Arsenal keep pushing for Higuain, Barcelona say they won't lower Thiago's price, and Chelsea make a move for Sneijder to reunite him with Jose Mourinho
As we reported yesterday, Arsenal are looking to get their mitts on Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid, and according to Spanish sports daily
Marca, they're really pushing hard to get him. They have apparently offered a lump sum of €30 million up front, which would certainly be breaking the bank by Wenger's standards. The deal is believed to be €8 million more than Juve have offered, and it would see Higuain on a higher wage, so good news all round for them we imagine.
In a bit of bad news for Arsenal fans, Higuain might not be the only South American at the club come the start of the season as Andre Santos is back after his loan at Gremio ended, and he wasn't able to secure a move back to Brazil.
It looks like Jose Mourinho has put the name of Wesley Sneijder on his wanted list, and the two could be reunited having had great success together at Inter Milan. They certainly looked pretty friendly here when they were waving at each other before their two sides met in the Champions League earlier this season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsfp27rz13s
Sneijder only joined Galatasaray in January, so they won't be best pleased to sell him already we imagine, while the player himself had admitted that he couldn't leave already and will stay until January at least. We hope Roman has the cheque book out anyway.
Two of Chelsea's Spanish stars, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata have stated that neither of them will be leaving this summer. Torres, for his part, claims that he's going to impress under new manager Jose Mourinho, but given his terrible form since he joined, we imagine the Portuguese would much rather have a striker who can score goals in the squad instead.
Mata on the other hand has been fantastic, and it seems a strange move to move him on, but Mourinho is a strange man in many ways.
While Thiago Alcantara was a name that was mentioned as a possible Manchester United target, his current club, Barcelona, have said they will not negotiate on his release clause, which is currently just under €22 million. They don't want to see him leave, as long term they hope that both he and Fabregas will be able to succeed Xavi and Iniesta in midfield, so they'll do their best to keep him at the Camp Nou.
One midfielder that both the Londoners and the Old Trafford side are chasing is Dutch U21 star Marco van Ginkel, who has impressed in the Euros in Israel over the last few weeks. He hinted that he might be on the move after his side were knocked out of the tournament last night, but claimed that he didn't know anything about the interest from Manchester United.
Liverpool have, according to Portuguese sports daily
A Bola , agree terms with Tiago Ilori, but his club Sporting Lisbon are holding out for a fee of €5 million. Meanwhile, the Anfield side also have their eye on another Lisbon player in Diego Capel, while Marseille are also interested. Both clubs are rumoured to be offering around €3.5 million for the Spaniard, which wouldn't be enough to tempt Sporting to part with him.
Newcastle fans can rest easy as it seems the Coloccini issue has been put to bed, as he's planning to stay at the club for at least another season.
In some news for the Irish contingent playing abroad, Brian McDermott, the new Leeds boss, has his eyes on Kevin Doyle, but will settle for Anthony Stokes if he can't secure the services of the Wolves man.
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