La Liga Leaks: Real want Andre Gomes + Suarez transfer could earn Man City €8.8m

Buenas dias. Yesterday morning proved to be one of the quietest days, in terms of transfer speculation, for a couple of weeks but today there’s plenty to talk about.

The most important story comes from MARCA and that’s the news Real Madrid are very much interested in signing Andre Gomes. The Portuguese midfielder has been linked heavily with Barcelona in recent weeks, a personal favourite of coach Luis Enrique, but it seems Los Blancos are set to steal a march on their rivals and sign the current Valencia player instead.

Speculation had suggested Paul Pogba was the priority target for Zinedine Zidane but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Andre Gomes has been followed by Madrid since his incredible debut season in La Liga and his performances against them last season, including a beautiful goal from the edge of the area at the Santiago Bernabeu, has convinced the club to make a bid.

The transfer fee - around €65m - isn’t something which puts Madrid off either. They see Gomes as the perfect option to give Luka Modric a rest or even feature further forward coming off the left wing. If this transfer did go through it wouldn’t rule out the possibility of Pogba signing too, but it would end Madrid’s pursuit of N’Golo Kante.

Barcelona’s move to re-sign Denis Suarez suggests they won’t be signing another central midfielder this summer. After an impressive campaign with Villarreal last time out, Suarez has earned an opportunity to nail down a squad place at his old club. However there’s some potentially good news in this deal for Manchester City.

The terms of the contract state that Barcelona must pay City €800,000 if Suarez is part of the first team squad next season. That isn’t the only clause in the deal however as Barcelona will be forced to pay City €800,000 for every ten appearances the midfielder makes for them up to a maximum of 100 matches.

Transfer king Monchi has been speaking about the criticism the sale of Grzegorz Krychowiak has earned from some sections of Sevilla’s fanbase. “This club grows through (player) sales. It hasn’t gone badly for us. Nine titles and 16 finals. The idea is to listen to offers, accept some and reject others. I believe it’s a very good sale, magnificent even.”

He later went on to name some of his biggest sales in recent years and how the club has continued to improve, although he does have some regrets: the players he didn’t sell at their peak value. “(We were offered) €16m for (Diego) Perotti by Juventus. We sold him for €300,000. We had an €11m offer from Tottenham for (Diego) Capel but we sold him for €3m.”

Other news and rumours:

- Barcelona have turned their attention to Lucas Perez as a back-up option for Luis Suarez next season. He could join for as little as €12m after scoring 17 goals in last season’s La Liga. (Sport)

- Manchester United are negotiating a deal to bring Mexican starlet Hirving Lozano to the club. (ESPN)

- Thomas Vermaelen and Adriano are both set to leave Barcelona this summer but neither will do so on a free transfer. (Mundo Deportivo)

- Gabriel Jesus is in no rush to sort out his future despite some of the biggest clubs in Europe following his progress. “My choice is to continue with Palmeiras.” (AS)