Gossip: Utd want £35m Aaron ‘next Lampard’ Ramsey

Matt Stead

RAMBO HUNTED
Let’s get straight into this and start with the batsh*t mental, shall we? Manchester United view Aaron Ramsey as an alternative to Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and will target Arsenal’s £50m-rated midfielder.

This is all according to The Sun, who report that while Mkhitaryan is Jose Mourinho’s first-choice summer target, Borussia Dortmund are not budging on their valuation of the Armenian. They may have to look elsewhere, and their gaze is set directly onto the Emirates.

Ramsey is viewed as a viable alternative to a man who scored 19 goals and assisted 24 last season. Graeme Bryce reports that Mourinho wants the Welshman ‘to be Manchester United’s answer to  Frank Lampard’.

In what Bryce describes as one of Mourinho’s ‘boldest ever transfer moves’, the Portuguese is said to be willing to open the bidding at £35m for Ramsey. That most certainly is bold. And with the 25-year-old ‘growing increasingly frustrated at his  failure to nail down a central midfield role’, it could very well happen. Or not.

 

NO ALLEN, NO PARTY
From one Welshman to a remarkably brilliant other, the Daily Telegraph report that Joe Allen is available for around £10m.

Allen, who has been perhaps Wales’ best player at Euro 2016 thus far, remains ‘in limbo’ with regards to his club future. Matt Law claims that Liverpool ‘are open to offers for the 26-year-old’. He has one year remaining on his Anfield deal, so £10m should do it.

Jurgen Klopp holds the key to Allen’s future, but the manager has not yet informed the midfielder of his plans. ‘Allen had no end-of-season meeting with Klopp and headed into his country’s first major tournament for 58 years unsure of whether he has any future at Anfield when he returns,’ Law writes.

Swansea are leading the chase, but his performances in France could pique the interest of clubs throughout Europe. Barcelona might need a new Xavi…

 

CITY HUNGRY FOR SANE
And we finish with Manchester City, who will follow up a move for Nolito by bidding for Leroy Sane.

This comes from the Daily Mail’s Simon Jones, who claims that Celta Vigo and Spain forward Nolito will join in a £13.8m move after Euro 2016. After that, Pep Guardiola will divert his attention towards the highly-rated Sane.

The 20-year-old, who has yet to feature for Germany this summer, is the subject of much interest throughout Europe, but City will open the bidding at £30m. Schalke, who are aware that Barcelona and Bayern Munich are also tracking their forward, want £40m.

 

AND THE REST
Liverpool are reportedly interested in a move for Atletico Mineiro left-back Douglas Santos after after being priced out of a move for Ben Chilwell…Ryan Giggs is set to leave Manchester United for his first managerial role, ending a 29-year association with the Old Trafford club…Tottenham have agreed a £12m deal for Roma’s 20-year-old Paraguay forward Antonio Sanabria…Liverpool are considering making a move for Sadio Mane, with Southampton valuing their 24-year-old Senegal forward at £25m…Chelsea have opened talks with Real Madrid over Alvaro Morata, and Blues owner Roman Abramovich watched the 23-year-old Spain forward play in Bordeaux on Tuesday…West Ham United are preparing a £15m bid for Juventus and Italy striker Simone Zaza, 24…Arsenal have begun new contract talks with right-back Hector Bellerin, 20…Inter Milan want to sign Manchester City’s 31-year-old Argentina right back Pablo Zabaleta…West Ham’s 17-year-old midfielder Reece Oxford has been offered a £20,000-a-week contract by Bundesliga club Red Bull Leipzig…West Brom are interested in signing 24-year-old winger Andros Townsend from Newcastle and are prepared to sell winger Callum McManaman, 25…Burnley have turned down a £15m bid from Leicester for defender Michael Keane, 23, and would like to sign Stoke’s 30-year-old midfielder Charlie Adam…Watford have offered to double 27-year-old forward Troy Deeney’s wages to fend off interest from Premier League champions Leicester City.