Gossip: Tottenham 'target unhappy Martial', Juventus 'want Dembele', Man Utd 'chase £25m Bertrand'
Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford are both pretty fast, so it’s only natural that they should have a race. First one to the Old Trafford exit door wins.
Following yesterday’s reports that Rashford was looking to leave Manchester United because Alexis Sanchez is blocking his route to the first team, we learn today that Martial is planning to do the same.
The French radio channel RMC Sport claims the former Monaco forward has turned down United’s offer of a new five-year contract and wants to quit the club this summer.
It seems unlikely that Jose Mourinho would sanction the sales of two pacy young attackers at once, so the race is on to see who can bag a move first.
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Martial appears to have no shortage of offers. The Telegraph says Tottenham are among the clubs “monitoring the situation” and the Londoners would make a bid for the Frenchman if he does decide his future lies elsewhere.
They would have to fight off rival interest, however, from Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Internazionale.
The United board are “eager” for Martial to stay while he is also popular with his team-mates due to his “dry sense of humour”, apparently. Maybe they could replace him with Joe Pasquale.
Juve monitor Tottenham’s Dembele
Spurs could face another battle with Juventus for their midfielder Mousa Dembele, who the Mirror says is wanted by the Italian champions amid uncertainty over his contract.
The Belgian’s current deal expires at the end of the next season but he does not want to discuss a new one until after the World Cup, presumably figuring that if he leads Belgium to glory in Russia he will be able to negotiate for more money.
The plan could backfire horribly though if the Belgians end up getting stuffed by minnows such as Panama, Tunisia or England.
Meanwhile, Man Utd are being linked with yet another left-back as the tabloids continue to eke whatever they can from Mourinho’s distaste for Luke Shaw.
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Today it’s Southampton “ace” Ryan Bertrand, who the Sun says will be targeted by the Red Devils (as well as Spurs, Newcastle and Everton) in a £25m deal if Saints get relegated. And if United fail to snare their other left-backs targets Danny Rose, Alex Sandro, Faouzi Ghoulam and Mikael Silvestre.
Another former Old Trafford hero, Shinji Kagawa, could also be in line for a return to the Premier League with his old gaffer David Moyes looking to rekindle their relationship at West Ham.
The Mirror says the Hammers will target the Japanese playmaker, currently in his sixth season at Borussia Dortmund, in a £12m summer deal. However, the Sun says Moyesy will face competition from his old club Everton.
Elsewhere, West Ham will battle Spurs for Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes, just as they allegedly did last summer too (Mirror), Atletico Madrid are ready to offer Antoine Griezmann more than £300,000 a week in a last-ditch attempt to keep him from the clutches of Barcelona (Mirror) and Man Utd, Chelsea and Everton are “monitoring” Watford’s £40m-rated Brazilian attacker Richarlison (Sky Sports). Which is the same amount he was rated at back in November even though he hasn’t actually scored since then.