Gossip: Sanchez, Gray, De Gea, Lloris, Courtois

Matt Stead

EVERYTHING’S BIGGER IN ALEXIS
Alexis Sanchez is obviously upset at not earning as much as the invisible Mesut Ozil at Arsenal. As such, debate over his future rages on. And those old links with Juventus are back.

The Daily Mirror dress this up as the Italian giants ‘joining the race’ for the Chilean’s signature, but they’ve been interested in him for bare days, man. And they have ‘made Sanchez’s representatives aware,’ which sounds like some sort of threat.

For those worrying that Juventus don’t have the money to finance such a deal – and there are surely f***ing loads of you – fear not. The Old Lady is ‘confident of gaining enough financial backing’ to rival PSG for the forward, providing he cannot agree terms with Arsenal.

John Cross’ last line reads as follows: ‘There is a growing fear at Arsenal that Sanchez will quit the club with his team mates convinced he has a deal lined up.’ Sure.

 

FIFTY SHADES OF GRAY
‘Klopp watching Leicester winger’ is the headline to The Times’ story, and Reds fans are probably actually relieved that said player is not Riyad Mahrez, but Demarai Gray. According to the ever-reliable Paul Joyce, they will make a move for his services in the summer.

Gray – who has a Premier League winner’s medal, don’t you know? – has been handed more playing opportunities by Claudio Ranieri this season, and has been pretty alright. His wonderful strike in the FA Cup against Derby was his second goal of the season, but he also has four assists to his name.

Joyce claims that the 20-year-old, who moved to the King Power Stadium from Birmingham last January, is on a list of potential winger signings for Liverpool, alongside long-term target Julian Brandt, he of Bayer Leverkusen fame.

 

FINDERS, KEEPERS
We finish with some good news on goalkeepers. They dominated the gossip on Thursday, and the futures of David de Gea, Thibaut Courtois and Hugo Lloris remain a talking point on Friday. Deal with it.

According to the London Evening Standard, the Premier League trio are on a four-strong shortlist of keepers Real want to replace Keylor Navas this season. The fourth, Ederson Morales of Benfica, is by far the most likely to join.

Money, as ever, is the key. Chelsea value Courtois at around £73million, and Manchester United and Tottenham likely have a similar figure in mind for their shot-stoppers. It’s too much, even for Real.

 

 

AND THE REST
Manchester United have opened talks with Monaco over the signing of winger Bernardo Silva…Antoine Griezmann will not move to Manchester United if they miss out on the top four…Pep Guardiola is planning a £200m spending spree at Manchester City this summer with 11 first-team stars set to leave…Antonio Conte insists Diego Costa will stay at Chelsea next season…Douglas Costa has been warned by the Bayern Munich president that his attempts to get a new deal with the club will not work – even if he tries “10 more times”…Everton fancy 24-year-old Nice midfielder Valentin Eysseric, who is a free agent this summer…Arsenal have drawn up a shortlist of managers to replace Arsene Wenger in the summer because they fear he will walk away from the club – Borussia Dortmund’s Thomas Tuchel is top of the list…Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has agreed to leave the club in the summer, according to reports in Italy, with Arsenal set to replace Arsene Wenger with the Italian.