Sunday, February 4, 2018

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Gossip column: Mahrez, Conte, Sarri, Ronaldo, Kluivert, Icardi, Dzeko




Football gossip

Arsenal are expected to join the race to sign unsettled Leicester midfielder Riyad Mahrez, 26. (Daily Star Sunday)
Leicester manager Claude Puel says he is "not thinking" about Mahrez, who has not been seen by the club since his proposed move to Manchester City collapsed on transfer deadline day. (Mail on Sunday)
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is considering paying Maurizio Sarri's 8m euro (£7m) release clause to appoint the Napoli coach as his club's next manager. (La Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte could be sacked if his side lose at Watford on Monday. (Sunday Express)
Conte has told Chelsea they need two or three truly world-class signings to regain the Premier League title next season, and cites the arrival of too many players as one reason behind their failure to mount a defence of their title this term. (Sunday Telegraph)
Manchester United are in advanced talks to bring 18-year-old Ajax winger Justin Kluivert - son of former Barcelona forward Patrick - to Old Trafford in the summer. (Sunday Mirror)
Real Madrid are prepared to raise Cristiano Ronaldo's salary to 30m euros a year from this summer, putting the 32-year-old forward alongside Neymar in terms of annual earnings. (ABC, via Marca)
Napoli have joined the pursuit of Mauro Icardi, the 24-year-old Inter Milan and Argentina striker who has been linked with Manchester United and is wanted by Real Madrid(AS)
Edin Dzeko says he snubbed Chelsea in order to stay at Roma because of his "unreal" life in Italy, though the 31-year-old Bosnia and Herzegovina forward admits the Blues' interest was a "compliment". (Klix, via Mail on Sunday)
Everton have given former caretaker boss David Unsworth, their Under-23 coach, permission to speak to Oxford United about their managerial vacancy. (Sky Sports)
Toffees boss Sam Allardyce says he's relegated new signing Cenk Tosun to the bench because the 26-year-old Turkey forward is struggling to adapt to the Premier League. (Liverpool Echo)
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has again criticised the atmosphere at Old Trafford, and claims the noise made at Portsmouth's Fratton Park is better. (London Evening Standard)
Mourinho has set his sights on signing Bayern Munich's Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, 30, in the summer amid concerns about his lack of options in the centre. (Manchester Evening News)
West Brom boss Alan Pardew wants Baggies officials to persuade Jonny Evans to agree a new deal to keep the 30-year-old defender from the clutches of other Premier League sides. (Birmingham Mail)
Former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann believes the clubare still lacking defensive cover, despite the £75m January capture of centre-back Virgil van Dijk, 26. (Omnisport, via Liverpool Echo)
Crystal Palace forward Bakary Sako, 29, ruled out for the rest of the seasonwith a fractured ankle and damaged ligaments, sends a message of optimism on social media.



Bakary Sako on Twitter

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil declared Rihanna his "lucky charm" after the singer watched the victory over Everton. Rihanna also celebrated Germany's 2014 World Cup win with Ozil and his team-mates in Brazil. (London Evening Standard)



Mesut Ozil on Twitter

The National League South match between Bognor Regis Town and Truro at Nyewood Lane was suspended for 55 minutes when home goalkeeper Dan Lincoln was taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries. The highly-rated former Reading stopper later tweeted a picture of his injuries but was allowed home having sustained no serious damage.



Dan Lincoln on Twitter

Back pages

Daily Star Sunday



The Daily Star Sunday focuses on Manchester City's draw at Burnley

Best of Saturday's gossip

Former Everton and Southampton manager Ronald Koeman will be named the new coach of the Netherlands next Friday. The 54-year-old Dutchman has been out of work since he was sacked by Everton in October. (De Telegraaf - in Dutch)
Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will only sell Spain goalkeeper David de Gea, 27, to Real Madrid if Wales forward Gareth Bale, 28, travels in the opposite direction. (Diario Gol, via Daily Express)
De Gea is one of four goalkeepers under consideration at Real MadridChelsea's 25-year-old Belgian Thibaut Courtois, Atletico Madrid and Slovenia stopper Jan Oblak, 25, and AC Milan's 18-year-old Italy international Gianluigi Donnarumma are seen as potential alternatives to David de Gea.

Transfer deals - January 2018




Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored 21 goals in 24 games in all competitions for Dortmund this season

The January transfer window closed in England at 23:00 GMT and at 00:00 in Scotland on Wednesday, 31 January.
All of the completed deals are listed below.
Signings confirmed between September and December can be found on our previous transfer page.
For all the latest rumours check out the gossip page and, for all the manager ins and outs, see our list of current bosses.

