Manchester united host Manchester in an epic EFL 4th round match

Jose Mourinho's United will host City at Old Trafford
for the second time this season.
Pep Guardiola's side won the first encounter of the
campaign 2-1 earier this month and Mourinho's
men will be desperate for revenge.
Other eye-catching ties include West Ham hosting
Chelsea at the London Stadium, and Tottenham
travelling to last year's runners-up Liverpool.
Arsenal host Jaap Stam's Reading at the Emirates,
while there is an all-Premier League tie at St
Mary's with Sunderland off to Southampton.
The games will be played in the week commencing
October 24.

THE DRAW IN FULL

West Ham v Chelsea
Manchester United v Manchester City
Arsenal v Reading
Liverpool v Tottenham
Bristol City v Hull
Leeds v Norwich
Newcastle v Preston
Southampton v Sunderland

Not just Mustafi and Perez: Arsenal to announce another signing before deadline day

Paraguayan TV network Telefuturo
journalist Ruben Dario Da Rosa says
midfielder Miguel Almirion is very close
to joining Arsenal before deadline day.

Tutto Mercato Web also confirmed that the
Gunners are interested in the 22-year-old as
they revealed on Monday that they have opened
talks with Club Atletico Lanus to secure the
services of the youngster.
Da Rosa has also revealed on Twitter that the
North Londoners are ready to pay €9.4million for
the player.
If the transfer goes through, he would become
the third player to move to the Emirates in the
last two days of the summer transfer window.
Striker Lucas Perez was officially unveiled this
afternoon with the unveiling of defender Shkodran
Mustafi to follow.

Chelsea tells Fabregas to find new club

Cesc Fabregas has been told by Chelsea that he is
free to find a new club, according to a report.
The latest report from the Sun claims that the 29-
year-old midfielder has been “brutally” informed
by manager Antonio Conte that he has no future at
Stamford Bridge.
It is believed that Conte held talks with Fabregas to
let him know that “his days at Stamford Bridge are
numbered”.
The former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder was a
noticeable absentee in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over
Burnley on Saturday, with reports in Spain claiming
Conte will try and force him out in the final few
days of this summer’s transfer window.
Fabregas has made just one substitute
appearance in 12 minutes this season for the west
Londoners, who have won all three of their Premier
League games.
He has slipped down the pecking order following
the £30million signing of N’Golo Kante, who has
established himself in central midfield alongside
Nemanja Matic.
Juventus are among the clubs who have been
linked with a move for Fabregas following the
landmark sale of Paul Pogba this summer.
Juventus have already brought in Miralem Pjanic
from Serie A title rivals Roma this summer, but are
still looking to add one or two quality additions in
the middle of the park.
Fabregas has spent the last two years at Chelsea
after a £30million move from Barcelona and was a
key figure in the team’s title success in 2014-15.
Before his second spell of three years at boyhood
club Barca, the 29-year-old spent eight seasons at
Arsenal and captained the team for three years
before a £30million transfer to Camp Nou in 2011.
The playmaker is under contract at Chelsea until
the summer of 2019.

Wenger to have selection problem...Arsenal fan say

Now, since we are mostly done with our
transfer business, it’s time to start
speculating about what will be our
strongest possible lineup for the next
season.
I am sure even Arsene Wenger is not
sure about his strongest XI at the
moment, and it is going change on a
number of occasions during the season.
But, since it’s international break upon us
and we don’t have anything better to do
for next two weeks, so we are going to
speculate about the strongest possible
lineup for us.
Now, keep in mind that the following line-
up doesn’t take injuries into account.

Goalkeeper:

Well, this one takes no guessing. Petr
Cech is our number one goalkeeper and
until and unless he turns into Manuel
Almunia overnight, he is going to keep his
position for foreseeable future.

Defence:

Our full-back spots are also pretty much
nailed down at the moment. Hector
Bellerin is our undisputed number one
right-back by a long distance while
Nacho Monreal is currently comfortably
ahead of Kieran Gibbs in the pecking
order.
Now, there is a decision to be made by
Wenger when it comes to centre-back
partnership.
Laurent Koscielny is one of the first
names on the team-sheet, but who will
partner him when all of our defensive
players are fit? I think by the time Gabriel
and Per Mertesacker will return to
fitness, new signing Shkodran Mustafi
would have cemented his position in the
starting eleven.

