Daily Roundup: Latest Football News Content Across Europe

GERMANY

Liverpool transfer target Timo Werner is Bayern Munich’s favoured choice to

replace Robert Lewandowski, should the Poland international be sold. Former

Bayern technical director Michael Reschke first made contact with Werner in 2014

when he was a teenager at Stuttgart but his agent was concerned a move to the

Allianz Arena was too soon in his career. Lewandowski declared last month, via

his agent, he wants to leave Bayern. (Sport Bild)

Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno has agreed to join Arsenal after turning

down a move to Napoli. Leno, 26, will be sold for a fee around €25m with an

announcement on his future “imminent” as Arsenal are keen to finalise the

transfer quickly. Leno told Leverkusen he wanted to leave the club in April with

the Bundesliga side signing Lukas Hradecky, 28, on a free transfer from Eintracht

Frankfurt as his replacement. (Sport Bild)

Borussia Dortmund are keen on signing Rennes forward Ismaila Sarr but will have

to break their transfer record to land the Senegal international. New BVB coach

Lucien Favre has personally identified Sarr, 20, as a potential transfer target but

Rennes value the striker at €30m. Dortmund are hoping their good relations with

the Ligue 1 club, having signed Ousmane Dembele in 2016, will help smooth

negotiations. (Sport Bild)

SPAIN

Real Madrid first made contact with Julen Lopetegui last Wednesday following

their failure to appoint Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy insisted

that even €100m wouldn’t be enough for the European champions to take his

manager which meant Florentino Perez switched focus. Perez was keen to avoid

lengthy negotiations with any clubs and Lopetegui’s name was suggested by

general director Jose Angel Sanchez. (Marca)

Gareth Bale’s future at Real Madrid looks even more uncertain following the

appointment of Lopetegui. Deciding the future of the Welshman is one of the

incoming coach’s first major jobs but his close relationship with Spain playmaker

Isco means he may view Bale as disposable. A report claims, “Isco is to Lopetegui,

what Benzema was to Zidane”. (AS)

Barcelona are close to finalising the sale of midfielder and Everton transfer target

Andre Gomes to an unnamed club for around €30m. Gomes, 24, has struggled at

the Camp Nou since arriving from Valencia in 2016 but has been linked with

moves to a number of Premier League and Serie A clubs, plus Monaco. Barca

could be using the Portugal international as a makeweight in deals for Juventus

midfielder Miralem Pjanic or Manchester United transfer target Sergej Milinkovic-

Savic. (Mundo Deportivo)

Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Barcelona centre-back Yerry Mina

having missed out on the Colombian when he joined the Catalan club in January.

Barca signed Mina, 23, for €11.8m from Palmeiras despite Dortmund’s attempts to

gazump them with a €25m offer. However, Mina has found playing time hard to

come by in Spain and with the arrival of Clement Lenglet from Sevilla will be

pushed further down the pecking order. (Mundo Deportivo)

ITALY

AC Milan are in the market for Arsenal transfer target Gelson Martins, with the

winger one of six players to request a contract termination at Sporting Lisbon.

Martins, 23, scored 12 goals with 13 assists last season and the Rossoneri would

like open negotiations quickly as they fear more Premier League clubs will try to

sign the Portugal international. (Corriere dello Sport)

Inter Milan want to sign Radja Nainggolan from Roma and have made an offer of

€22m plus a youth-team player of their choice. Nerazzurri coach Luciano Spalletti

is a huge fan of the all-action Belgium midfielder, who missed on a spot at the

World Cup, and wants to make him his fourth summer signing. Inter sporting

director Piero Ausilio has already held talks in Milan with Nainggolan’s agent.

(Gazzetta dello Sport)

Juventus have agreed deals to sign Russian international midfielder Aleksandr

Golovin and Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo. The Bianconeri will pay CSKA

Moscow €20m for Golovin, 22, having first opened negotiations six months ago

and have beaten a number of top European clubs to his signature with Arsenal,

Chelsea and Monaco also linked. Cancelo, 22, will arrive on a season-long loan

from Valencia ahead of a €35m permanent switch next summer. (Tuttosport)

FRANCE

Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal enquired about signing Thomas Lemar this

summer but the Monaco winger will join Atletico Madrid for a fee that could rise

to €72m. While Liverpool and Arsenal failed to follow up their interest with a

concrete offer, Chelsea asked Monaco to wait until their managerial situation was

resolved but Lemar wanted his future resolved before the World Cup. (L’Equipe)

Bordeaux and Anderlecht are interested in signing Manchester City forward

Thierry Ambrose. France forward Ambrose, 21, is yet to make a first-team

appearances for City having joined from Auxerre in 2015. He enjoyed an

encouraging spell on loan at NAC Breda last season, scoring 10 goals in 31

Eredivisie games. (L’Equipe)