Man City nearing deal for Gundogan
The summer window will be opening before you know it, and rumours around the world are picking up steam. As always, Transfer Talk has its finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest gossip. See the latest deals here.
TOP STORY: Ilkay OK? City ‘on brink of deal’
Ilkay Gundogan going to Manchester City — it’s a rumour that has run and run, and rumbled and rumbled over recent weeks. And now it could be about to make the transition all the way over to fact, says the Sun.
The paper reports that Borussia Dortmund star Gundogan, whose representatives denied only recently that a deal was in place for him to join City this summer, is on the brink of doing just that for £30 million.
Saturday’s Sun back page:
GalactiKO#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/7pvIF0DKzF– Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) 15 April 2016
It comes soon after reports said Pep Guardiola, who takes over as City manager in the summer, is keen for the club to sign his targets — including Gundogan — by the time the European Championship gets under way in France in June.
Not only that, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf published pictures of City director of football Txiki Begiristain meeting the Germany international midfielder’s uncle and agent Ilhan Gundogan in Amsterdam last month.
Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said after the photos emerged that he was “not convinced” one of his key players would end up staying put.
Now the Sun says City “believe they have finally landed Gundogan for £30 million” after what it claims have been “weeks of discussions.”
Those discussions, it seems, has included a spot of haggling over the price — the report notes that “City only wanted to pay £28 million, with the German club wanting £34 million.”
But if that’s the case those cracks seem to have been smoothed over, and the Sun tells us “an announcement is set to be made at the end of the season.”
Gundogan is under contract at Dortmund until 2017, and the club have been trying to negotiate an extension — but now it seems those efforts might well have been in vain.
It’s Juan to think about
The degree to which Juan Cuadrado is enjoying life on loan at Juventus could make it tough for Chelsea to lure him back to London at the end of the season, warns the Sun.
Cuadrado has been a hit in Turin after having turned out to be anything but during a tough start to his Stamford Bridge career following his signing by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.
The Colombia international winger, who cost £27 million from Fiorentina last February, had been a target for new Blues manager Antonio Conte during his days in charge of Juve.
Cuadrado is thought to be a key component of Conte’s plans for his new era at the Bridge, but the Sun says Juventus “are believed to be keen on striking a cut-price deal for the 27-year-old this summer,” with Cuadrado having described Juve as “family.” So could a family dispute be looming?
Meanwhile, the Sun, citing Tuttomercato, says Chelsea “have made contact with the agent of Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore over a possible move.
Argentina international Pastore has made only 23 appearances for Laurent Blanc’s Ligue 1 champions this season, and the Sun believes he “will be allowed to leave the Parc des Princes” if the correct sort of offer comes in.
The price won’t be right, warns Bilic
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has said he fears the new Premier League TV deal will prevent clubs from making bargain signings — because everyone else will know they’ll soon have even more money than ever.
Bilic, speaking ahead of his side’s weekend visit to a Leicester team boasting bargain signings including star duo Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy, warned: “It’s going to affect the price of the players — make no mistake.”
The Mirror quotes him as saying: “Last year it was like that, and now it’s going to be even more so.
“Definitely the directors or the chairman of the board of clubs in Europe will have one phone for England and the other phone for the rest of the world — and they are all going for the English one.”
Tap-Ins
– Poor old Fulham. As though another tough season of struggle in the Championship wasn’t bad enough, they must now endure what the Mirror calls “a transfer battle” between Arsenal and Liverpool for their 15-year-old attacker Ryan Sessegnon.
Sessegnon, the paper says, “is regarded as one of the best prospects in the country after being compared to a young Gareth Bale” — although it doesn’t tell us just who might have made that comparison — and it reports that Liverpool will rival Arsenal in the race for his signature.
– Leicester were reported to have been close to signing AC Milan forward M’Baye Niang back in those far-off winter window days — and now they’re in for him again, says Sky Italia.
They’re not the only ones: Stoke are also interested in the 21-year-old, who has returned to form after coming back from an ankle injury suffered in a car accident in February. And if a move to the Midlands isn’t tempting enough (he might get the chance to join the Premier League champions, after all), reports in Germany suggest Dortmund are also keen.
– Both Newcastle and Liverpool could have signed Andre Ayew during his days at Marseille — but they opted against and he ended up at Swansea instead, his brother Ibrahim has told Ghana Web.
Ayew moved to Wales on a free transfer when his contract in France expired in the summer. Before then, Ibrahim says, he could have moved for £5 million “but no-one was really willing to pay that.” He adds that “the likes of Newcastle and Liverpool pulled back” from a deal.
