What the papers say
Arsenal are set to offer a player plus cash to Leicester in order to sign star midfielder James Maddison, football.london reports. The Gunners are believed to be unwilling to stump up the £60 million (€70 million) asking price for the 24-year-old playmaker, so will structure their approach to including a player swap as well. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah are said to be among Arsenal’s potential trade bait.
Aymeric Laporte has informed Manchester City he would like a move to LaLiga this summer, with Barcelona and Real Madrid eager to sign the Spain defender, 90min reports. The 27-year-old is said to be keen to move after losing his place in City’s starting side to Ruben Dias and John Stones last season. Barca and Real are both on the hunt for a new defender.
The latest development on the Harry Kane transfer saga suggests Manchester City are willing to increase their £120m (€140m) maximum by £10m as they try to convince Tottenham to part with their talismanic striker, The Athletic reports. Spurs, however, have said they will not budge from their £160m assessment of the 27-year-old.
And the latest on the Romelu Lukaku story is that Inter Milan, who initially rejected Chelsea’s £86m (€100m) bid, have now indicated they would reluctantly accept £100m for the striker. Metro reports Inter officials have privately revealed they need to make one more big sale to balance their books. Lukaku is also said to be eager to return to Chelsea, The Sun reports.
Bournemouth’s Dutch forward Arnaut Danjuma could be on his way to Liverpool, according to Spanish outlet Marca. The 24-year-old has already attracted a bid from LaLiga’s Villarreal, and Bournemouth are seeking around £21m (€25m) for him. Liverpool are said to be at the head of a group of several Premier League clubs interested in Danjuma.
Social media round-up
Forgotten Chelsea star set to leave club after just 15 Premier League gameshttps://t.co/ELUta2uluk
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) August 4, 2021
Jesse Lingard set to stay at Man Utd as Declan Rice refuses to copy Harry Kanehttps://t.co/8aAaaDNLdE pic.twitter.com/I3uVOosfwk
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) August 4, 2021
Players to watch
Noa Lang: The 22-year-old Dutch international winger could be off to Leeds, although Sevilla are also interested, according to Spain’s El Desmarque.
Tammy Abraham: The 23-year-old striker could be moving from Chelsea to Aston Villa, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Jens Cajuste: The 21-year-old Sweden midfield could be a signing for Brentford as they prepare to begin life in the Premier League, according to Swedish outlet Sportbladet.
