Still buzzing after his goal against Chelsea on Sunday, Everton winger Richarlison will wake up to talk linking him with a summer move to Milan. When he left Watford last summer, the Brazilian’s transfer fee of £40m prompted no end of raised eyebrows and the suggestion that Everton will only listen to offers in the region of £60m for a player who hasn’t pulled up too many trees since his arrival is likely to be the source of similar surprise.
Speculation that Zinedine Zidane only agreed to return to Real Madrid after being given carte blanche to perform a very expensive summer overhaul means the world and his wife are being linked with the Spanish giants. Zidane’s decision to leave Thibaut Courtois out of the team that beat Celta Vigo on Saturday has, rather predictably, reignited speculation Real are about to renew their interest in Manchester United’s David de Gea. Not renowned as a particularly big fan of Gareth Bale’s work, Zidane’s decision to include the Welshman in his first line-up since returning to the helm has, by contrast, been interpreted by some as an attempt to put the Welsh international in the shop window.
In a state of affairs that suggests it could be a very long summer for those tasked with peddling idle and often baseless transfer conjecture for spare change, Real are also being linked with – deep breath – a £300m trolley dash that could see them try to bring the likes of Christian Eriksen, Eden Hazard, Mo Salah, Raheem Sterling, Nabil Fekir and Mauro Icardi to the Bernabéu.
Antonio Valencia will be ushered to the exit door at Old Trafford this summer and his agent – who doubles as his dad – is telling anyone who’ll listen that his son is in big demand. “He definitely will not continue in Manchester,” said Luis Valencia. “He wants a change in the air and the club is not going to renew him either. Arsenal, West Ham, Inter and one club from China are options,” he added, in a revelation that your cynical Rumour Mill suspects may come as news to Arsenal, West Ham, Inter and one club in China.
Juventus are prepared to end the Old Trafford pain of Alexis Sánchez, but only if the Chilean agrees to take a significant pay cut. Meanwhile in Spain, Antoine Griezmann is regretting his decision to stay at Atlético Madrid and is letting potential suitors know he might be open to a summer move elsewhere. The French striker would quite like to go to Barcelona, but ESPN says the Spanish league leaders aren’t prepared to match his wages and are eyeing up Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gómez and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Luka Jovic instead.