Midfield:

Central Midfield is going to be the
trickiest area for us this season as we
have a huge pool of players to pick from
for these positions.
Granit Xhaka has already displayed what
he can offer us in the position. He was
quite impressive for us in the game
against Watford, and I think he will be a
regular starter for this season. But who
will partner him in midfield?
We have loads of options in Aaron
Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla,
Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny.
I suspect Wenger will try to recreate
Ramsey-Arteta pivot of the 2013-14
season by playing Xhaka and Ramsey
together this season.
Playing alongside Arteta brought out the
best in Ramsey that season, and I think
that Wenger believes Xhaka can have the
same impact on the Welshman this
season.
It’s not even worth discussing the
number ten position as we one of the best
players in the world for that position. I
intend to finish this article without naming
the best player in our team.

Attack:

For now, Olivier Giroud is the best option
to lead our attacking lines. Alexis
Sanchez will return to his position on the
left once the Frenchman makes his
return to the squad.
It’s a sad state of affairs that I am going
to name Theo Walcott for the position on
the right despite his indifferent form for
us last season. It’s really frustrating to
see that despite Walcott’s disastrous
form, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t
been able to take advantage of the
situation and make the position his own.
It has been sort of competition between
Chamberlain and Walcott to see who can
be more inconsistent with their
performances and at the moment it
seems that Chamberlain is winning the
competition.

Lucas Perez is the one to look out for this
season. I think he will get to play in the
striker position as well as on the wings
for us.
I won’t be surprised if he manages to
push either of Giroud or Walcott out of the
starting eleven by December.
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Arsenal finally agree deal to sign Spanish attacker

Remarkably, and in complete and utter Gunners
fashion the man we’ll be welcoming to the Emirates
is someone you might not have heard of until 24
hours ago.
But in the quickest turnaround of a transfer we’ve
seen for a while, Lucas Perez will join the North
London side after Arsene Wenger agreed a
£17.1million deal for the 27-year-old.
The news has been confirmed by the oracle of
Arsenal news, David Ornstein, who went on to state
a £35million deal for Shkodran Mustafi is also
entering its final stages.


Arsenal have beaten Everton to signing of Deportivo
La Coruna striker Lucas Perez. Deal agreed, #AFC
meeting €20m release clause, 17.1m #EFC

— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) August 25,
2016

As well as the above, Deportivo have recently
announced that their star striker has been removed
from their squad list for the upcoming tie with Real
Betis.
Perez, who goes by the name of Lucas, will become
Arsenal’s new number nine and is expected to be
officially announced at some stage on Friday ahead
of Arsenal’s trip to Watford this weekend.
It’s a deal that many will see as a panic buy, but
Wenger had to act quickly in this case after
hijacking the deal from fellow Premier League side,
Everton.
Ronald Koeman’s side looked to have the transfer in
concrete until talks stalled, leaving the path open for
Wenger to convince the Spanish international to
switch to North London instead.
Embed from Getty Images
Champions League football was too good an offer
for Perez to turn down, and after contact was made
the striker made up his mind within a heartbeat.
Perez managed to bag 17 goals in La Liga last
season, whilst picking up 8 assists along the way to
leave him as one positive from an underwhelming
season with Deportivo, who finished 15th.
His ability to take players on is exactly what sets
him aside from Giroud, who will welcome
competition in the forward role ahead of a season
full of pressure.
Perez was also being tracked by some European
heavyweights, with Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and
Leicester City all keeping tabs on the hitman.
Perez is expected to complete a medical on Friday
morning, with the deal set to be formally announced
by Arsenal later on in the day.

Leicester vs Arsenal, things to know

Leicester are on a 19-game winless run
against Arsenal in the Premier League
(D6 L13) and lost both games last
season.


Arsenal have scored four Premier
League hat-tricks against Leicester
(Dennis Bergkamp, Nicolas Anelka,
Thierry Henry and Alexis Sanchez), the
joint-most against one opponent in
Premier League history (Manchester
United vs Newcastle also on four).


Arsenal haven’t lost their opening two
league games since the inaugural
Premier League season in 1992/93.
The last time the reigning top flight
champions lost their first two league
games was in 1981-82 (Aston Villa).


Claudio Ranieri will be looking for his
100th Premier League win as a manager
in this game.

