Yahoo Sport 
Gossip: Bale and Ronaldo 'at war' over Man Utd transfer, Chelsea and United 'chase Alba', Liverpool 'quoted £79m for Alisson'
One way to make your Gareth Bale transfer story stand out from the rest is to include the word BEEF in the headline in capital letters for no apparent reason.
That’s the Star’s clever ploy to spark intrigue in their latest report on the Welshman’s potential move to Manchester United, although meat connoisseurs will be left disappointed because the article has nothing to do with food. It turns out the tabloid has been using the language of the street: and beef means war.
Specifically, it means war with Cristiano Ronaldo, with whom Bale is allegedly “furious” after his Real Madrid teammate hinted that he wanted to move to Old Trafford, mere minutes after Bale had done the same thing.
READ MORE: Croatia and Brazil will light up Anfield, says Croatian goal king Davor Suker
These rival hints have caused the forwards “to BEEF” (indeed, the Star uses the verb) because Bale thinks Ronaldo is “playing transfer games” with Man Utd and pretending he wants to move there, whereas Bale really does want to sign for the Red Devils because Zinedine Zidane never picks him.
A legitimate grievance perhaps, although it’s unlikely that these beefs will damage Bale’s chances of securing a return to the Premier League, with Spanish paper AS reporting that United are set to offer £122m to sign him imminently.
Chelsea and United want Barca left-back
The Red Devils are also eyeing a move for another El Clasico veteran in the shape (the exact human shape) of Jordi Alba. Sport says United are battling with Chelsea to sign the 29-year-old Barcelona left-back, who is currently involved in a contract stand-off at the Nou Camp.
Meanwhile, the Blues continue to be beefing with Napoli over the release clause in Maurizio Sarri’s contract.
The Italian coach remains Roman Abramovich’s top choice to replace Antonio Conte, but his opposite number Aurelio De Laurentiis is demanding £7m compensation to let the manager leave, despite the fact he has just appointed Carlo Ancelotti as Sarri’s successor.
Chelsea are refusing to pay that sum, raising the prospect of Napoli of having two managers next season, which could end up being the key to football success, you never know.
Roma name their price for Alisson
Roma will not let their goalkeeper Alisson move to Liverpool until after the World Cup and they will demand £79m for the 25-year-old Brazilian, reports the Guardian. The Italians originally only wanted half that amount, but they bumped up the price after watching Loris Karius’ performance in the Champions League final.
READ MORE: Manchester United trigger £17.5m clause for Porto defender Diogo Dalot
Adding insult to injury for the German goalie is Giorgio Grassi, the president of third-tier Italian side Rimini FC, who has offered to take the keeper on a season-long loan deal in Serie C as a “birthday gift”. Thanks, Giorgio.
Elsewhere, Manchester City are hoping to get Riyad Mahrez from Leicester for £60m, which is substantially less than the £75m transfer fee mooted earlier in the week (Sun), West Ham are planning a defensive shake-up with moves for Barcelona centre-back Marlon Santos and Genoa centre-back Armando Izzo (Sky Sports) and Real Madrid are expected to beat Arsenal to the £53m signing of Atletico Madrid’s Uruguayan defender Jose Gimenez (Talksport). Unless he has a change of heart and decides he would rather be team-mates with Carl Jenkinson than Ronaldo.
