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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Lacazette ‘available for £40m plus bonuses’, Man Utd Matuidi boost
How much does a good striker cost these days? That’s the question a lot of people are asking themselves following Gonzalo Higuain’s move from Napoli to Juventus for £75.3m, a fee that some observers have perceived as being ever so slightly on the pricey side.
It’s also left any club with an in-demand striker in their ranks, such as Lyon, wondering exactly how much cash they can squeeze out of a stupidly rich (and possibly stupid) Premier League team for his services.
In the case of Alexandre Lacazette, the figure is certainly more than £29.3m, which is what Arsenal offered the French side for him this week. It may also be more than £33.4m, which is what West Ham apparently bid for the 24-year-old last month (although admittedly our only source for that is a teenage boy’s Twitter account).
According to the Daily Mirror, Lacazette’s price tag is also more than £40m. But despite Lyon’s insistence that their star man is “irreplaceable”, he should heed Beyonce’s advice and never get to thinking that he actually is. Because the tabloid adds that £40m “plus bonuses” is the price that will be accepted, if and when someone offers it.
Although if it’s West Ham that offers it, Lacazette will just say no anyway and wait for the Gunners.
Napoli will use the silly money they have received to make a silly purchase, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, which has predicted that the Serie A side will replace Higuain with Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik, who looked distinctly unimpressive at Euro 2016.
Two players who were more successful in that tournament, Portuguese midfield duo Joao Mario and William Carvalho, are reportedly wanted in the Premier League, with Liverpool having a £33.5m bid for Mario rejected (Sun) and Chelsea battling Everton for £30m-rated Carvalho (Mirror).
Manchester United are having better luck with their pursuit of £30m-rated French midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who will be allowed to leave Paris Saint-Germain (Manchester Evening News) than they are in their pursuit of £100m-rated French midfielder Paul Pogba, whose super agent Mino Raiola has cancelled the player’s medical in some kind of super agent-style negotiation tactic (Star).
Elsewhere, Arsenal and Liverpool are interested in signing 23-year-old Real Madrid forward Jese (not to be confused with James) Rodriguez (Sun), Arsenal and Tottenham are going head-to-head for Toulouse striker Wissam Ben Yedder (Talksport) and Manchester City are “closing in” on deals for promising duo Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus (Mirror).
Finally, the day after reporting that Marko Arnautovic has rejected a new contract at Stoke and will sign for Everton, the Daily Mail has reported that Marko Arnautovic has rejected a move to Everton to sign a new four-year contract at Stoke. Shameless.
