Manchester United and Arsenal are ready to go head-to-head for an MLS attacker, while Borussia Dortmund are chasing a Tottenham defensive target – all in Friday’s newspapers.
MAN UTD, ARSENAL BATTLING FOR MLS STAR
Manchester United and Arsenal are reportedly ready to step up their interest in £19m-rated Atlanta United forward Ezequiel Barco.
The 20-year-old attacker is attracting interest from across Europe after an impressive season in the MLS, while he has also caught the eye in Argentina’s youth teams.
Arsenal and United are leading English interest in the youngster, while Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Sporting Lisbon, Benfica, Lille and Valencia are also keen, according to the report in the Daily Mirror.
Barco, who is considered one of the South America’s most exciting youngsters, joined Atlanta from Independiente for £11.6m in January 2018 – an MLS record at the time.
And with Europe’s top clubs looking to pounce, Atlanta are looking to make a healthy profit on the attacker, who can play as a left-winger, second striker or attacking midfielder.
The MLS franchise are said to want $25million (£19m) for Barco, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.
Barco finished the recent campaign with four goals and three assists in 15 MLS appearances for Atlanta and it is thought that both United and Arsenal will make approaches in January to see if they can lure the player to England.
AND THE REST
Manchester United still hope to persuade Christian Eriksen to join them after he rejected them in the summer (Daily Mirror)
West Ham director of football Mario Husillos is feeling the heat with the club unimpressed with his work so far (Daily Mirror)
David Moyes has told Everton he wants a long-term commitment from them before he agrees to return to the club (The Sun)
Manchester United have spoken to the agent of Parma’s Dejan Kulusevski as they prepare another bid amid interest from Arsenal and Liverpool (Daily Mirror)
Erling Haaland can leave Red Bull Salzburg for £17m in January and Borussia Dortmund are leading the race, according to reports (The Sun)
Olivier Giroud’s hopes of finding a way out of Chelsea next month are fading – because no-one wants to pay for him when he will be available for nothing in the summer (The Sun)
Napoli will sell the likes of Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Lorenzo Insigne in a summer purge, according to reports (The Sun)
Chelsea have been handed a huge boost ahead of this weekend’s trip to Everton with Antonio Rudiger fit for selection (The Sun)
Pep Guardiola is interested in bringing back Domenec Torrent as Manchester City’s assistant manager if Mikel Arteta quits for Arsenal (The Sun)
Wilfried Zaha’s new agent has held talks with Chelsea over a potential move next summer, according to reports (The Sun)
Borussia Dortmund are reportedly ready to rival Premier League duo Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal in the race to sign Ben Godfrey from Norwich City
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is willing to get rid of Paul Pogba in the January transfer window, with Real Madrid and Juventus both keen (Daily Express)
Sadio Mane was approached by Manchester United in August 2015, but decided against the move because he didn’t want to play under Louis van Gaal (Daily Express)
Brendan Rodgers is in talks over a new contract with Leicester as the Champions League chasers move to tie down their manager (Daily Telegraph)
Arsenal have stepped up the process of identifying a permanent replacement for the sacked Unai Emery by holding their first interviews with candidates for the role (Daily Telegraph)
Massimiliano Allegri has broken the hearts of a handful of Premier League fans after he ruled out a move to Arsenal or Manchester United this season (Daily Mail)
Birmingham City boss Pep Clotet insists they will do all they can to keep on-loan Jake Clarke-Salter from going back to Chelsea in January (Daily Mail)
West Ham will try to sell 33-year-old Spanish goalkeeper Roberto in January and part ways with the director of football who brought him to the club in the summer (The Guardian)
Arsenal star Mesut Ozil was seen storming off the pitch shouting as he went down the tunnel following a shock defeat to Brighton (Daily Mail)
Rangers are tracking Portsmouth keeper Craig MacGillivray and could make a January bid (Daily Star)
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