Friday’s gossip: Rice, Thuram, Kovacic, Kone, Caicedo, Kane, Adams, Barnes, Maddison, Gundogan
By BBC SPORTS
Arsenal will step up their £92m pursuit of Declan Rice in the hope the West Ham and England midfielder, 24, can join in time for the start of pre-season. (Telegraph – subscription required)
West Ham are keen on bringing in Fulham and Portugal defensive midfielder Joao Palhinha, 27, to replace Rice, with Manchester City and England’s Kalvin Phillips and Southampton and England midfielder James Ward-Prowse also in the frame. (Mail)
Chelsea could also try to sign Rice along with Brighton and Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, 21. (90min)
Nice and France midfielder Khephren Thuram, 22, has verbally agreed personal terms with Liverpool. (Football Transfers)
Chelsea and Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic, 29, has agreed personal terms with Manchester City after advanced talks. (Fabrizio Romano)
Liverpool have scheduled talks with the representatives of Borussia Monchengladbach’s 22-year-old French midfielder Manu Kone. (Fabrizio Romano)
Real Madrid are working on a bid to sign England striker Harry Kane for about £68m as Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy refuses to sell the 29-year-old to Manchester United. (Marca – in Spanish)
Newcastle are exploring transfer targets from relegated Premier League teams including Leeds United and USA midfielder Tyler Adams, 24, and Leicester City’s English winger Harvey Barnes, 24, and midfielder James Maddison, 26. (Telegraph)
Maddison is a priority target for Tottenham’s new manager Ange Postecoglou, but the club will have to pay more than £50m for the England international. (Telegraph – subscription required)
Manchester City and Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 32, is a target for French champions Paris St-Germain. (L’Equipe – in French)
Saudi Arabian side Al Ahli have expressed their desire to sign Algeria winger Riyad Mahrez, 32, from Manchester City. (Fabrizio Romano)
Tottenham will need to increase their £20m valuation if they want to sign Spain goalkeeper David Raya, with Brentford ready to reject offers less than £40m for the 27-year-old. (i Sport)
Arsenal see 18-year-old Spanish right-back Ivan Fresneda of La Liga side Valladolid as a viable summer option. (Football London)
Leicester City are considering former Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard as their next boss following relegation from the Premier League. (Mail)
Zinedine Zidane has turned down an approach from PSG to take over as head coach from Christophe Galtier. (Le Parisien – in French)
Tottenham will ask Juventus to reduce the £35m fee to sign Sweden forward Dejan Kulusevski, 23, on a permanent deal. (Nicolo Schira)
Shakhtar Donetsk chief executive Sergei Palkin has threatened to sue Tottenham if they try to sign 23-year-old Israel winger Manor Solomon, who was on loan at Fulham last season, on a free transfer. (ESPN)
Manchester United are considering sending 21-year-old English forward Mason Greenwood out on loan to a club in Europe next season. (Mail)
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