A roundup of Thursday’s transfer rumors from around the Premier League, and the rest of the world…
[ MORE: Wednesday’s transfer rumor roundup | Tuesday | Monday ]
Barcelona need to rebuild a midfield, and Marco Veratti is ready to leave Paris Saint-Germain. If you were to put two and two together, you might conclude that Barca should sign Veratti this summer, and you might just be onto something.
Not only have Barca been heavily linked with the 24-year-old Italian midfielder for a couple weeks now, according to some social-media sleuthing, Veratti, along with his agent, is said to have eaten dinner at the same Ibiza restaurant as Lionel Messi on Wednesday. Messi’s camp denies that he was even at the restaurant on Wednesday, but the Internet has never been known to tell a lie. Veratti could cost Barca as much as $111 million (100 million euros).
[ MORE: Man United confirm Lindelof signing ]
According to the Standard, Arsenal are willing to include Olivier Giroud in a player-plus-lots-and-lots-of-cash deal for Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe. The 18-year-old is expected to fetch close to $130 million if he moves this summer, meaning Arsenal would likely have to offer $120 million plus Giroud in any future bid. Monaco have already reportedly rejected a bid of $110 million from Arsenal. Alexander Lacazette remains Arsenal’s Giroud-plus-quite-a-bit-less-cash backup plan.
[ MORE: Donnarumma to leave AC Milan; Real Madrid come calling ]
Joe Hart’s Manchester City career is all but officially finished, which means he’ll be looking for a new home this summer. West Ham United are one on a short list of clubs without a fully entrenched no. 1 goalkeeper, thus an obvious fit emerges. With Hart’s weekly wages ($150,000) and Man City’s desired transfer fee ($23 million) likely to prove insurmountable hurdles for a permanent transfer, the Standard reports Hart could move to east London on loan next season.
[ MORE: Bayern Munich sign Corentin Tolisso in Budesliga-record deal ]
With Romelu Lukaku seemingly set to leave Goodison Park this summer, Everton will need to replace the big Belgian who in three seasons at the club has scored 53 PL goals. If we’re to trust the public statements of an Everton scout, AC Milan’s Carlos Bacca and Napoli’s Duvan Zapata are “interesting” candidates.