Gossip: Hart to United; Kroos, Costa, Bacca, Verratti

Ian Watson

HART FANCIES REPLACING DE GEA
Rumours of David de Gea finally being granted his move to Real Madrid are hardly fresh, but there is a new-ish name in the frame to replace the goalkeeper at Manchester United.

According to reports this weekend, Jose Mourinho is considering a move for Joe Hart, with the England keeper’s camp seemingly briefing that the 30-year-old would be well up for crossing the Manchester derby divide.

Marca‘s story on Friday of De Gea’s return to Spain carried the line about Mourinho’s interest in Hart, and by the afternoon, a number of papers including The Independent reported the Man City outcast’s willingness to move to Old Trafford.

Would City be willing to sell to United? Pep Guardiola doesn’t fancy Hart, but would the City boss be willing to sanction a transfer that would give the keeper the perfect stage upon which to prove him wrong? Torino were reportedly quoted £15million, but any enquiry from United would surely add another £10m to that figure.

Sir Alex Ferguson said turning down the chance to sign Hart for £100,000 was one of his greatest errors in the transfer market, and this is the man who signed Bebe and Dong Fangzou. But that was before Hart started dropping b*llocks quite so regularly, with at least five errors that have led to goals against Torino this term.

 

KROOS SNUBS UNITED AGAIN
United are said to have been offered by Real another three names to part-fund a deal for De Gea.

Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are the latest to be dangled in front of Mourinho, according to Don Balon, though Marca say Kroos has already turned his nose up at another chance to move to Old Trafford.

How long before Madrid resort to offering Julian Faubert and the spirit of Alfredo Di Stefano in part-ex? Just cough up the cash, lads…

 

COSTA PICTURED IN MENDES MEETING 
The Sun carry an exclusive that Diego Costa ate dinner. Well, there’s a little bit more to it than that…

The Chelsea striker was pictured feasting in Knightsbridge with Jorge Mendes and around eight other people including ‘four Asian men’. We know this because they obviously weren’t concerned with secrecy, which was lucky for one snidey diner with a camera phone at a nearby table. The Sun was told:

“I would say there were about 10 people at the table, four Asian men on one side and then Jorge Mendes on the other with his people and then Diego at the end.

“They were all drinking large magnum bottles of red wine, including Diego, and were eating lobster pasta.

“There were lots of toasts being made and then they had pictures with Diego.”

What have we learned here? Well, not much. Costa has long been linked with a move to China and it would surprise no one should it finally happen this summer.

More of a concern for Chelsea fans could be Antonio Conte’s refusal to guarantee that Eden Hazard will be at Stamford Bridge next season.

 

AND THE REST
Arsenal legend Robert Pires has sensationally claimed the Gunners will sign Monaco whizz-kid Kylian Mbappe…Arsene Wenger’s side are also set to renew their interest in AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca….AC Milan will sell Bacca this summer in order to facilitate a move for Edin Dzeko…Chelsea and Everton are both prepared to make a statement of intent this summer by targeting Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly…Manchester United are increasingly confident of sealing a £50m deal for PSG defender Marquinhos and will hold fresh talks with Benfica over a £40m move for Victor Lindelof…United are set to table a £17m bid for Benfica midfielder Anderson Talisca, who is currently on loan with Besiktas…Yaya Toure has revealed he tried to get Paul Pogba to sign for Manchester City instead of United…

Manchester United are ready to spend a whopping £170m on a completely new attack this summer…Liverpool midfielder Kevin Stewart is a £10m transfer target for newly-promoted Brighton…Carlos Carvalhal is facing the sack if Sheffield Wednesday fail to win promotion to the Premier League this season…Chelsea have had a £17m bid for the Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio rejected and plan to increase their offer…David Moyes has indicated he may leave Sunderland at the end of the season…Barcelona have held talks over a deal to sign PSG midfielder Marco Verratti…Cesc Fabregas has emerged as a target for AC Milan, with the Italian giants set to “give everything” to sign the 29-year-old Chelsea midfielder.