi’s agent has arrived at Inter Milan headquarters to negotiate a transfer.
Inter have set their sights on Lazio defender Acerbi as the task of finding a replacement centre-back becomes increasingly urgent. Currently, his agent Federico Pastorello has started to discuss the situation with Inter management.
In addition to pushing for a deal for Acerbi, Inter are also trying to find out if Chelsea can open up a loan deal for Trevor Chalobah.
Tottenham want to rent Malinovsky
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in loaning Malinovsky, but Atlanta are only willing to sell the Ukrainian international on a permanent transfer, according to a report by Sky Sports’ Lyle Thomas.
The report by Lyle Thomas says that Malinovsky is a player Tottenham are interested in and they are willing to bring the former attacker on loan, but given that the player’s current contract expires next June, Atlanta will only accept a permanent transfer in the form of a deal.
The report further states that Spurs are not willing to pay a transfer fee and offer a long-term contract for a player who is nearly 30 years old (Malinowski is now 29), so there is no progress on this potential deal at the moment.
Napoli closed to signing Navas from PSG
A report from Italian journalist Scilla claims that Napoli are ready to bring in Keylor Navas from Paris Saint-Germain for a free transfer fee.
Navas, 35, has been considered a recent target for Napoli, but his high annual salary is an obstacle to his transfer.
Now according to Scilla, Napoli are now close to signing Navas for free after several negotiations with Paris, who have also offered the Costa Rican international a contract that expires in 2024, and the two sides are expected to meet today local time to try to reach an agreement.
Bellingham is Real Madrid’s top target for 2023
According to the Daily Sport, Real Madrid’s top target for reinforcements in 2023 is Bellingham, and the proceeds from their sale of Casemiro and the budget they saved can bid for the player who is similar to Modric.
Bellingham, 19, is a priority target for Real Madrid next summer, and they see the England midfielder as the best replacement for Modric and are betting on the signing.
Bellingham’s market value is around 80 million euros, but Real Madrid realizes that Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are all after him, so they will have to pay more then. Real Madrid’s economic potential was further boosted after the sale of Casemiro and they could end up with around 85 million euros. In addition, Real Madrid continued to accumulate a budget as they did not sign Mbappe, spending 80 million euros of the 200 million euros previously offered for Paris Saint-Germain on Chuameni.
Bellingham is under contract with Dottes until 2025 and his bid continues to rise, from 80 million euros to 100 million and now close to 125 million, Real Madrid would like to pay less and are willing to offer 90 million euros to secure the signing, but it will not be easy and the competition from the Premier League must be fierce next year.
With Casemiro’s departure and Modric set to turn 37 on September 9, it leaves Real Madrid eager to continue strengthening their midfield setup. Even though Bellingham has 2 years left on his contract, Dortmund realizes that it will be difficult to keep him. The good relationship between Real Madrid and Dortmund may facilitate future negotiations.
Manchester United offers Trapp 11 million euros a year
Manchester United offers 11 million euros a year for goalkeeper Trapp, Frankfurt has not received an offer yet.
Reports say that Manchester United lured Eintracht Frankfurt goalkeeper Trapp with a salary of 10-11 million euros per year, and the German goalkeeper might even replace De Gea as United’s No. 1 goalkeeper.
But Frankfurt does not want to let him go, and Frankfurt has not yet received an offer from United.
The 32-year-old Trapp’s contract with Frankfurt will expire in 2024.
THE SUN
Brazil legend Kaka could make his first venture into coaching after the World Cup, although the licence he secured means he will only be able to work in his homeland for now.
Manchester United are giving new signing Casemiro round-the-clock security and helping him in his search for a home.
Leicester City are set to slash their asking price for Youri Tielemans to £38m because of his contractual situation, boosting Arsenal’s hopes of signing the midfielder.
Chelsea have ended their interest in Leicester City defender Wesley Fofana after a third bid was rejected by their Premier League rivals.
Leicester City are set to slash their asking price for Youri Tielemans to £38m because of his contractual situation, boosting Arsenal’s hopes of signing the midfielder.
Manchester United are giving new signing Casemiro round-the-clock security and helping him in his search for a home.
THE TIMES
A power struggle is brewing over the distribution of Champions League cash after 2024, with UEFA coming under pressure to cut the proportion of TV money allocated to clubs on the basis of their historical achievements in Europe.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United are stepping up their efforts to bring long-term target Antony to Old Trafford in the next nine days.
Ruslan Malinosvkyi is dreaming about a move to Tottenham as the Premier League club continue to show interest in the £18m Atalanta midfielder.
Tottenham remain interested in Wolves winger Adama Traore as Antonio Conte looks to add one more attacking option to his squad.
DAILY MAIL
Mateo Kovacic was able to train in full with Chelsea on Tuesday as he closes on a return to first-team action after a knee injury.
Barcelona believe Atletico Madrid are purposely benching Antoine Griezmann to avoid having to pay their La Liga rivals £33.8m they would have to if he started 50 per cent of their games.
British heavyweight Daniel Dubois has settled a legal dispute with legendary promoter Don King and will receive in the region of £400,000.
Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have teamed up to launch the TMRW Sports company in a bid to stifle the LIV Golf movement and encourage younger players to take up the sport.
DAILY MIRROR
Chelsea are yet to meet Barcelona’s valuation of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but expect to be able to wrap up a deal quickly once that happens with personal terms already agreed.
Erik ten Hag put scathing quotes from football pundits up at Manchester United’s Carrington training base to fire up his team before their win over Liverpool on Monday.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
A bus attacked by Manchester United fans outside Old Trafford on Monday, which they thought was either carrying Liverpool’s players or a group of supporters, was actually bringing a group of South African children who support United to the game.
Oriol Romeu’s seven-year stay at Southampton could soon be at an end as he is ready to accept a move to Spanish club Girona if the clubs can agree terms on a transfer.
Brandon Williams, Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe are set to follow Eric Bailly out of the door at Manchester United as Erik ten Hag plots an overhaul to his defensive options.
The tennis fan accused by Nick Kyrgios of being drunk during his Wimbledon final defeat against Novak Djokovic has launched legal action against the Australian player for defamation.
THE INDEPENDENT
Worcester Warriors are hopeful of survival after a consortium was formed to try and save the ailing Gallagher Premiership club.
Apex Football News 