Completed deals

31 January/1 February

Premier League
10:52 Oladapo Afolayan [Solihull - West Ham] Undisclosed
00:53 Eliaquim Mangala [Manchester City - Everton] Loan
00:06 Alexander Sorloth [FC Midtjylland - Crystal Palace] Undisclosed
23:33 Jordan Hugill [Preston - West Ham] Undisclosed
23:30 Islam Slimani [Leicester - Newcastle] Loan
23:29 Andy King [Leicester - Swansea] Loan
21:05 Badou Ndiaye [Galatasaray - Stoke] £14m
20:45 Andre Ayew [West Ham - Swansea] £18m
20:43 Jack Withers [Boston United - Swansea] Undisclosed
18:30 Lucas Moura [Paris St-Germain - Tottenham] £23m
17:47 Didier Ndong [Sunderland - Watford] Loan
16:47 Olivier Giroud [Arsenal - Chelsea] £18m
11:13 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang [Borussia Dortmund - Arsenal] £56m



Chelsea news LIVE updates: Marco Asensio swap, Real Madrid want Courtois, Giroud claim

CHELSEA news is coming in thick and fast and Express Sport is on hand to bring you all the very latest.





Marco Asensio ChelseaGETTY
Marco Asensio is reportedly open to joining Chelsea.
Chelsea news live updates: all the latest from Stamford Bridge
Saturday February 3

Premier League TV rights

17:00: BT Sport’s large drop in viewers could see them lose the rights to show live Premier League football, according to reports.
The sports broadcaster have seen their viewing figures plummet by around 5000 despite investing billions in live rights to the Premier League, Champions League and the Ashes.
The latest auction for football rights is expected to conclude later this month with the Premier League hoping to pocket more than £7bn.
However, the latest set of rights may not fetch close to that amount with Sky Sports also being prepared to axe one of their packages to keep costs down.
The Daily Mail claim Sky bosses are prepared to give up Monday Night Football with the likes of Amazon and Facebook also set to enter the race for control over the rights.

Chelsea target Umtiti 

14.55: Chelsea are one of three clubs chasing Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti, according to reports in Spain.
The Blues, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are all said to be tracking the 24-year-old who has a cut-price £53m release clause.
The three clubs reportedly made contact with the France international’s representatives during the January transfer window.
And Barca are aware of their interest and are now desperate to tie the centre-half down to a new deal with an increased buy-out clause.

Conte Italy talks




13.15: Alessandro Costacurta has admitted he will soon meet with Chelsea boss Antonio Conte to discuss his potential return to managing Italy.
“I’ll go to London to talk to Antonio Conte and Carlo Ancelotti, we won’t have to wait too long,” he told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
“We have the best researchers, best chiefs and also the best coaches in the world.
“We can’t make mistakes. I think I’ll have to move quickly. I’ll go to London to talk to Conte. Ancelotti’s also there.”
Simeone snubs Blues



11.45: Diego Simeone has rejected a move to Chelsea but would consider taking charge at Manchester United, according to reports.
The Times claim Simeone is Roman Abramovich’s No 1 target to replace Antonio Conte but he does not want to come to Stamford Bridge.
The Atletico boss is said to have told intermediaries in contact with Chelsea that he sees no future with the Blues and will not come to the UK unless to join United.
He has held talks with the Red Devils in the past and met with the club in 2014 about replacing David Moyes but deciding against leaving Atletico midseason.

Batshuayi debut

09:25: Michy Batshuayi had a debut to remember as his two goals helped Borussia Dortmund t oa 3-2 win over Cologne last night.
The Belgian, who played the full 90 minutes, said: “I am very happy with my two goals but of course the most important thing today is the win.
“It was the first game, it was not easy. I’m just happy about these three points. 
“We want to climb as high as possible in the table and try to win every match.”

Marco Asensio swap

07.15: Real Madrid are expected to up their interest in Chelsea star Eden Hazard in the summer.
And one of Real Madrid’s most promising young players has reportedly said he would like to be involved in the deal so that he can move to Chelsea.
That player is Marco Asensio, who has found game time limited at the Bernabeu.
Spanish outlet Diario Gol claim that Asensio has spoken to club president Florentino Perez about the possibility of a move to Stamford Bridge.
And the Real chief is considering using the youngster as a makeweight to land his Belgian target.

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