Arsenal to sign world cup star in hours

According to a report from Sport Witness
citing source from Spanish newspaper
Marca, claim Arsenal will complete their
5th summer signing “in the coming hours”.
The Gunners have been heavily linked with
a move for Valencia Shkodran Mustafi with
his agent calming he has agreed a five-year
contract with Arsenal and all that was left
was a fee to be agreed between Arsenal and
Valencia.
However, Valencia management have
constantly disclaim report suggesting they
are in talks with any club for Mustafi
transfer but Marca claim Roberto Soriano, a
Villarreal midfielder and friend of Mustafi.
the German pair are friends and played
together at Sampdoria.
“I was hoping Mustafi would help me adapt
to life in Spain.” The midfielder told Marca.
“But now he goes.”
The Spanish news outlet Marca stated that
a fee of around €33 million would be enough
to persuade Valencia into doing business.
Per Mertesacker and Gabriel Paulista are
currently out injured, Per will be ruled out of
action until January and while Gabriel will be
out till October, according to reports.
There is no doubt Arsenal need to sign a
defender this summer as new boy Rob
Holding showed he is inexperienced when
we played Liverpool on Sunday.

Mourinho has had another dig at Wenger and Klopp after signing Pogba

José Mourinho has had another dig at Arsène
Wenger and Jürgen Klopp, suggesting they are
not at clubs big enough to make a signing like
Manchester United’s world-record £89m
capture of Paul Pogba .
Last Friday the United manager branded his
counterparts from Arsenal and Liverpool “not
ethical” after they questioned the fee his club
were reportedly set to spend on bringing Pogba
back from Juventus.
And following United’s announcement in the
early hours of Tuesday morning that the Pogba
deal was officially done, Mourinho told MUTV:
“I know the discussion, I understand that,
sometimes in football, things happen and the
club breaks the record, but this is only possible
at clubs like Man United.

“When I heard some of the comments and
heard some of the managers criticising that, I
don’t think they ever have this problem
because, to have this problem, you need to be
at one of the top clubs in the world. So at Man
United it can happen.”
While Mourinho feels the “unbelievable”
Pogba “has everything”, he has stressed it may
take time before the 23-year-old France
international is fully firing in the United side
and has vowed to protect him if needed.
“He’s a very young player, an unbelievable
midfield player with such physicality but, at the
same time, such agility, coordination, skill. He
has everything,” he said. “What he has to learn
now is how to play with us because I always
say that in football you can be a super player,
like he is, but a team is a team and you need to
learn how to play in the team, and the team
needs to learn how to play with you. We need
to get the best out of him and this will be a
process. So if he needs protection, I am here to
protect.
“I know some people think that he arrives here
now and, the first time he touches the ball, he
scores, but I’m here to protect him and give
him the best conditions to be what we think he
is going to be, which is a football player for
Man United, a reference for this club. I’m so
happy.

"He doesn't look like a star. He
looks like a kid who is back to his
old school"
José Mourinh

Four years after leaving the club for Juve,
Pogba has returned to United as one of the
biggest stars in the game. Asked if the player
seemed happy to be back in Manchester,
Mourinho replied: “I can feel that when I speak
with him for the first time. I’m feeling now
when I see him at the training ground with
people he knows since he was a kid. He doesn’t
look like a star. He looks like a kid who is back
to his old school and is finding people that he
cares about and people that love him a lot.
“So I believe that, after a couple of days, he will
feel like he never left the club. So I think at
adaptation level, he’s not a new player – he’s
just a kid back home again.”
Mourinho – who has also signed Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitarayan and Eric
Bailly following his appointment in May –
added that he is happy with his squad. “It’s the
first time I’ve worked with such a number of
players because I’m used to working with 20
plus the keepers, and we have in the squad 23
plus the keepers. So we had to make decisions
and let some players go on loan, and try to sell
others,” he said.
“This group of 23 is a great group and I think in
this moment – and I told them this – there is a
little bit of frustration for the ones that I have
not selected. They work hard to be in the
match and they aren’t, and this is going to
happen in the next two or three weeks because
we have just one Premier League match.
“But, in September, the Capital One Cup starts,
the Europa League starts, we start playing three
matches a week and then everybody is
involved and the squad is good. The empathy
between the guys is really good too, so I’m
happy with the squad.”

Arsenal to sign £71m rated star

The Gunners are reportedly favourites to land the
Colombian since Riyad Mahrez ‘snubbed’ us (lol)
and our interest in Julian Draxler appears to be
short-lived… or non-existent right now.
Firstly, there’s isn’t any proof that we’re interested
in Rodriguez or his teammate Isco , who the media
are also linking us with since the La Liga giants
seem eager to get rid of both.
Secondly, we don’t even know if a £71m bid was
submitted full-stop, let alone by us. It’s pure
speculation and I highly doubt that we’d bid that
much right off the bat considering how much we’re
said to dithering over £40m for Alexandre
Lacazette.

Are Arsenal actually favourites to
sign Rodriguez?

No.

