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Gossip: Manchester United linked with £40m Nainggolan, Morata 'doesn't want' Chelsea transfer

Alvaro Morata and Radja Nainggolan
Alvaro Morata and Radja Nainggolan

Manchester United are hoping for better luck this time around in their pursuit of Roma midfielder Radja Nainggolan. The Mail says Jose Mourinho has targeted the £40m-rated Belgian as an alternative to Eric Dier, who Tottenham are refusing to sell, the spoilsports.

Chelsea were determined to spend big this summer in order to satisfy unsettled manager Antonio Conte and also wipe out any possibility of history repeating itself from the last time they won the Premier League title (and were exceedingly rubbish afterwards).

So far, they’ve signed Willy Caballero on a free transfer – and that’s it. It’s all rather amusing.

Is it possible that the Blues could go an entire summer transfer window and only get their hands on one Willy? Probably not, but at least Alvaro Morata is doing his bit.

The Real Madrid striker, whose imminent transfer to Stamford Bridge was assumed by many to be a formality after they both got screwed over by Romelu Lukaku, has thrown a Spanish spanner into the proposed move.

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Alvaro Morata looked set to join Man United
Alvaro Morata looked set to join Man United

He has affirmed, in the manner of Elvis Costello (and in a cultural reference that none of the youngsters these days will understand because the music’s all on computers and it’s all just noise and sex really, isn’t it?) that he does not want to go to Chelsea.

The Express reports that Morata, who was so keen to quit Madrid last week that he left his new bride all alone on their honeymoon yacht so he could nip home to seal a move to United, is now “solely focused on Real and helping the club challenge for major honours next season”. Monumental switcheroo.

Furthermore, he does view a move to the Bridge as a “feasible option”. Basically, he just doesn’t like Chelsea – ouch.

Some people still like Chelsea though, such as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – or so says the Mail. The Borussia Dortmund striker was reportedly set for a move to Chinese shopaholics Tianjin Quanjian but they have threatened to pull out of the move “amid concerns he wants to join Chelsea”.

The Blues have allegedly been offered the chance to sign the Gabonese goal machine for £60m, although AC Milan are also said to be keen. He’s definitely going somewhere anyway, because yesterday he Instagrammed himself sitting moodily on the steps of a private jet, and that is proof!

#moodoftheday

A post shared by Aubameyang (@aubameyang97) on Jul 12, 2017 at 7:28am PDT

The biggest threat to Willy Caballero’s hopes of being Conte’s sole summer signing, however, is Danilo. The Blues have “won the race” to sign the 25-year-old Real Madrid right-back for £28m after seeing off competition from Juventus, says the Mirror.

Conte is also still trying to persuade Juve to sell him Danilo’s fellow Brazilian full-back, Alex Sandro, but the Italians have repeatedly increased the asking price and are currently demanding £70m for the 26-year-old.

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Bad blood

In more good Blues news, the Express says Eden Hazard has called Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane and told him that he plans to remain at Stamford Bridge for at least another season. Was that really worthy of a phone call?

In non-Chelsea things, the Sun claims Manchester United and Real Madrid have been involved in a “bitter bust-up” over “who has the best hotel and training facilities” in Los Angeles, where they are currently based for a pre-season tour.

There is apparently “bad blood” and “warring” and being “at loggerheads”.

All over who has the best five-star hotel? Sounds like the Sun might be over-blowing this one a tad. Plus, United can’t hate Madrid that much given they’ve tried to buy Morata, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Raphael Varane from them in recent days, months and years.

They weren’t successful, obviously.


Elsewhere, Man City will step up efforts to sign Southampton’s £25m-rated left-back Ryan Bertrand (Mail), former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy reckons the Reds are “close” to signing Saints defender Virgil van Dijk, despite the fact they’re supposedly not allowed to (Express).

And former champions Leicester could offload all six of their signings from last summer after putting Islam Slimani, Ahmed Musa, Nampalys Mendy and Bartosz Kapustka up for sale, with Ron-Robert Zieler and Luis Hernandez having already left (Telegraph). Maybe Chelsea will face the fate next summer and put Willy Caballero on the transfer list.

@darlingkevin