Gossip: Roma to raid Man Utd and Liverpool for £55m duo

ROMA TO OFFER UNITED SANCHEZ RESPITE
That ruthless cull Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke of in May never materialised, did it? Manchester United got rid of only three first-team players through the summer: Ander Herrera and Antonio Valencia, who were both out of contract, and their top scorer Romelu Lukaku.
The rest of last season’s flops still remain, but it might not be too late to get rid of the biggest failure of all. Solskjaer spoke on Friday of his belief that Alexis Sanchez will probably remain at Old Trafford this season but there is one side who might be willing to take the Chilean, even if only for the season.
The Telegraph reports that Roma have held talks with United over a season-long loan move for Sanchez. That being true, there is probably a queue of team-mates and Manchester United employees ready to give him a lift to Italy.
Of course, there is no way Roma can afford Sanchez’s wages – and why would they if they could? So United would have subsidise a large portion of his £391,000 a week pay packet, which rises to £500,000 a week depending on bonuses. Unless they involve rewarding the forward for putting his boots on the correct feet, then it’s hard to fathom when United might have been liable for the full amount.
LIVERPOOL’S LOVREN OFF ON LOAN
Roma’s scout in the north west has been busy. The Italian side are also said to be lining up a move for Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Roma director Gianluca Petrachi met with Lovren’s agents yesterday to discuss a loan deal with the option to buy at the end of the season. Roma would pay Liverpool €2million (£1.87million, though by the time terms are signed, the pound and the euro will probably have reached parity – still, blue passports…) for the loan period and another £15million at the end of the season should the agreement be made permanent.
Liverpool’s asking price for the defender who joined for £20million five years ago from Southampton is said to be £18.8million, though there is said to be room for negotiation.
PSG LINE UP DYBALA DEAL
In the most predictable line of the week’s gossip, PSG are said to be keen to sign Paulo Dybala from Juventus.
The Argentina attacker was linked with Manchester United and Tottenham recently but neither move materialised. United didn’t think his heart was in it, certainly not enough to pay him what he wanted, and Spurs encountered a similar situation when they negotiated with his agents in recent days.
We were told that Juventus were not willing to sanction a move until they got a replacement in but that doesn’t seem to be stopping them from hawking Dybala around. Apparently, they will sell to anyone except Inter Milan. The most obvious solution is PSG.
Lo and behold, Leonardo is reported by the Daily Mail to have been on the phone to Dybala this week to offer him £11million a season to replace Neymar.
What of Neymar? Well, Despite neither club being able to afford their primary targets summer, we’re told that Real Madrid and Barcelona could enter a bidding war over the Brazilian.
AND THE REST
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are in talks over contract extensions at Arsenal… David de Gea is yet to sign his new contract despite agreeing terms on a six-year deal last month… Arsenal are inviting offers for Shkodran Mustafi and Mohamed Elneny… Chelsea will offer Fikayo Tomori a new contract… Manchester United were trying to sign Athletic Bilbao striker Inaki Williams this week… Wilfried Zaha won’t be allowed to join a European club this month… Glen Johnson’s best mate Saido Berahino has joined Belgian club Zulte Waregem.