Gossip: Griezmann, Reus, Liverpool linked with trio

Matt Stead

GRIEZMANN NEWS
The only man we will ever trust when it comes to Manchester United transfer updates is Duncan Castles. Handily, he brings us news on Friday morning.

His claim in the Daily Record is that Manchester United will hope Paul Pogba can persuade Antoine Griezmann to join in the summer. The two are close friends from their time together in the national team, of course.

Pogba is claimed to be ‘talking to the boy almost every day to push him to go’, while Castles adds that United see Griezmann as the ‘natural successor to Wayne Rooney’. Bit harsh.

 

JURGEN WILL BE BUSY
James Milner has done a fine job at left-back for Liverpool this season, but he is no long-term option. It turns out that Jurgen Klopp wants an actual left-back to play at left-back, which is fair.

According to the Daily Mail, Riza Durmisi could be that man. The Real Betis defender has a £17million release clause, and the Reds have sent scouts to watch him recently. The 23-year-old only moved to La Liga from Brondby last summer, but has impressed recently.

At the bottom of the Mail’s Liverpool transfer update comes two more lines: They still want Bayer Leverkusen forward Julian Brandt, while Henry Onyekuru has been recommended. And we’ve all heard of him. And if you haven’t, he’s a 19-year-old striker who plays for Belgian club Eupen. Sure.

 

REUS RACE
The news from the Emirates Stadium is that Arsenal are already sourcing replacements for Alexis Sanchez, just in case his contract saga is not resolved.

Almost everyone is reporting it, but it was Italian journalist Emanuele Giulianelli who first claimed that the Gunners ‘will make a move’ for Reus if they lose Sanchez this summer.

The claim is that Arsenal have ‘opened negotiations’ with Borussia Dortmund over a potential deal, and they are willing to break their club-record transfer fee to get Reus. They will bid up to £50.9m, but only if Sanchez finds a new home.

Quite how Giulianelli knows that the German forward would sign a five-year deal worth £6.8m per year is beyond us, considering Arsenal have not even made a bid, never mind got anywhere near to discussing terms with the player himself. But there we go.

 

 

AND THE REST
West Ham have joined the race to sign Fenerbahce full-back Hasan Ali Kaldirim…West Ham’s position over their 29-year-old France midfielder Dimitri Payet is believed to be softening and they might be prepared to accept an improved offer of about £30m from Marseille…Middlesbrough will explore the possibility of signing 21-year-old midfielder Jack Grealish from Aston Villa should forward Gaston Ramirez ,26, leave for Leicester, who have already had an offer of around £12m rejected…Wayne Rooney has been offered wages of £600k-a-week by Shanghai Shenhua to join Carlos Tevez in the Chinese Super League…Sam Allardyce wants to bolster Crystal Palace’s defence with deals for Chris Samba and £10m Olympiakos midfielder Luka Milivojevic…Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is still keen on signing Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin.