The domestic football campaign is approaching faster than a charging Shericka Jackson – the top flight kicks off in just two weeks – and wherever you look, football fans are frothing with excitement at the prospect of another seemingly interminable season.
To begin at the beginning, with some hot Premier League transfer speculation, Chelsea and Manchester United are reportedly both keen to sign the France international full-back and Rumour Mill staple Benjamin Pavard – although the Sun reports that Juventus and Atlético Madrid are also keeping a beady eye on the situation.
However, Pavard is said to want to play at centre-back rather than full-back, which may prove an issue at both Premier League clubs. Kalidou Koulibaly and Thiago Silva are poised to form a fearsome central defensive partnership at Chelsea, with Jules Koundé and Presnel Kimpembe also on Thomas Tuchel’s summer shopping list. Lisandro Martínez, meanwhile, has already boosted Manchester United’s options at centre-back.
A player sizing up the Old Trafford exit door is Cristiano Ronaldo and the latest scoop is that he has been offered to Barcelona by his agent Jorge Mendes. Why Xavi might want another ageing forward in addition to Robert Lewandowski, recently signed from Bayern Munich, is anybody’s guess. But then, Barça are busy pulling those “economic levers”. A final snippet of Manchester United news is that the club are increasingly keen to move for Youri Tielemans from Leicester if they cannot snare Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.
Over at Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp fancies bolstering his midfield by signing Matheus Nunes from Sporting. Reports in Portugal suggest the clubs are ready to sit down and thrash out a deal for the 23-year-old, who is valued at somewhere in the region of £45m by his current employers.
Sticking doggedly with the behemoths of the Premier League, Brighton have turned down an initial offer of £30m from Manchester City for Marc Cucurella. Graham Potter’s bean counters want £50m for the Spanish full-back and Pep Guardiola, having sold Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal, needs cover at left-back as a matter of urgency.
Down in the capital, West Ham have tabled a £28m offer for Gianluca Scamacca, the 23-year-old Italy international on the books at Sassuolo. Reports on Friday morning suggested the Serie A club could be tempted to sell by an improved offer of £38m. Scamacca scored 16 goals league goals last season, a return that certainly suggests he could bang them in in the Premier League.
Ending with a touch of Premier League nostalgia, the former Liverpool forward Luis Suárez has held positive talks with Nacional, in Uruguay, about returning to the club where he kicked off his glittering/controversial career in 2005-06.
