Having failed to make the breakthrough at Tottenham last season, Joe Rodon could be off to Italy. Fabio Paratici, Spurs’ director of football, is reported to have spent Thursday in Milan conducting talks with a number of clubs. Tottenham are interested in signing Roma midfielder Nicolò Zaniolo and may offer Rodon as part of a swap deal. The Wales international has an admirer in Roma’s manager José Mourinho, who brought him to Spurs from Swansea City and is in the market for a centre-back.
While Zaniolo would rather stay in Italy, where Milan and Juventus are interested in acquiring his services, Tottenham are hopeful the prospect of being barked at from the touchline by his compatriot Antonio Conte might be enough to turn his head. Spurs are also hopeful of shipping Bryan Gil out to Sampdoria on loan after the Spain winger spent the second half of last season at Valencia. Marseille have also stated their interest in taking Gil on loan and are also sniffing around the Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares.
Graeme Souness will have to leave Sky Sports for rivals BT Sport if he is to continue to be exasperated by Paul Pogba on a regular basis. The French midfielder’s much-touted return to Juventus on a free transfer after six years at Manchester United is a done deal, according to Fabrizio Romano, but won’t be completed until Pogba’s United contract expires at the end of this month and his new contract is signed at the beginning of July.
Meanwhile, Manchester United remain hopeful of signing Antony from Ajax amid speculation the player’s representatives are pestering the Dutch champions to allow the left-footed Brazilian winger to leave for Old Trafford or Chelsea. With three years remaining on his contract he is unlikely to come cheap. In news that may or may not be true but comes as no great shock regardless, reports from Portugal suggest Cristiano Ronaldo is spitting feathers over United’s lack of progress in a transfer window and could flounce out of the club in protest if he doesn’t see a few new faces upon his return for pre-season preening on the training ground.
Rumour Mill staple Adrien Rabiot wants to leave Juventus and as is customary is being linked with various top-end Premier League clubs who don’t seem particularly interested in signing him. Available for £15m, the player himself is understood to fancy a move to Liverpool, while Chelsea and Arsenal have also been mooted as potential destinations. Fresh from signing goalkeeper Nick Pope from Burnley for an undisclosed fee, Newcastle United are rumoured to have expressed something approaching firm interest in signing the 27-year-old French midfielder.
Douglas Luiz could be off to Milan if reports claiming the Aston Villa midfielder’s “people” are in talks with the Serie A champions are to be believed. Having made it clear he wishes to leave Villa Park, the 24-year-old Brazilian is also being courted by Roma but the Giallorossi bean-counters think the £30m fee Villa are demanding is way too high.
Arsenal remain steadfast in their determination to lure Gabriel Jesus to the Emirates from Manchester City and several of the tabloid back pages suggest an unveiling could be nigh. At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea’s interim director of football Todd Boehly is similarly hell-bent on signing Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus in order to prove he means business in his new role.
