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Football Transfer Gossip: Man Utd 'want Kane, not Ronaldo', Arsenal 'target £40m Martial', West Ham 'swoop for Walcott'

Like a rainy day in June, or a London bus, or a Theresa May U-turn, if you wait around long enough, a story linking Manchester United with Harry Kane will come.

Today, our patience is rewarded by the Sunday Mirror, which claims Jose Mourinho has told his Old Trafford “bosses” to splash out £100m on the Tottenham striker instead of buying Cristiano Ronaldo. Although he has allegedly been telling them this once a month for the past year, and they still haven’t done it.

READ MORE: Teddy Sheringham delighted with Harry Kane and Dele Alli partnership: Long may it continue at Tottenham!

Mourinho reportedly wants to pair Kane up front with Alvaro Morata and has urged United transfer guru Ed Woodward to make Spurs “an offer they can’t refuse”. Paying for their new stadium in its entirety, perhaps? (With heated towel racks in the bathroom and top-of-the-range solid wood flooring throughout, please Ed.)

United could make space for this hypothetical/fanciful new-look attack by flogging Anthony Martial to Arsenal, says the Mail on Sunday.

The Gunners would apparently be prepared to pay £40m for the former Monaco starlet and have lined him up as a back-up option in the event they miss out on current Monaco starlet Kylian Mbappe. Looks like they’re definitely getting Martial then.

Four new full-backs

Arsenal, meanwhile, could make space for Martial in their attack by flogging Theo Walcott to West Ham, says the Sunday Mirror.

The Hammers have reportedly made the winger a £25m target and Theo is said to be keen on the move because he still “harbours dreams” of making the England squad for next year’s World Cup.

The Mirror adds that “at 28, Walcott has still to reach his peak as a player”, which is a rather optimistic way of looking at it.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola wants to sign four new full-backs for a combined £110m within the next couple of weeks, says the Daily Star Sunday. They are Tottenham’s Kyle Walker (£45m) and Juventus’ Dani Alves (£0m) on the right side, along with Southampton’s Ryan Bertrand (£25m) and Monaco’s Benjamin Mendy (£39.5m) on the left. Poor old Aleksandar Kolarov.


Chelsea, meanwhile, have made a £105m swoop for Juventus duo Alex Sandro and Leonardo Bonucci, according to the Sunday Express. Not sure why these teams are so confident that the Italian champions will be happy to let their entire defence leave.

Newcastle fans are concerned that Rafa Benitez could walk out of St James’ Park after the club failed to secure a series of his top summer transfer targets, reports the Sunday Times. Rafa is said to particularly irked that Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham joined Swansea despite being “sold the idea” of being Newcastle’s No 9. Sounds like it’s time to buy back Andy Carroll.

Elsewhere, Lyon’s president has told Arsenal to raise their bid for Alexandre Lacazette from £44m to £57m (L’Equipe), Liverpool are “refusing to drop their interest” in Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk despite a tapping up scandal (Sunday Express) and Cristiano Ronaldo’s lawyer has argued that the Real Madrid star paid too much tax to the Spanish authorities rather than too little (Cadena Cope). Ah, this guy’s good.

@darlingkevin