He’s 16/1 to sign for Arsenal. In fact, he’s more
likely to go to PSG (11/10), Manchester United
(3/1), Chelsea (12/1) or Manchester City (12/1)
according to the bookies. So I’m not sure what
certain media outlets are trying to say but Arsenal
are definitely not favourites to sign him.

Arsenal sign world cup best player

Arsenal have completed the signing of 18-year-old
attacking midfielder Kelechi Nwakali from the
Diamond Football Academy in Nigeria.
The Nigeria youth international captained his
country to victory in the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in
Chile last year, where he won the Player of the
Tournament award.
Kelechi, who joins arsenal as a young professional, will
look to gain experience with a loan move in the
coming months.

Arsenal finally sign attacking midfield target

The Diamond Academy prospect was first linked
with a move to Arsenal in January, and his long-
awaited move to the Emirates is expected to go
through this week.
The 18-year-old and his agent have arrived in
London to complete the deal.
But it now appears the Gunners have beaten United
to the signing of the Nigeria Under-20 international.
AllNigeriaSoccer claim talks took place between
ex-United coach Phil Brogan and Nwakali's club
over a move for the teenager.
“Manchester United were interested in signing
Kelechi Nwakali before Arsenal," a source
told AllNigeriaSoccer .
“Their former academy coach Phil Brogan was in
Owerri to scout him and was impressed after
watching him in a game.
“Brogan and a Nigerian agent started talks with
Kelechi’s club and family only to discover that they
had signed a representation agreement with another
agent so the deal collapsed.”
Nwakali came to prominence after helping Nigeria
win last year's FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Chile,
where he was named player of the tournament.

Man City spending hit 100M pounds

Manchester City have taken their summer
spending past the £100million mark by
capturing Brazilian teenage sensation Gabriel
Jesus.
The 19-year-old forward, who has been
compared to Barcelona striker Neymar, has cost
City a reported £27million with new manager
Pep Guardiola making him his fifth major
signing.
Jesus, who is currently with the Brazil squad at
the Rio Olympics, joins City on a five-year deal
but will be loaned back to Palmeiras until
January.
City reportedly beat off competition from
Barcelona to sign a player who has been on the
radar of top European clubs since he scored 54
goals in 48 games in his debut season in
Palmeiras' youth set-up.
Jesus made his senior bow just before his 18th
birthday and was part of the Brazil Under-20
side which reached the final of the FIFA U20
World Cup in 2015.
Sao Paulo-born Jesus was named in Brazil's 40-
man provisional Copa America squad this
summer before being selected for his country's
Olympic bid on home soil.
"We are delighted that Gabriel has chosen to
join us," City director of football Txiki
Begiristain said in a club statement.
"He is one of the most exciting young prospects
in world football and plays the game in a
spectacular way.
"We look forward to him making a big impact at
Manchester City in January."
For his part, Jesus - who can play anywhere
across the front three and was voted the
Brazilian top-flight's 'best newcomer' last term -
said he was excited to be coming to England and
working with former Barcelona and Bayern
Munich boss Guardiola.
"Manchester City is one of the best clubs in the
world so I'm really pleased to sign," said Jesus.
"We have many great talents in the team and a
fantastic manager in Pep Guardiola that I can
learn so much from.
"I'm looking forward to showing the City fans
what I can do and I think we'll have a great
future together!"
The signing of Jesus came a day after City
completed a £37million deal for Germany
winger Leroy Sane from Schalke, currently the
biggest Premier League transfer in the summer
window.
Guardiola's has now spent around £103million
with Nolito, Ilkay Gundogan and Oleksandr
Zinchenko also brought in this summer.
And there could still be more to follow, with
Everton's John Stones and Marlos Moreno of
Colombian side Atletico Nacional continuing to
be heavily linked with the Etihad Stadium
outfit.
Meanwhile, midfielder Gundogan - signed from
Borussia Dortmund and working his way back
from a knee injury - has set his sights on making
his City debut in the derby clash with
Manchester United at Old Trafford on
September 10.
"I'm really looking forward to training normally
with the guys and I can't wait to get going
properly - but I just have to be patient for a
little while longer," Gundogan told City's official
website.
"I'm working hard on my rehab (and)
everything is going well so I hope it will be end
of August or the beginning of September - of
course, it all depends on how things develop
over the next few days and weeks.
"Maybe just after the World Cup qualifiers and
perhaps the Manchester derby - that would be
very nice."

