Gossip: Liverpool 'hold talks with £100m Mbappe', Man Utd and Chelsea 'chase £35m Bernardeschi'

There’s no doubt that Jurgen Klopp is a deeply charismatic and attractive man. If you’d arranged to meet your friends on a Friday night and he sent you a text inviting you to go for a pint with him instead, you’d do it – because you just know he’d do something funny.

Or if you were out for dinner in Marbella with your husband and Kloppy strolled over and asked you to “ditch this loser for 20 minutes” and go for a romantic stroll along the beach with him, you’d be powerless to resist. You’d kick yourself for years otherwise.

READ MORE: Four new Liverpool transfer targets emerge – gossip

READ MORE: England win U20 World Cup in South Korea

With his luscious hair, his slightly unhinged laugh and his sophisticated spectacles that keep breaking, the Kloppster has a magnetism rare among football managers. Guys want to be him, women want to be with him, players want to play for him. And this is a very useful quality when you’re doing your summer transfer business.

Because even when the likes of Kylian Mbappe are already attracting interest from the world’s top clubs, they are still willing to listen to what the Kloppster has to say.

That, at least, is what today’s Mail claims as it reveals that the Liverpool boss has “made contact” with the Monaco striker’s representatives about a potential £100m move to Anfield.

Although Real Madrid are thought to be leading the chase for the 18-year-old, the player’s agents have allegedly held “preliminary talks” with the German about an alternative switch to Merseyside. (But not in a secretive tapping up kind of way, you understand!)

Meanwhile, Manchester United and Chelsea are battling to sign another highly rated European youngster in the shape (the exact shape – arms, legs, head and everything) of Fiorentina’s Federico Bernardeschi.

The Mirror says the 23-year-old, who has been described as “the new Roberto Baggio”, is the subject of a £35m tug-of-war between United, Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan. He has better hair than Baggio, too.

United are also “making progress” on a deal to sign Monaco’s Fabinho, says the Manchester Evening News. The Brazilian right-back, who spent most of last season in central midfield, has apparently identified the Red Devils as the club he’d most like to join if he leaves the Ligue 1 champions. His hero growing up was Paul Parker (maybe).

In the centre of United’s defence, the arrival of £35m Swede Victor Lindelof will signal the “Chris of death” for fellow centre-back Chris Smalling, says the Star ominously. But it’s OK, Chris won’t actually be killed, he will just be sold.

Chelsea are the latest team described as “favourites” to sign Real Madrid playmaker James Rodriguez, this time by the Spanish paper AS. The Colombian will eventually actually sign for someone, we promise.

Elsewhere, Barcelona have tabled an £88m bid for Paris Saint-Germain’s unsettled Italian midfielder Marco Verratti (Mail), Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny has distanced himself from rumours of a potential move to Marseille (ESPN) and West Brom and Newcastle are keen on Celtic’s free-kick specialist forward and Scottish “national hero” Leigh Griffiths (Mirror). They hadn’t even heard of him last week.