Gossip: Pogba, Mahrez, Koulibaly latest

Sarah Winterburn

POGBA DONE? OR IS THAT A BIT PREVIOUS?
The Sun have gone big with their claim that Manchester United with sign Paul Pogba this weekend and that the Frenchman ‘will sign a five-year deal worth £202k per week when he returns from his US holiday’. They even claim that the price is now £105m. Wow.

The word from Italy is that The Sun have jumped the gun a little on this and that Pogba could yet remain at Juventus.

Goal have even claimed that ‘Juventus are set to offer Paul Pogba a new contract in a bid to stave off interest from Manchester United’. That contract could be worth £115,000 a week to Pogba, who we suspect would still rather join Real Madrid than return to Manchester United with their lack of European football. The saga continues.

 

MAHREZ TO FOLLOW OUT?
We suspect Jamie Vardy may be starting to feel a little bit silly now. N’Golo Kante is on the verge of leaving Premier League champions Leicester for Chelsea and now Riyad Mahrez looks set to follow him out of the door, leaving Vardy as the only survivor of the Gang of Three that won the title for the Foxes. The latest Mahrez update comes from The Guardian, who claim that the Algerian ‘is set to reject Leicester City’s offer of a new contract after the Algeria forward decided he wants to pursue a new challenge away from the Premier League champions’.

Clubs previously linked with Mahrez include Barcelona, Arsenal and PSG. He would certainly be an excellent signing for the Gunners, who were so short of right-side attackers last season that Joel Campbell made the most number of Premier League starts in that position with 11.

 

WHAT’S NEXT FOR CHELSEA?
According to the Daily Telegraph, once N’Golo Kante has signed on the dotted blue line, the next man through the door could be Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly. They say: ‘Chelsea have already made a bid for Napoli central defender Koulibaly, but their pursuit of the Senegal international has been complicated by strong rival interest from Everton that has driven up the price.’

The Blues also want another striker – despite the arrival of Michy Batshuayi – but have been understandably put off by Real Madrid’s ridiculous valuation of Alvaro Morata.

 

AND THE REST
West Ham made former striker Carlos Tevez an offer of £150,000-a-week to return to the club but the 32-year-old will instead sign for Brazilian side Corinthians…Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is considering the future of keeper Joe Hart as the club weighs up a move for PSV Eindhoven’s 25-year-old custodian Jeroen Zoet…Crystal Palace are considering a £20m move for West Brom striker Saido Berahino…Ligue 1 side Marseille are set to sign Aston Villa midfielder Carlos Sanchez…West Brom have offered Leicester City £9m for full-back Jeffrey Schlupp…Norwich are interested in signing Blackburn defender Grant Hanley.