Griezmann want to join Arsenal

Euro 2016 star striker Antoine Griezmann has
been open to a move to Arsenal this summer,
according to a reliable journalist.
Gazzetta Dello Sport journalist and transfer
expert Emanuele Giulianelli revealed on his
personal Twitter account that Manchester United
and Paris Saint-Germain were chasing the Atletico
Madrid star, but he wasn’t keen on a move to
either club.
Griezmann was also wanted by Man Utd (as
I wrote in June) and PSG. Player not keen
on either team.
@EmaGiulianelli
However, Giulianelli claimed that Griezmann was
open to a sensational switch to Emirates Stadium,
although a move is now unlikely due to the cost of
the deal.
Griezmann instead was open to Arsenal
transfer but looks unlikely now due to the
money involved with the transfer fee. #AFC

@EmaGiulianelli
These claims come after Giulianelli also reported
on football website Tribal Football that Arsene
Wenger is maintaining his interest in the
Frenchman.
He reported that there has been extensive contact
between Arsenal and Atletico this summer, and
that the Arsenal manager will try one last time for
Griezmann.
It is claimed that Arsenal are willing to break the
club’s £38.2million Mesut Ozil transfer fee record
for the Euro 2016 star, but Atletico do not want to
sell their star man for anything less than his
£84million buy-out clause.
The 25-year-old striker signed a new deal with the
La Liga club this summer taking him up to 2021
after his brilliant form last season in which he
scored 32 goals in 54 appearances in all
competitions.
He helped Atletico reach the Champions League
final and he also helped his country to reach this
summer’s European Championships final with an
impressive six goals in seven appearances.
It is claimed that the Gunners will go back for
Alexandre Lacazette this week and Arsene Wenger
is keen to bring a striker into the club after missing
out on Gonzalo Higuain and Jamie Vardy already.
In other Arsenal transfer news, Valencia have
rejected an opening bid of £15.2million from the
Gunners for defender Shkodran Mustafi .

Arsenal to sign free scoring attacker

After losing failing to sign the likes of Jamie Vardy
and Gonzalo Higuain, Arsenal have been chasing
the signature of French striker Alexandre Lacazette.
Olympique Lyon have already rejected
Arsenal’s offer of around 29 million pounds and the
Gunners are now looking to make a second and
final bid of 33.7 million pounds to hire the services
of the Les Bleus forward.
On the other hand, reports in the media suggest that
the Ligue 1 side have offered a new contract to the
25-year-old striker but he wants to leave.
According to Telegraph, the French club want to
seal a new deal with Lacazette however he wants
to agree a deal to join Arsenal instead.
In the past two seasons, Alexandre has featured in
84 games for Lyon and scored no fewer than 54
goals. In the 2014-15 campaign, Lacazette scored
27 league goals and won the Golden Boot award.
As per the provided Telegraph link, Arsenal will
have to spend around 42.2 million pounds ($56
million) if they are to have any hope of finally
signing the quality goalscorer.

JUVENTUS REJECT MAN UTD'S 120M EUROS FOR POGBA

The transfer which seemed liked a certainty 24
hours earlier has been thrown in doubt after
reports in Italy claim that Juventus have rejected a
world record €120m bid from Manchester United
for their star midfielder Paul Pogba.
Reports from Football Italia claim that Juventus
want over €130m if they are to allow Pogba to join
his former club this summer. The news was also
confirmed by the renowned journalist Gianluca Di
Marzio who claims Juventus are willing to hold out
for United’s last offer before deciding on Pogba’s
future.
There are two points to consider here as to why
Juventus are playing the hardball game with
Manchester United. A) Mino Raiola’s €20m agent
fee is yet to be settled which has allowed them
time to stretch the negotiations and B) Real Madrid
are not quite out of this transfer puzzle either.
According to Marca, after losing out on Andre
Gomes, who went to Barcelona, Real are willing to
match United’s offer for Pogba and could even
outbid them to sign the French midfielder.
It has allowed Juve to demand more from United in
hope of getting the best price for their midfield
asset. The general feeling in Italy is that Juventus
do not need to sell Pogba either to cover for the
spending they have done this summer.
They may be close to signing Gonzalo Higuain for
€94m but they will pay Napoli over the course of
two summers (€45m + €45m). Add to that, Serie A
Champions are certain to cash-in on the likes
of Mario Lemina, Simone Zaza, Roberto Pereyra
and even Leonardo Bonucci in coming weeks.
This could mean a huge disappointment for
Manchester United who looked certain to sign
Pogba and wrap up their summer of transfer
activities. Jose Mourinho has often claimed that
his board are trying to sign FOUR specialist players
this summer with three already arriving at the club.
Pogba is seen as that fourth and final piece of
Mourinho’s jigsaw this summer but United are also
linked with the likes of Blaise Matuidi and James
Rodriguez.
After the recent snub from Juventus, United may
want to switch their targets and look to match
value with money, by going for a player who is
more in the region of €25-35m and not someone
who attracts a €120m worth of attention like Pogba
has brought to the club in recent weeks.
We are still not certain as to which direction this
transfer saga will take its next turn but as of now,
Manchester United are in a slightly favorable
position as they have indeed made an official bid
unlike Real Madrid, who are still contemplating it.

