Gossip: Spurs want Man Utd keeper; Real’s big plans

Ian Watson

SPURS EYE UNITED STOPPER
Tottenham are looking to sign a goalkeeper from Manchester United, apparently…

It is reported by The Sun that Mauricio Pochettino fancies bringing Sam Johnstone to White Hart Lane to serve as back-up to Hugo Lloris. Johnstone has impressed during a season-long loan at Aston Villa this term, taking the number of loan spells he has spent away from Old Trafford up to seven.

The 25-year-old is unlikely to pull on a United shirt again, given he is out of contract this summer and way down the Red Devils pecking order. Behind De Gea, Jose Mourinho has Sergio Romero and Joel Periera, who is rated very highly by the manager.

So Johnstone is set to look elsewhere on a permanent basis, which is where Spurs come in. They are in the market for a No.2, with Michel Vorm also preparing to become a free agent this summer. Johnstone has had a taste of being first choice this season so he could face the dilemma of choosing between regular football, or bench duty with Spurs under Pochettino.

 

REAL READY TO SPEND BIG ON RONALDO AND LEWANDOWSKI
It threatens to be a busy summer at the Bernabeu, and Real Madrid could warm up for some intense transfer activity by tying down the biggest superstar they already have.

According to AS, Real are willing to improve Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract before the Portugal star heads off to the World Cup. The attacker, who has scored an astonishing 22 goals in his last 12 matches, has been doing the dance again with Man Utd and PSG in an effort to hurry Real along in their negotiations.

It seems to have worked. The two parties won’t extend their agreement beyond it’s scheduled expiry date of 2021, but Ronaldo is set to land a pay-rise of over 9million euros a year, taking his salary beyond £0million euros a year after tax.

Real will have to save some of their cash, though, if they want to team Ronaldo up with Robert Lewandowski.

Bayern Munich have already indicated that the Poland striker will not be allowed to leave, but Real suspect their Champions League opponents are simply playing hard to get.

Guillem Balague says Real are prepared to fork out ‘a big sum’ to land the centre-forward, which they could fun by offloading Gareth Bale, even if the Wales talisman doesn’t want to leave.

 

AND THE REST
Pep Guardiola will open talks with Man City over a new contract at the end of the season…Paris St-Germain are “suspicious” that Neymar is trying to engineer a move to Real Madrid…Wilfried Zaha wants to stay at Crystal Palace…AC Milan want to sign Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic, who is also a target for CSL clubs.