Gossip: Chelsea 'want Cech and Schmeichel' to replace Courtois, Everton 'close in on Malcom', Bournemouth 'target £57m double swoop'
Schmeichel and Cech. Best Premier League goalkeepers ever? Probably – and Chelsea allegedly are about to sign both of them.
Except there are a couple of inevitable catches. It’s Kasper Schmeichel; not Peter Schmeichel. And it’s 36-year-old Petr Cech; not 26-year-old Petr Cech.
Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers when your man between sticks has decided to up sticks, which is the situation the Blues find themselves in with Thibaut Courtois.
The World Cup Golden Glove winner is on the verge of a £32m move to Real Madrid, according to Spanish paper Marca, or a £48.5m move to Real Madrid, according to Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, and Chelsea are looking to fills his extremely large gloves with two illustrious names from the top flight back catalogue.
Sky Sports reports that the Blues want to bring in both Schmeichel (Kasper) and Cech (36) to compete for Courtois’ soon-to-be vacant number one jersey.
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Both could be keen on the move, with Cech set to lose his place at Arsenal to new Gunners goalie Bernd Leno and Schmeichel emphasizing his credentials as a top class shotstopper with an outstanding World Cup for Denmark.
Alternatively, the Sun says Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is looking to “hijack” Liverpool’s £62m bid for Roma’s Alisson by offering the Italians £3m more. But that might not matter if the Brazilian is more concerned about playing the Champions League rather than the Europa League next season. Ouch, right?
As for Courtois, the Express says the Belgian has “agreed” a four-year deal with the European champions and is set to complete his switch the Bernabeu, which is a relief if only because it would finally end the speculation about David de Gea joining Real.
There is no such luck with the Eden Hazard speculation, which rumbles on with the Star claiming Los Blancos have put the Chelsea playmaker “top of their list” to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. Wonder who’s at the bottom of the list. Andy Carroll?
Bournemouth target two World Cup stars
Down in mid-table, the Premier League also-rans are also splashing some serious cash this summer. The Sun says Bournemouth are lining up a £57m double swoop for Levante’s 23-year-old Colombian midfielder Jefferson Lerma (valued at £32m) and Genoa’s 25-year-old Uruguayan full-back Diego Laxalt (£25m). Hot damn, Bournemouth.
Meanwhile Everton, who already splashed some serious cash last summer, are set to do it again by spending £30m on Bordeaux’s in-demand winger Malcom, with whom they are in “advanced talks” according Sky Sports, and a similar amount on Watford forward Richarlison (Times). The Hornets are also said to be interested in England World Cup legend Danny Welbeck.
But West Ham, the biggest mid-table spenders of all, have seemingly just checked their bank account and had a bit of a panic. Talksport says the Hammers will “listen to offers” for last season’s star man Marko Arnautovic, who is allegedly wanted by Man Utd and Roma.
Elsewhere, departed Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is set to return to former club Juventus as an “advisor” (Libertad Digital), Crystal Palace are keen on Sassuolo’s £12m-rated Senegalese striker Khouma Babacar (Mirror) and West Brom have rejected a loan offer from Newcastle for striker Salomon Rondon and have asked the Magpies to pay the Venezuelan’s £16.5m release clause instead (Express and Star). Have they forgotten this is Mike Ashley they’re dealing with?