Arsene Wenger promise Arsenal fans he will sign big name player

The Gunners boss has brought in Granit Xhaka
as the highest-profile signing so far, but he is
not ruling out other lucrative moves should the
right deal arise
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stressed
that he is ready to spend big if the right
candidate becomes available.
The Emirates side secured the services of
Granit Xhaka before Euro 2016 to get their
transfer business underway and have since
brought in promising youngsters Takumo Asano
and Rob Holding to further add to their ranks.
Wenger has received his fair share of criticism
for his failure to bring in a high-profile centre-
back and striker, though, as their Premier
League rivals have spent big.
Nevertheless, the Arsenal boss has made it
clear the Gunners are not done on the transfer
market themselves just yet either.
"We are very active. If we find the right
candidates then we will spend the big money,"
Wenger told the club's official website after the
1-1 friendly draw with Lens.
"We have already spent big. Overall we have
made a big investment already but we are
active.
"I wouldn't like to come out on names because
if you don't get them afterwards, people ask
why. We are active, very active every day and
it's not over. Today we are on July 22 and the
transfer market finishes on August 31. You
know that a lot happens in the last week, so it's
a long time to go, but we are active and we are
working.
"Until now, nobody has spent more on a
transfer than we have in this country. Even if
[Paul] Pogba might fly from Italy to England
today, I don't know..."

Diego Coata may leave Chelsea

What must Diego Costa think? Chelsea
are fully within their rights to tell
Atlético Madrid to do one with their
approaches, but now that story appears to
have reached a dead end, the cantankerous 27-
year-old Spain striker is finding out that
Antonio Conte has an eye on several other
attacking options.
First up, Romelu Lukaku is a target – but
would the Belgian really want to come back to
Stamford Bridge, and face a battle for a starting
position when he is the undisputed first choice
at Everton? That may just be a plan B if
Chelsea’s move for Álvaro Morata fails to
come up trumps.
Morata has only rejoined Real Madrid after
they activated his buy-back clause at Juventus,
but Chelsea have already made two bids and
may go back for a third. Let’s not forget he
was chosen in Spain’s Euro 2016 squad instead
of Costa. That’s before mentioning Michy
Batshuayi’s solid debut in Chelsea’s friendly
win over Wolfsberger last night.
Conte is in no mood to sell Andreas
Christensen to Borussia Mönchengladbach,
though. The 20-year-old is halfway through a
two season loan at the Bundesliga club, who
have been sufficiently impressed to offer
almost £15m. That’s not enough in Chelsea’s
books.
After a 1-0 humbling against former club
Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola has decided he
needs to bring craft to his Manchester City
midfield and will table a bid for Real Madrid’s
Toni Kroos. Reunification is in fashion.
Guardiola is also reeling from the news that his
first game will not be against The Big Sam , with
Sunderland in talks with David Moyes about
taking over at the Stadium of Light.
Hull, worryingly, are not being linked with
anybody, despite eight of the 14 senior players
under contract being injured and just over
three weeks to go before the season starts. At
least Steve Bruce is staying, though.
Oh Nacer, Nacer Chadli has caught the eye of
Swansea, who may be willing to fork out £10m
to purchase the Belgium midfielder from
Tottenham. Daniel Levy would rather £15m,
mind. Action is imminent at West Brom, where
Saido Berahino might finally be sold 347
windows after a move from the Hawthorns
was initially mooted and Jeffrey Schlupp could
be on his way in to Tony Pulis’ squad after an
offer was made to Leicester.
And how could a Rumour Mill end without a
mention of Manchester United? What a
summer it has been at Old Trafford. Zlatan
Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Eric Bailly,
possibly Paul Pogba and now – perhaps the
biggest one of all – Joshua Bohui is set to join
from Brentford. Actually, that’s maybe even a
tad too facetious for this column. Bohui is a
promising 17-year-old winger who may end up
being rather good, and will go into the
academy.

