Gossip: Mbappe, Thiago, Martial, Pogba…

Daniel Storey

MANCHESTER CITY WANT MBAPPE AND THIAGO
Hoo boy. We shall assume that the news comes from the mouth and mind of Guillem Balague, but Sky Sports don’t actually put his name to the story. They claim to know Manchester City’s top two targets for the summer.

The first is Kylian Mbappe, which would seem highly fanciful given Paris Saint-Germain’s concerns over Neymar’s future and the fact that Mbappe will only officially complete a permanent deal worth £142m in June.

The second is Thiago Alcantara, who would seem a much more sensible shout having played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Fernandinho is getting on a bit, Ilkay Gundogan could be upgraded and Yaya Toure will leave.

 

BARCELONA EYEING MARTIAL
It really would be quite something if Anthony Martial left Manchester United having failed to hold down a regular place under Jose Mourinho and then tore it up at another elite club. This is not like Memphis Depay, with whom it just wasn’t working. Martial surely deserves a little more love?

The Daily Mail reckon that Barcelona could well make a £60m move for the 22-year-old, who is annoyed at the lack of game time since the arrival of Alexis Sanchez. You can’t really blame him.

With Martial’s contract expiring next summer and a new deal still not signed, Manchester United could look to cash in and reinvest the money elsewhere in the squad.

 

AND WHERE DOES POGBA END UP?
Another expensive signing who might be sacrificed by Manchester United this summer is Paul Pogba. Having had the idea flouted in the media over the last few days, it appears that United are prepared to back Mourinho in allowing their most expensive ever player to leave, although it obviously won’t be on the cheap.

Express Sport (yes, with the usual caveat) claim that Real Madrid are not particularly fussed about Pogba because a) his form hasn’t been brilliant, b) his wage demands are likely to be high and c) Florentino Perez has never bought a Mino Raiola client before.

We did enjoy this paragraph, not least because it sounds like it has been translated from a foreign language:

‘Raiola is somebody Real perceive to be everything wrong with football. The demands he makes, on behalf of himself and his client, are seen to teeter on madness. Real have refused to dance to his tune before.’

 

AND THE REST
Leicester are holding out for £50m to sell Harry Maguire…Liverpool still want Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski…Chelsea are eyeing a move for Nice midfielder Jean-Michael Seri…Manchester City, Tottenham and Arsenal all want Norwich’s James Maddison this summer.