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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Lukaku, Alcantara, Kompany, Mangala, Benteke
It’s ironic that Everton have finally been taken over by a rich businessman who is going to give them loads of money when they’re probably going to raise even more through other sources anyway - firstly through all the TV cash they’re going to get next season, and secondly by selling Romelu Lukaku.
The Sun reports that Real Madrid will launch what it calls an “incredible £60m raid” for what it calls “Everton’s rampaging hitman” which, quite aside from the fact it makes Lukaku sound like someone who is running around killing people, is bad news for the Toffees.
The Sun “understands” that discussions have already taken place between Lukaku’s agent and Madrid representatives, while another reliable source known as “friends of Lukaku” said the striker believes he “will only further his career by appearing regularly in the Champions League”. He must have told them that one night when he was drunk.
The tabloid also mentions that Roberto Martinez could be interested in a player-plus-cash swap deal with Madrid for Lukaku, and that Karim Benzema is expected to leave the Bernabeu this summer. However, these two statements are not necessarily connected.
There is a new candidate for the coveted title of “Pep Guardiola’s first signing as Manchester City manager” revealed in the Guardian - and today it’s Bayern Munich’s Thiago Alcantara. The broadsheet says that Pep wants the midfielder to “follow him” to the Etihad, like some kind of adorable dog, and that transfer fee negotiations will “start in the region of £25m”.
The Mirror states that, despite Guardiola’s planned overhaul of the squad he inherits from Manuel Pellegrini, injury prone captain Vincent Kompany will not be sold.
However, the unsurprising news reported in the Times is that City will “listen to offers” for fellow centre-back Eliaquim Mangala. The paper doesn’t state exactly what offer the club is seeking for the man they spent £42m on two years ago, but it does concede that they are “braced for a loss” on the player. Possibly a loss of around £42m, one fears.
West Ham have identified Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi and Alexandre Lacazette as “priority transfer targets” this summer, according to Sky Sports. Presumably the Hammers only want to buy one of them, unless they’re planning to put Benteke in defence.
Elsewhere, Watford want to make Nathan Ake’s loan deal from Chelsea permanent for £3m (Mirror), Manchester United are again being linked with Atletico Madrid starlet Saul Niguez (Manchester Evening News) and Liverpool’s Martin Skrtel will be sold in the summer to finance “mega transfer raids” (Star). That kind of sounds like the Reds might be overestimating how much money they will get for Martin Skrtel.
