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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Zlatan to Chelsea, Kroos to Arsenal, Benteke to West Ham

Excitingly, the Daily Star have news for us of a “big transfer move that will rock the Premier League”, which is quite a claim for a publication hardly ever prone to hyperbole. And the news is that Chelsea have offered Zlatan Ibrahimovic a two-year deal worth £9.5m a season. The rockingest part of that would be Zlatan agreeing his final big move to a team that isn’t in the Champions League, but admittedly the £200,000-a-week wage and the chance to play with John Obi Mikel might sway him. The Star also repeats the Swede’s claim that “he would only stay in Paris if they replaced the Eiffel Tower with a statue of him” but apparently without any irony.

A transfer move that might rock Leicester City is Real Madrid’s apparent pursuit of their midfielder N'Golo Kante, who Spanish paper AS says is wanted by Los Blancos as a replacement for Toni Kroos. But Toni Kroos is still there, we hear you mutter disdainfully. Yes, he is, but not for long - because Arsenal are going to buy him, adds AS.

In news that will make Liverpool fans feel a little bit ill, the Reds may have to continue paying Christian Benteke’s wages for the next four years, even if they sell him in the summer. The Mirror reports that the Merseysiders are unlikely to find a club willing to match the £120,000-a-week he earns at Anfield, not even in China.

One team considering a “cut price” offer for the big Belgian are West Ham, who the Times says are prepared to pay Benteke £80,000 a week, which is still quite a lot of money - as the Hammers have found out to their cost with Andy Carroll. But that would leave still Liverpool picking up a £40,000 weekly bill and getting precisely nothing in return - which to be fair isn’t much different to what they are getting from Benteke currently.

Manchester United could miss out on Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang because he apparently promised his grandfather he would play for Real Madrid, reports the Manchester Evening News. But what if Real Madrid don’t want him? He hasn’t thought this through.

Meanwhile, the Mirror says United have targeted Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as a possible replacement for David de Gea if the Spanish keeper leaves Old Trafford in the summer, which he blatantly will.

Elsewhere, Napoli midfielder Jorginho is a target for Arsenal (Mail), Chelsea are interested in 24-year-old Roma defender Kostas Manolas (Il Tempo) and Stoke are set to tie down Jack Butland to a new five-year contract (Telegraph).

Finally, in a story that could only have happened to Harry Redknapp, the Sun reports that as well as agreeing to take over at Derby, the loveable wheeler-dealer has also lined up a lucrative deal to become manager of Jordan - and will do both jobs simultaneously. What could possibly go wrong?

@darlingkevin