Gossip: Dier, Klaassen, Bakayoko, Salah
MAN UNITED PREPARING £40M DIER BID
Now I like Eric Dier. He’s a decent footballer, massiver trier and nice boy, even if he does look like the captain of the rugby 1st XV who stole your girlfriend that time.
But why on earth would Manchester United want to pay £40m for Dier, when they could get any number of young players across Europe for that kind of money? I mean you could sign Youri Tielemans and still have at least £15m left to give to Mino Raiola as a little off-the-cuff summer present.
Anyway, the news from Daily Mirror is that Dier would quite fancy the move to Old Trafford. I’m not bloody surprised, given that I’m not sure he gets into Tottenham’s first-choice midfield, and might not get into their first-choice three-man central defence if they sign someone new this summer.
EVERTON WANT SANDRO AND KLAASSEN
Ooh now here is something a little fresh. We have heard before that Ronald Koeman has his eyes on Malaga striker Sandro, who could be available for as little as £5m due to a clause in his contract, but Davy Klaassen is a new name.
In the Daily Mirror, David Maddock writes that Koeman returned to Amsterdam to watch Klaassen against Lyon in their Europa League semi-final first leg, and is planning a move for a midfielder that will cost £20m. Now 24, Klaassen has 13 senior caps for an underperforming Dutch team.
Unfortunately, Maddock adds that Klaassen will be a replacement for Ross Barkley, so it’s hardly great news for Everton fans.
CHELSEA TO BEAT MANCHESTER CLUBS TO BAKAYOKO
To the Daily Mail sports section now, taking care to shield our eyes away from the papers front pages. In fact, this is an online only story from Kieran Gill, who writes that Chelsea are increasingly confident of signing Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco.
Gill writes that Chelsea want to tie up a deal early in the summer for the 22-year-old, and a prepared to pay £30m to seal that deal. Sounds an awful lot like the efficiency over the N’Golo Kante deal, to us. They’re going to be brilliant again next season, aren’t they?
LIVERPOOL WANT SALAH
To Goal.com now, and the claim that Liverpool are interested in signing Roma’s Mohamed Salah.
In fairness, there is a definite love affair between Liverpool and Salah. They were desperate to sign him in January 2014 before Jose Mourinho and Chelsea persuaded the Egyptian otherwise.
After that move failed, Salah has enjoyed his time in Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma. Still only 24, it would be interesting to see if he succeeded in England at the second time of asking. It would also be a massive risk paying £25m plus for a player who has already failed in the Premier League.
AND THE REST
Antonio Conte is pushing the Chelsea hierarchy to land £65m Real Madrid strike ace Alvaro Morata… Manchester United’s lack of urgency could see Jose Mourinho lose out to Liverpool in the race to sign Burnley defender Michael Keane… Antonio Conte is set to give forgotten Chelsea left-back Abdul Baba Rahman a second chance this summer… Swansea boss Paul Clement will net £750,000 in bonuses if he secures the club’s Premier League status.
