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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Arsenal ‘make £43m Draxler bid’, West Ham ‘swap Sakho for Bacca’

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Arsene Wenger has been trying to sign Julian Draxler for almost a long as he’s been trying to win a European trophy, and it seems that he may be getting closer to fulfilling one of these lifelong dreams, if not the other.

The Mirror reports that Arsenal have launched a £43m bid for the German international winger, who rejected the Gunners last summer to join Wolfsburg, and before that rejected them to stay with his previous club Schalke.

So there is no reason to think that he’s changed his mind, but Wenger is nothing if not persistent. Maybe Draxler will only want to sign for Arsenal if they win a European trophy.

West Ham striker Diafra Sakho has finally got fed up with his chairman telling the media every single day that he in the market for a “top striker” - the Mail reports that he has handed in a transfer request.

The stated reason is that Sakho “wants regular first-team football”, but given that as things stand he is actually the Hammers’ first-choice centre-forward, it probably has more to do with Sullivan publicly undermining him just so he can get his face in the paper.

It is, of course, true that West Ham are trying to land a “top striker”, but they haven’t been having much luck. The latest player to be linked with a move to east London is AC Milan’s Carlos Bacca, who the Express says is close to a £25.7m move the Hammers, which sounds like a lot of money for a 29-year-old.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants to be reunited with Borussia Dortmund winger Jakub Blaszczykowski, according to German paper Bild. The Pole, who impressed at Euro 2016, spent last season at Fiorentina on loan.

The Reds could make way for Kuba by offloading another star of the European Championships, Joe Allen. The Wales midfielder is wanted by “at least six clubs” including Swansea, Southampton, Sevilla, Hull and “a Russian outfit”, says the Telegraph.

The paper adds that Allen’s team-mate Hal Robson-Kane will “almost certainly start next season in the Premier League” following his own Euro 2016 heroics. Swansea and Hull are said to be “pushing hardest for his signature”.

Elsewhere, Stoke and Sunderland are interest in Dortmund defender Neven Subotic (Mail), 19-year-old Leeds midfielder Lewis Cook is on the verge of a £6m move to Bournemouth (Telegraph) and Crystal Palace have swooped for £18m-rated Palermo playmaker Franco Vasquez (Croydon Advertiser). Has Alan Pardew won EuroMillions and not told anyone, is that what’s going on here?