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Gossip: Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea 'want Alderweireld', Juventus 'make Wilshere enquiry' and more

Wanted: Tottenham man Toby Alderweireld could be the target of Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea
Wanted: Tottenham man Toby Alderweireld could be the target of Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea

So who wants to sign Toby Alderweireld? Everyone, silly.

Of course they do. He’s one of the Premier League’s best defenders and there is the tiniest possibility that he might be available for transfer this summer, so all the vultures are circling.

When we say everyone, we don’t mean Arsenal because that’s obviously not going to happen, or Liverpool because they just spent £75m on Virgil van Dijk. But everyone else that matters.

The Mirror reports that Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea will all target the Belgian centre-back following his “contract stand-off” with Tottenham. (If your club hasn’t already been mentioned in this article, then I’m afraid it is not one of the clubs that matter, sorry.)

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The contract stand-off itself is complicated. Alderweireld wants “in excess of £150,000 a week” to stay in north London but the club are refusing to bow to his demands.

Spurs have the option to extend his deal until summer 2020 – two and a half years away – but it would then contain a clause that would allow him to leave next summer for a bargainous £25m.

Chairman Daniel Levy doesn’t like selling his players for bargainous prices, so he may just flog him asap to ensure the club gets top dollar.

Oh and one more thing, Real Madrid are also very keen to sign Toby. Sorry, everyone.


Juventus target Arsenal’s Wilshere

Another north London hero who is the subject of admiring glances from the continent is Jack Wilshere. The Mail reports that the Arsenal midfielder is wanted by Juventus amid continuing negotiations over the 26-year-old’s contract.

The Gunners have offered Wilshere a new deal after his ankles demonstrated an improved ability to withstand the game of football, but they want him to take a pay cut from £100,000 a week to £80,000 a week.

That has alerted the Italian champions, who have made an “enquiry” about Wilshere’s thoughts on a potential move to Turin.

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Someone else who has proved his robustness in recent weeks in Luke Shaw but, again, it may not prevent him being sold. The Mirror says the Manchester United left-back is attracting interest from Arsenal and Chelsea following “delays” in his contract negotiations at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Spanish paper Mundo Deportivo has confirmed that Paris Saint-German forward Neymar will be signing for Real Madrid, but not until 2019. The Brazilian presumably hopes that if he spends two years in Paris rather than one, most Barcelona fans will forget he used to play for them.

Elsewhere, Tottenham and Everton are tracking PSV Eindhoven’s 21-year-old winger Steven Bergwijn (ESPN), Man Utd midfielder Marouane Fellaini will seal a free transfer to Turkish side Besiktas at the end of the season (Fotomac) and United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been looking at houses in Beverly Hills ahead of a planned move to LA Galaxy (Mail). This time next year he’ll be starring in a sitcom with Ted Danson and Eddie Murphy, you watch.