MAN UTD SET TO SIGN POGBA, 300,000 POUNDS A WEEK DEAL AGREED

Manchester United are expected to sign
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba and the deal
could be done in weeks, Squawka’s chief
reporter Greg Stobart believes.
The Red Devils are already deep into transfer
talks, having agreed a fee with Pogba’s current
club Juventus and £300,000-a-week personal
terms with Pogba.
Real Madrid have provided competition for
United, but while the Spanish giants have stalled
on pursuing the transfer, the deal could happen
as soon as Pogba decides on his future.
Squawka if Pogba will join Man United, Stobart
said: “I expect Man United to sign Paul Pogba.
They’ve put in a lot of ground work, they’ve
agreed personal terms which
“They’ve put in a lot of ground work, they’ve
agreed personal terms which is massive
because he’s going to be earning £300,000-a-
week if he joins Man United.
“As of last Friday, they hadn’t made a formal bid
for him, but they had started talking to Juventus.
But it’s all going to come down to the player – he
hasn’t quite made up their mind yet.”
Stobart then later added: “My gut instinct is he’ll
sign for Man United in the next couple of weeks.”
New United boss Jose Mourinho has already
acted quickly to bring in Eric Bailly, Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan since
arriving at the club, but Pogba remains the top
target at Old Trafford.
Despite the season not kicking off until next
month and Pogba still being on holiday, Mourinho
will not wait to complete a deal for the France
international.
“Jose Mourinho won’t wait until August, he wants
it done now,” Stobart added.
Pogba, 23, scored one goal as France reached
the final of Euro 2016 as the hosts, but he could
not help Les Bleus win the trophy as Portugal
claimed a 1-0 victory.

WHY MAN UTD SHOULD NOT SIGN POGBA

There have been talks and rumors at length
about Paul Pogba’s future: on whether he will
stay in Juventus or opt for a move back to Old
Trafford or the Santiago Bernabeu.
Pogba inelegantly left Manchester United in 2012
after falling out with the then manager Sir Alex
Ferguson, but the 23-year old has gone on to
become one of the highest rated central
midfielders in the world.
Since his appointment, Jose Mourinho has
already brought on board Eric Bailly, Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but until the
Manchester United gaffer secures his fourth and
final signing of the summer, speculations linking
Pogba to United will continue to run rife.
Be that as it may, here are my four reasons why
Manchester United shouldn’t go for the Juventus
star.
Too espensive
Goals, exquisite long range passing and an
imposing physical presence, Pogba is without
question a top drawer player: quite rightly better
than most…but the price tag just doesn’t suffice.
On some days the price has been said to be
£120 million, at times £100 million, but will it
really be worth it? I think not.
Mourinho could easily acquire a marquee central
midfielder for half the price being demanded by
Juve, as he should.
Massive ego
All geniuses are flawed, and Paul Pogba isn’t any
different.
Despite his immensely talented nature, the one
massive stag is his attitude: not anything to do
with his work ethic, but everything to do with his
bossy demeanor.
Pogba in quite unconstrained fashion lashed out
at Moussa Sissoko following France’s
concession of a goal against Portugal last
Sunday during the final of the European
Championship.
His actions may have been as a result of his
innate, unyielding desire to succeed, but that was
no way to treat a teammate in the glaring eyes of
the whole world.
Too many cooks spoil the broth
The Galacticos of Real Madrid never won the
Champions League for the simple reason that too
many cooks spoil the broth.
Mourinho himself never did it either during his
three seasons at the Bernabeu, while
Manchester City are still seemingly miles away
from their first ever European triumph.
Having a figure like Ibra in the dressing room is
already in and within itself a monumental task,
how then will the egos of Paul Pogba, Wayne
Rooney and Zlatan Ibrahimovic live in mutual,
harmonious co-existence?
Jose Mourinho certainly has his work cut out for
him should Pogba return to Old Trafford.
Makes the club look bad
If there is one club capable of paying the asking
price for the transfer, then it’s assuredly
Manchester United.
Should it ever materialize, it will topple Gareth
Bale’s £85 million move to Real Madrid as the
most expensive signing of all time.
The one problem however is that paying £100
million for a player who left as a free agent four
years ago utterly beats logic and goes against
everything that United stands for as a club.
It should be noted that this particular criticism is
for the said transfer fee, and not necessarily for
the player.

