Gossip: Memphis to Lyon, Lacazette to PSG

MEMPHIS LINKED WITH LYON
Now we only came across the rumour at all because it is top of Football Whispers list of hottest transfer rumours on Friday morning. So it must be true. We did some Googling and found a couple of Dutch websites carrying the story. Stick it through Google Translate and this is what emerged:

‘If we are to believe the French readiostation RMC , swaps Memphis Depay Manchester United directly for Olympique Lyon . The Dutchman comes to 25 million euros and signed a contract for four seasons in France. The French radio station reports that the 22 -year-old striker medically inspected by the number two in France.

‘Reportedly Mourinho would not see sitting in Depay and may therefore vertrekken. Vorig year he made the move from PSV to Manchester United , but he did not go beyond seven goals in 45 matches. In Lyon, he is after Emanuel Mammana , Maciej Rybus and Nicolas N’koulou fourth acquisition this summer for the team of coach Bruno Genesio.’

So there you have it: Mourinho would not see sitting in Depay. So he will sell him for £21m to Lyon. Which kind of makes sense if they sell Alexandre Lacazette.

 

ARSENAL TO MISS OUT ON LACAZETTE
This is exactly what we always expected to happen. Arsenal have bid £29.3million for Alexandre Lacazette and will return with £33.7m, but then PSG will come in and offer something close to the £40m wanted by Lyon and the Gunners will still be left with Theo Walcott (or Chuba Akpom) starting against Liverpool on the opening weekend of the season. L’Equipe are the latest to claim that PSG still want a striker and Lacazette is top of that list along with Real Madrid’s Jese Rodriguez.

Yesterday, Arsenal were linked with Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic, and Arsene Wenger gave that idea some credence when he admitted: “At the moment I have not too many attacking options in terms of experienced players…we have options but we will still look outside to find one more.”

 

ARSENAL MUSTAFI NEW DEFENDER
We told you on Thursday that Arsenal need a new centre-half and, according to Sky Germany, that man is Valencia defender Shkodran Mustafi, who was quite good at Euro 2016.

Mustafi – whose footballing education came at Everton – has a release clause of £42.1m but the German version of Jim White understands that Arsenal may be able to sign the German for £25.3m plus a further £8.4m in add-ons. Which sounds like a cracking deal. And rather better than spending the majority of £50m quid on John Stones.

 

AND THE REST
Manchester United and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, 31, could become the first big-name casualty of new manager Jose Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford…Wales striker Hal Robson-Kanu is attracting interest from Spanish giants Atletico Madrid and Sevilla…Colombian striker Marlos Moreno is set to join Manchester City after the 19-year-old’s agent confirmed an £8m move from Atletico Nacional…Real Madrid are planning a move for Paris St-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti after accepting defeat in their pursuit of Paul Pogba…Tottenham are interested in signing Yunus Malli from Mainz, the attacking midfielder has a £7.5m clause in his contract…Manchester City are struggling to offload unwanted stars Yaya Toure, Jesus Navas, Wilfried Bony and Aleksandar Kolarov…West Ham’s 17-year-old defender Reece Oxford, valued at £18m by the Hammers, wants first-team assurances from the club after interest from Manchester United…

…West Ham are close to signing 26-year-old Swansea City forward Andre Ayew for £16m…Everton defender Leighton Baines, 31, is set to sign a new contract with the Toffees…Stoke City’s former England striker Peter Crouch, 35, is the latest forward being linked with a move to Swansea City…Newcastle United have not received a bid for Ayoze Perez, 23, from Barcelona – despite reports of a £15m offer for the Spanish forward…Everton striker Oumar Niasse is set to leave the club after being left out of the pre-season trip to Germany – Niasse only joined the Merseyside club in January for £13.5m…Sunderland have been linked with a move for Benfica’s Argentina striker Eduardo Salvio…West Brom and Burnley will try to sign left-back Charlie Taylor from Leeds United…Liverpool are hoping to bring Lyon’s teenage defender Jordy Gaspar to Anfield…Sunderland striker Jermaine Defoe is likely to miss the start of the season because of a thigh injury.