Gossip: Schweini out, Arsenal to spend £75m

Sarah Winterburn

SCHWEINI OUT FIRST
This is hardly groundbreaking stuff but the Daily Mail have gone big with their claim that ‘Bastian Schweinsteiger is expected to become the highest profile casualty of Jose Mourinho’s shake-up at Old Trafford’. He was on our list of five Manchester United players who would not be missed along with Marcos Rojo, another player mentioned by the Mail as being on the Portuguese manager’s unwanted list. The other name they mention is Matteo Darmian, which seems less likely as United do not have another senior right-back.

They also claim that ‘question marks hang over a number of other players – including Juan Mata, Memphis Depay, Adnan Januzaj and Ashley Young – who have been told that they are unlikely to be regular starters’. It is expected that Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial will be the attacking trio behind striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Guillermo Varela has already left on loan for Eintracht Frankfurt while Will Keane, James Wilson and Tyler Blackett are also available for loan spells away from Old Trafford.

 

ARSENAL TO SPEND £75M
The thought of starting the season with Theo Walcott up front is likely to spur Arsene Wenger into action this week, according to the Sunday Mirror. They claim that a ‘Arsenal are lining up a £75million double deal’ (can it be a ‘double deal’ if you are buying from two different clubs?) for Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez and Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette.

They put the price for Mahrez at £35m but if Brad Smith is worth £6m, Mahrez is worth north of that – the £42m mentioned in France on Saturday seems far more realistic. That means £40m for Lacazette, who has scored 48 goals in his last two seasons in Ligue Un.

 

CHELSEA TURN TO DE VRIJ
Chelsea have turned their attention to Lazio defender Stefan de Vrij after failing to complete a deal for Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli. The Dutch international is next on the Blues’ hit-list as their battle to land the big Napoli defender has stalled, reports the Sunday People. Lazio will offload De Vrij, 24, for around £15million – and that presents better value than fellow centre-half Koulibaly, who is also wanted by Everton.

Chelsea, who have been in discussions with Napoli since the end of last season, are growing frustrated as the amount of cash being demanded for Seneral international Koulibaly, 25, has rocketed to over £45m. So De Vrij – who has worked his way back to full fitness following a knee injury – has come into contention and Lazio will not stand in Chelsea’s way should they make a bid for the player.

 

AND THE REST
Everton are weighing up a £12.5million bid for Porto defender Bruno Martins Indi with John Stones set to move to Manchester City…Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri is keen to sign former Tottenham and Manchester City defender Vedran Corluka…Manchester United and Manchester City are keen on 19-year-old Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus…Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin says the north London club is his “home” quashing speculation that he’s off to Manchester City…Everton have agreed a £25m fee with Zenit St Petersburg for Axel Witsel and are waiting for the Belgium international to commit to their contract offer…West Ham have placed an £18m price tag on defender Reece Oxford who is attracting interest from Manchester City and Manchester United…

…Arsene Wenger has launched a staunch defence of Arsenal’s transfer policy and has vowed to spend big if the right chance arises..Everton forward Romelu Lukaku is still hopeful of completing a return to former club Chelsea…West Ham are closing in on a deal for Argentinian striker Jonathan Calleri…Joe Allen is set to hold talks with Stoke City manager Mark Hughes on Sunday as he closes in on a £13m move from Liverpool…Gokhan Inler is heading for the exit at Leicester after being left out of the squad flying to the United States…Swansea are ready to launch a bid to re-sign forward Wilfried Bony from Manchester City…Crystal Palace remain interested in signing striker Christian Benteke despite Liverpool wanting £33m…Marseille winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou is closing on a move to Tottenham…Middlesbrough are interested in signing Lille midfielder Ibrahim Amadou.