Gossip: Arsenal eye French trio; Mbappe, Alba, Aguero

Arsenal are doing the dance again with Alexandre Lacazette, with the more talks set to take place over a £49million-plus deal.

The Telegraph reports that the Gunners are keen to capitalise on the break down of the France striker’s move to Atletico Madrid by completing a swift deal for the 26-year-old. Lacazette is seen as a potential replacement for Alexis Sanchez because he can play anywhere across the front three.

Apparently, “Arsene Wenger would like Lacazette, Kylian Mbappe and his Monaco team-mate Thomas Lemar as he rebuilds his team.” The Gossip would like Eva Mendes, Jessica Alba and Scarlett Johansson as he rebuilds his weekend. Each prospect appears as likely as the other…

THE DAILY MBAPPE
Speaking of unlikely prospects, Liverpool are again linked with a bid for Monaco star Mbappe.

The Times claims the Reds will submit an offer for the France striker if they believe he would be interested in a move to the Premier League. L’Equipe reports that Arsene Wenger has spoken to Mbappe to suss out his plans, while the French outlet also claims Real Madrid remain favourites to win the race.

But Liverpool apparently retain a serious interest, with Marca saying the Reds had an £88million bid rejected by Monaco, who will only consider offers above £100million.

UNITED KEEN ON ALBA, FEELING NOT MUTUAL

Manchester United are supposedly interested in Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba, according to ESPN.

But both sides accept ‘a deal will be difficult to complete this summer’, which pretty much kills the story in the opening paragraph.

Alba was in an out of the Barca team last year, making 39 appearances despite missing out on the key Champions League matches. But Rob Dawson’s story says: “…sources have told ESPN FC that Alba is more settled at the Camp Nou following Ernesto Valverde’s appointment as manager.”

As you were, then.

PSG EYE AGUERO
PSG are ready to tempt Manchester City with a £60million offer for Sergio Aguero.

The Ligue 1 side are determined to land a marquee signing after losing their title to Monaco, and Aguero is one of the names on the Parisians’ list.

According to The Times, “Pep Guardiola has insisted that Agüero will remain at the Etihad Stadium next season but the player has been more ambivalent.”

Despite Guardiola’s preference for Gabriel Jesus as his leading striker, Aguero made 25 starts in the Premier League and another six substitute appearances, still helping himself to 20 goals. All things considered, though, £60million might be tough to turn down…

AND THE REST
Antonio Conte is prepared to sanction the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United to accelerate the signing of Tiemoue Bakayoko…Wayne Rooney is struggling to find a new club with interested parties unwilling to meet his transfer fee or salary demands…Arsenal believe they have won the race for £44m Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette…Everton boss Ronald Koeman is plotting a move for Andre Gray as striker enters final 12 months of his Burnley deal…Huddersfield are prepared to offer a club-record £11.5m for Montpellier’s Steve Mounie…Luton midfielder Cameron McGeehan has flown back from holiday for his Barnsley medical…Burnley boss Sean Dyche is planning an £8m raid for Huddersfield striker Nahki Wells.

Newcastle are closing on Benfica and Greece midfielder Andreas Samaris in a £17.5m deal…Chelsea have put contract talks on hold with Thibaut Courtois with the goalkeeper looking to double his £90,000 a week wages…Watford are upset after the FA rejected a work permit for Venezuelan Adalberto Penaranda for a second time…Chelsea will net £2.3m from Mohamed Salah’s move to Liverpool after they inserted a sell-on clause into 2015 deal with Roma…Chelsea want Swansea striker Fernando Llorente as a replacement for Michy Batshuayi…Arsenal fringe players Lucas Perez, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny fear they are being priced out of a summer transfer switch…Goalkeeper Steve Mandanda is refusing to return to Crystal Palace for pre-season training after losing his place to Wayne Hennessey…Manchester United have received a Renato Sanches transfer boost with Bayern Munich slashing his price-tag from £30.5m to £23m.

Chelsea are ready to release Loic Remy for a nominal fee to allow the striker to relaunch his faltering career…Howard Webb will be an interested Bundesliga spectator with his partner Bibiana Steinhaus set to make history by becoming the first woman to referee a German top flight game next season…Middlesbrough defender Ben Gibson is still keen to leave the club despite an attempt by new manager Garry Monk to keep him on Teesside…Manchester City want a buy-back option on striker Kelechi Iheanacho, the Nigeria international who has become a target for West Ham and Leicester City…Arsenal are ready to sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool with as many as eight other first-team players following him out the exit door…RB Leipzig must “live with the fact they are destroying the dreams” of Emil Forsberg, according to his agent, as the midfielder pushes for a move to Arsenal.