Advertisement

Gossip: Tottenham 'want £200m for Kane', Arsenal and Manchester City 'could swap Aguero and Sanchez',

Mauricio Pochettino wants £200m for Harry Kane, while Alexis Sanchez and Sergio Aguero could swap clubs
Mauricio Pochettino wants £200m for Harry Kane, while Alexis Sanchez and Sergio Aguero could swap clubs

It would be hard for any Arsenal fan to imagine a situation where they sold Alexis Sanchez to a Premier League rival this summer and avoided sinking into a dark and desperate funk of sadness and regret. But that’s because most Arsenal fans don’t have an imagination as vibrant or as liberated as the inimitable Daily Star.

The tabloid has concocted, to its immense credit, a scenario where the Gunners’ star man quits the Emirates and still leaves Gooners dancing in the streets of Islington. It’s wild. It’s bold. It’s strangely logical. It’s a straight swap with Sergio Aguero.

The Star claims that “discussions have been held” between Manchester City and Arsenal about the two 29-year-old South American superstars “switching clubs”.

READ MORE: Gossip – United ‘struggle to sell Rooney’, PSG launch £60m Aguero bid’, Arsenal ‘want Lacazette’

READ MORE: Mourinho ‘will attract huge names to Old Trafford’ insists United legend

And it makes sense. The Gunners have just been quoted a prohibitive £57m for their alternative striker target Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon, while Aguero failed to convince Pep Guardiola of his abilities in the manager’s first season at the Etihad.

The two clubs wouldn’t even need to discuss transfer fees. They could just put their two 29-year-old South Americans on the M6 going in opposite directions, then make a few minor amendments to their contracts and everyone’s happy. Well, everyone except Aguero.

The Star is on a roll when it comes to sensational striker rumours, also claiming that “odds have tumbled” on Harry Kane quitting Tottenham for Manchester United from 20/1 to 6/1. Although that’s cheating because it’s not strictly transfer gossip, it’s more bookies’ gossip.

Just to nip that rumour in the bud, Daniel Levy has put a £200m valuation on Kane’s head, according to the Independent. And even Man Utd wouldn’t pay that… would they?


900 per cent pay rise

Not if they get Gareth Bale, they wouldn’t. And they might do, according to the Mirror, which says United have “received a boost” in their pursuit of the Welshman because Real Madrid have apparently promised Kylian Mbappe they will sell one of their forwards if he agrees to join them. Bit of a tenuous “boost”, really.

Especially as Mbappe might decide to stay with Monaco now that the Ligue 1 champions have offered him, says the Sun, a hilarious-sounding “900 per cent pay rise”. That would involve his wages jumping from £15,750 to £140,000 a week.

Even if they don’t get Kane or Mbappe, the Express seems fairly convinced that United will succeed in signing James Rodriguez. The Colombian playmaker has reportedly agreed “everything” with the club about an imminent move to Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, Chelsea will make Alex Sandro the world’s most expensive defender when he moves to Stamford Bridge from Juventus for £61m this week, says the Mirror. Juve will replace their other departing full-back, Dani Alves, with Southampton’s Cedric Soares in a £15m deal, says the Sun.

Elsewhere, the Blues are set to take their summer spending to £240m with the additional signings of Tiemoue Bakayoko, Romelu Lukaku and Virgil van Dijk (Express), RB Leipzig have told Liverpool to pay £70.4m for midfield target Naby Keita (Metro) and Swansea have rejected Everton’s £30m bid for their talismanic Icelander Gylfi Sigurdsson (Mirror). Do you get the sense that transfer fees are getting a bit silly at the moment?