Gossip: Arsenal ‘exodus’, Zlatan offer, Inaki to Juve

Sarah Winterburn

EXODUS!
Quite how many players constitutes an ‘exodus’ is unclear but what is abundantly clear is that somebody wants us to know that several players want to leave Arsenal. Of course, we knew this already, but now we can ‘exclusively’ put it all together and call it an ‘exodus’.

So we all know that Alexis Sanchez is likely to leave in the summer and we all know Mesut Ozil is stalling on a new deal (now worth £280,000 a week, according to the Daily Mirror). We also know – because he has an excellent agent – that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is eyeing the exit door and that Manchesters United and City, as well as Liverpool, are interested. And we all know that Jack Wilshere is yet to open talks with Arsenal about a new deal.

Put that all together, ladies and gentlemen, and we have ourselves an ‘exodus

 

STAKES RAISED ON INAKI WILLIAMS
Liverpool have long been linked with Athletic Bilbao forward Inaki Williams, but now it seems that they have a whole load of competition for his signature, with Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo claiming that Juventus are ready to trigger his release clause, set at €50 million.

That sum would break Liverpool’s transfer record so it seems unlikely that either they or Borussia Dortmund could compete. They’re going to end up with Demarai Gray, aren’t they?

 

ZLATAN OFFERED MASSIVE MONEY
This is handy, isn’t it? Just as Zlatan is trying to negotiate an extension to his contract at Manchester United, it is leaked that LA Galaxy want to make the Swede the highest-paid player in MLS history. No figures are actually mentioned but we know that Kaka is paid around £5.9m a year. Which is actually way below below the £11m that Zlatan is being paid by United.

 

AND THE REST
Manchester City will target Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang if Sergio Aguero leaves the Etihad at the end of the season…Chelsea are confident manager Antonio Conte will sign an improved deal extending his contract past 2019…West Ham are expecting to fight off bids for striker Andy Carroll this summer but could be close to solving their problems at right-back with a £5m move for Saint-Etienne’s Kevin Malcuit…Barcelona are scouting Chelsea trio Marcos Alonso, Cesar Azpilicueta and Nemanja Matic, as well as Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin.