Thursday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Manchester City and England winger Jack Grealish, 29, is one of several left-sided players being considered by Napoli. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Real Madrid are ready to offer £100m for Manchester City's 29-year-old Spain midfielder Rodri. (Sun), external

Javi Guerra has rejected an offer to renew his contract with Valencia, with Manchester United said to be monitoring the 22-year-old Spanish midfielder. (Marca - in Spanish), external

Tottenham are closely monitoring Kobbie Mainoo, with the Manchester United midfielder yet to agree a long-term extension to his contract, which expires in 2027. (tbrfootball.com), external

West Ham will rival Everton in the race to sign Douglas Luiz from Juventus after Aston Villa pulled out of the race to re-sign the 27-year-old Brazil midfielder. (Sun), external

Atalanta plan to make a move for Liverpool and Italy winger Federico Chiesa, 27, if Juventus meet their €50m (£43m) valuation to sign Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman, 27. (Football Italia)

Spurs are monitoring the contract situation of Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha. The Bavarian club are open to talks should an offer arrive for the 30-year-old Portuguese international. (Florian Plettenberg), external

RB Leipzig have named attacking midfielder Xavi Simons in their training camp squad, despite the 22-year-old being linked with a move to Chelsea and the Dutch international holding talks over personal terms with the Blues. (Standard) , external

Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing 20-year-old Brighton midfielder Facundo Buonanotte. The Argentina international spent last season on loan at Leicester City and has three years left on his contract. (Sky Sports), external

Talks between Marseille and Feyenoord for Brazilian winger Igor Paixao are at a standstill after the French club's £24m bid fell short of the asking price. (RMC - in French), external

Leeds United now retain hope of signing the 25-year-old. (Yorkshire Evening Post), external

Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu has been linked with a move away from Inter Milan but the 31-year-old says he wants to stay at the Italian club. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian), external

Manchester City want to keep Ederson despite Galatasaray expressing an interest in the 31-year-old Brazil goalkeeper, who is about to enter the final year of his contract. (The Independent), external

Fulham are confident of keeping hold of academy midfielder Seth Ridgeon despite Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea showing interest in the 16-year-old England Under-17 captain. (Standard), external

Wrexham have agreed a three-year deal for Nottingham Forest midfielder Lewis O'Brien, 26, after the Englishman spent the second half of last season in Wales on loan to Swansea City. (Football Insider), external

Hull City and Trabzonspor forward Enis Destan, 23, have agreed personal terms for the Turkish forward to join the Tigers as the club await a response to their appeal to have their transfer embargo lifted. (Inside Futbol), external

Birmingham City are favourites to sign Brighton's Eiran Cashin, 23, in a loan deal that would see the former Derby County and Republic of Ireland Under-21 defender return to the Championship. (The Mirror), external

Middlesbrough are keeping an eye on Swansea defender Josh Key but will need to meet the Swans' valuation of £5m for the 25-year-old Englishman. (Alan Nixon via Patreon - subscription required), external

English striker Devante Cole, 30, is set to depart West Bromwich Albion a year after joining from Barnsley. (Darren Witcoop via X), external

Charlton Athletic have confirmed their triallist during a friendly victory over Wealdstone was Wolves and Jamaica right-back Dexter Lembikisa, 21. (Louis Mendez via X), external

Queens Park Rangers midfielder Elijah Dixon-Bonner, 24, has attracted interest from National League side Carlisle United following the Englishman's week-long trial with Walsall. (West London Sport)




Sky Paper Talk

The Sun

Real Madrid are ready to make a £100m bid to lure Manchester City star Rodri to the Bernabeu this summer.

Everton and West Ham are set to battle it out for Douglas Luiz as the player plots a return to the Premier League.

Prince William will break away from his summer holiday to attend Sunday's Euro 2025 final as Sarina Wiegman's England aim to retain their title.

The Times

Hugo Ekitike rejected interest from Manchester United and Newcastle to join Liverpool.

Chelsea are advancing in talks for Dutch pair Jorrel Hato and Xavi Simons.

Former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka has agreed terms with newly-promoted side Sunderland and is 'excited by the challenge' - but Leverkusen coach Erik ten Hag wants to block the move.

Newcastle are set to improve a bid for Yoane Wissa after the forward left Brentford's pre-season training camp.
Daily Mirror

Liverpool are waiting for Atalanta to sell Ademola Lookman to Inter Milan before offloading Federico Chiesa to the Serie A side, according to reports.

Bukayo Saka has said excitement levels are high in the Arsenal dressing room after three of their summer signings made debut appearances against AC Milan in Singapore - with at least two more new faces to follow.
The Guardian

Arsenal have finally reached agreement with Sporting for the transfer of Viktor Gyökeres in a deal worth up to €73.5m (£63.7m), having resolved the problematic issue of the €10m of add-ons to end a tortuous saga and Mikel Arteta's hunt for a No 9.

Jess Carter has thanked England fans for their "unbelievable support" after revealing she had been racially abused on social media at Euro 2025.

Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba will not appear in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday despite being selected for the event, with both Inter Miami players now in line to be suspended from their club's next match as a result.

Marc Brys has denied he has quit as coach of Cameroon despite the country's football federation confirming his exit on Wednesday, as the Belgian said his email was likely hacked and his alleged resignation letter did not come from him.
The Athletic

Newcastle United are expected to choose Nottingham Forest chief football officer Ross Wilson as their preferred candidate for the vacant sporting director role.
Daily Telegraph

England are moving closer to selecting seven forwards on the bench and are even training props to deputise at hooker as head coach Steve Borthwick aims for maximum flexibility within his match-day 23.

Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner has re-appointed his former fitness coach Umberto Ferrara with immediate effect, the Italian world No 1 confirmed on Wednesday.

Sophie Ecclestone has admitted she considered quitting cricket in the aftermath of the public spat involving Alex Hartley and the Ashes whitewash.
Daily Express

West Ham may be forced to play a number of matches away from the London Stadium in the future. London are set to launch a bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, and the timing of the competition would overlap with the Premier League campaign.
Daily Record

Brendan Rodgers insists he is in charge of ALL Celtic signings - and told fans he understands them wanting more new arrivals.





Guardian Rumour mill

Will Unwin

Javi Guerra has shaken his head in the direction of Valencia, turning down a new contract with the Spanish club. One potential reason for not wanting to put pen to paper is that Manchester United are interested in signing the 22-year-old midfielder. Maybe Ruben Amorim will need someone new in the centre of the park if Tottenham are in the market for Kobbie Mainoo, who is yet to agree to an extension of his own and may fancy the bright lights of London and the Thomas Frank revolution.

Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall can boast of being a Europa League Conference and Club World Cup winner in his first season at Stamford Bridge but he was always on the periphery at Chelsea. Despite being a key player under Enzo Maresca at Leicester, the transfer to Stamford Bridge, where he rejoined the Italian head coach, has not worked out for him. Fulham are hoping his lack of playing time over the past 12 months may mean he is permitted a premature exit and are willing to take him on loan or even a permanent deal. The Blues do like a signing and are in the market for Jorrel Hato. Chelsea have made contract with Ajax about what it would take to prise the centre-back away from the Dutch club.

Napoli may just be the place for Jack Grealish. The Serie A champions are seeking a new left-winger and the Englishman could be just what they are looking for. If Scott McTominay is anything to go by, swapping Manchester for Naples can do wonders for a career …

Speaking of wingers who have no future in the north-west of England, Federico Chiesa could find his way back to Italy with Atalanta. For him to achieve that, it will need Ademola Lookman to head the way of Juventus for a fee of £43m. Bit-part player Chiesa has been left out of Liverpool’s pre-season tour and does not fit into Arne Slot’s plans.

Rob Holding is on his way out of Crystal Palace. The main interest in the former Arsenal defender comes from Sheffield United and Colorado Rapids in MLS. The centre-back spent the second half of last season on loan at Bramall Lane, so a return to the club makes sense. He still has a year remaining on his Selhurst Park contract but he has only ever made one appearance for the club.

Having spent the second half of last season getting relegated from the Premier League on loan at Leicester, Facundo Buonanotte could find a change of pace and scenery at Borussia Dortmund. It does not seem as if he has a way back in at Brighton but joining a Champions League club would soften the blow somewhat.





Sport Witness

‘West Ham have swooped in’ – Hammers arrive for signing with insistence

Born in Bergamo, Roberto Piccoli came through the youth system at local club Atalanta and made his senior debut at 18-years-of-age.

Unable to breakthrough as a prominent player, the forward then went on loan to no less than six Italian clubs, before joining Cagliari on a permanent basis in June of this year.

The 24-year-old scored 10 goals for Cagliari in his loan spell at the club during the 2024/25 season. He then joined the Sardinians permanently from Atalanta for a fee of €12m and an exit is already on the cards for him.

Gazzetta dello Sport report ‘West Ham have swooped in’ for Piccoli, with Cagliari and the striker interested in a sale.

The newspaper claim that the Hammers have ‘enquired insistently’ for the player, who has previously spent loan stints at Genoa, Hellas Verona, Empoli, Lecce and Spezia.

Similar is reported by Corriere dello Sport, who state West Ham and Benfica have not made formal offers, but have made enquiries to gather information about signing Piccoli.

They note Cagliari’s valuation is around €30m, with the club now said to be making serious evaluations about Piccoli’s sale this summer due to the capital gain they can earn.

The ex-Atalanta player has scored 23 goals in his Serie A career so far, having played for a total of seven clubs already.

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