Chelsea to sign highly rated attacker ahead of Arsenal

Chelsea are hoping to win the race to sign highly-
rated Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa after tabling
a £25m bid for the Arsenal and Juventus target,
according to the Mirror .
Barbosa – also known as Gabigol – has become
one of the hottest young prospects in Brazilian
football since breaking in to the Santos first team in
2013 and has been likened to Barcelona super-star
Neymar.
The 19-year-old’s potential caught the eye of
Arsenal scouts and it looked as though he was
heading to north London as the Express reported
just over two weeks ago that the striker had agreed
a deal to join a ‘top English side’ – thought to be the
Gunners.
However, talk of a switch to Arsenal has quietened
down in recent days and while Juventus have
reportedly expressed their interest in signing
Gabigol, it looks like Chelsea are now in pole
position to secure his signature.
That’s because the Mirror claim that Chelsea have
a £25m bid on the table for the Santos youngster
and Gabigol has supposedly confirmed his interest
in moving to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Antonio Conte finally began work as the new Blues
boss yesterday but his employers have been
working hard on negotiating deals for his transfer
targets for several weeks and Michy Batshuayi has
already arrived from Marseille.
But it looks like Conte is keen to further strengthen
his attacking options as he plans to use two
strikers in his preferred 3-5-2 formation next
season with Gabigol seemingly firmly on his radar.
The South American talent is capable of playing out
wide or through the middle as a centre-forward to
he’d give Conte plenty of options in the final third if
he does end up completing a move to West London.
We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over
the coming days but until Chelsea get a deal agreed
there is still time for the likes of Arsenal or
Juventus to step-up their interest in Gabigol again.
However, the Blues remain favourites and Gabigol
would be an exciting addition for Chelsea, although
I’m sure Conte would ideally want him on board
when they fly out to the United States for the pre-
season tour later this month.

Chelsea signs Kante

Chelsea have beaten the likes of Arsenal,
Manchester United, PSG and Real Madrid to agree
a sensational summer transfer for Leicester City’s
N’Golo Kante, according to reports from Daily Star
(via Le Perisien ).
French publication Le Perisien claims that the
Premier League side made significant move last
night and are now in the pole position to sign the
combative midfielder in coming few days.
It is believed that Chelsea have agreed a
£29.2million deal which is significantly higher than
what Arsenal had offered earlier this summer.
Leicester City had also received a mega offer
from Chinese side Shanghai SIPG but Kante turned
down the lucrative offer and wanted a Premier
League stay.
Kante has a £20m buyout clause but it would need
Chelsea to pay close to £29million to get the deal
done ahead of PSG and SIPG.
According to Le Perisien, Chelsea have agreed a 5-
year contract with the Premier League winner who
has been one of the best midfielder in last 12
months.
Leicester signed Kante for a meager £6m last
summer and could end making a massive profit of
£23million in a span of just 12 months. Incoming
manager Antonio Conte sees Kante as the perfect
fit to be his midfield enforcer next season.
Kante’s arrival could trigger Nemanja Matic’s exit
from the club, who is linked with a move to
Juventus. Kante is expected to complete his
transfer by the end of this week and could feature
in Conte’s pre-season training at the start of next week
month.

Which of this French star should Arsenal sign?

Which of the 2 French Euro 2016
stars should Arsenal sign?
Arsenal already have two of the French
national team set for the big Euro 2016 final
in our squad, but we have been linked with
other members of Didier Deschamp’s
impressive squad in the past in numerous
Arsenal transfer rumours. And after two of
those, Dimitri Payet and Antoine
Griezmann, increased their reputations in
the game considerably with some brilliant
play this summer I wonder if Arsene
Wenger is going to attempt to bring another
France international star to join Olivier
Giroud and Laurent Koscielny.
Neither would be easy to get, of course, but
the Gunners boss does have considerable
spending power available to him and I think
he could get at least one if he really put his
mind to it, but which would be a better fit
for Arsenal?
After the group stages it was the West
Ham man Payet that everyone was talking
about and after a brilliant season for the
Hammers the attacking star’s stock is
seriously high. The big advantage Payet
has is that he is proven in the Premier
League and I really think he would be a
great signing for us.
One drawback is his age and at 29-years
old I wonder whether Wenger would be
reluctant to spend big money on him,
although personally I do not see the
problem. Another is where he would play,
as his best positions seem to be the
number 10 role occupied by Mesut Ozil and
the left forward position taken by Alexis
Sanchez.
That is why I think that Griezmann would
be the better transfer target for Arsenal as
he can play as the extra striker we need as
well as on either flank and in the number 10
role and he is already used to playing as a
second striker with Giroud to some effect
for France. He is also young and still
getting better so in my opinion this
fantastic Frenchman should be the player
that Wenger goes all out for. Do you agree?

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