Gossip: Four clubs in for Man Utd flop, PSG’s swap suggestion

Ian Watson

FOUR CLUBS IN FOR MAN UTD FLOP
Alexis Sanchez is either refusing to leave Manchester United, or he is desperate to return to Italy, depending on your choice of tabloid.

The Sun suggests the former. Despite the threat of being banished to the reserves should he still be kicking his heels around Carrington come next month, Sanchez is apparently stalling on an offer to spend the season at Roma, despite gentle encouragement from Mason Greenwood to sling his hook.

It’s a different story in the Daily Mail. According to them, Sanchez is merely weighing up his options, with Roma just one of four Italian clubs sniffing around the former Arsenal and Barcelona star. The other clubs interested in relieving United of their highest-paid player for the season: AC Milan, Juventus and Napoli. Do they not watch Premier League football in Italy?

Of course, no Italian club is rich enough or  daft enough to pay Sanchez’s £500,000-a-week wages in full. If any of the aforementioned quartet of clubs manages to tease him back to Serie A, they will cough up only a portion of his wages, with United subsidising the rest.

 

REAL REJECT PSG SWAP SUGGESTION
Speaking of pea-hearted mega-earners, it seems the race for Neymar is hotting up. The big two in Spain are duelling for the PSG star, with most of this morning’s whispers centring around Real and their attempts to cobble together a part-exchange deal.

AS reports that PSG have asked for Brazilian teenager Vinicius Junior as part of the transaction but Real immediately rejected the idea. The Ligue 1 champions are also interested in taking Luka Modric and Casemiro as part of a player-plus-cash agreement, and it is presumed that Zinedine Zidane would be more willing to sanction the duo’s departures.

Like Real, Barca cannot afford to buy Neymar but that isn’t stopping them from trying. According to Guillem Balague, the Catalans have offered Philippe Coutinho and £92.4million to re-sign the 27-year-old, but PSG are playing hardball.

That doesn’t mean Coutinho won’t end up in Paris. Goal suggests that the former Liverpool star could move to PSG even if Barca can’t tempt them into a swap deal. Until Neymar’s situation is resolved, he will continue to train alone, according to Mundo Deportivo.

 

BALOTELLI SUITOR AGREES TO TAKE HIS BROTHER TOO 
Staying on the theme of problem strikers, Mario Balotelli is yet to decide where he’ll be playing this season.

The former Inter, Man City, Liverpool, AC Milan, Nice and Marseille forward is a free agent and taking his sweet time to decide upon his next victim. The Guardian suggests it may be Brescia, despite Flamengo’s efforts to persuade the Italian to move to Brazil.

So desperate are Flamengo to recruit Balotelli, they have agreed to sign his brother too. Mario apparently suggested that Enock should follow him to Brazil and play for one of Flamengo’s subsidiary teams, a request that the club has agreed to. But even that might not be enough to seal a deal.

 

AND THE REST
Danny Rose is not likely to leave Tottenham until January at the earliest… Spurs don’t expect to re-sign Fernando Llorente… Nor do they remain interested in Juventus star Paulo Dybala… Man Utd defender Victor Lindelof is set for a new deal and a bumper pay-rise… Borussia Dortmund rejected an offer from a major European club for Jadon Sancho, who was an early target for United… Besiktas are keen on Aston Villa forward Jonathan Kodjia… Trabzonspor are set to pay Daniel Sturridge £2.8m a year… Monaco are keen to sign Juventus duo Blaise Matuidi and Daniele Rugani.