Thursday’s gossip: Pavard, Amrabat, Neymar, Caicedo, Arrizabalaga, Balogun
Pavard #Pavard
A picture of Benjamin Pavard with the gossip logo
Manchester United are hoping to reunite Benjamin Pavard, 27, with former France team-mate and Red Devils centre-back Raphael Varane, 30, by making a 30m euros (£25.8m) bid for the Bayern Munich defender. (L’Equipe – in French)
Manchester United are also keen to bring in Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat, with the 26-year-old Moroccan available for £30m. (Mail)
However, Amrabat’s preference is to join Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid this summer. (Sport – in Spanish)
Paris St-Germain officials and Brazil forward Neymar will meet this week in an attempt to sort out the 31-year-old’s future, with a contract termination among the options. (UOL Sport Brasil – in Portuguese)
Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo, 21, from Brighton and keen to finalise a deal in time for him to face Liverpool on Sunday. (Guardian)
Chelsea’s Spanish goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, 28, is wanted by former Blues manager Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich as the Bundesliga side seek a replacement for injured 37-year-old German Manuel Neuer. (Fabrizio Romano)
Chelsea have decided to abandon negotiations with Juventus over an exchange deal involving Serbia forward Dusan Vlahovic, 23, and 30-year-old Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku. (Sky Sport Italia – via Football Italia)
Brentford and Spain goalkeeper David Raya, 27, is set to join Arsenal on loan with an option to buy next summer, rather than an immediate permanent move. (Athletic – subscription required)
Arsenal have rejected a £30m bid from Ligue 1 side Monaco for their 22-year-old American striker Folarin Balogun. (90min)
Instead, Arsenal are considering offering Balogun and Japan full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu, 24, to Inter Milan in exchange for their Italian midfielder Nicolo Barella, 26. (Calciomercato – in Italian)
West Ham are rivalling Burnley for the loan capture of Chelsea’s Dutch left-back Ian Maatsen, 21, who spent last season with Vincent Kompany’s side as they won the Championship title. (Mail)
Burnley also want to sign Manchester United’s Spanish full-back Alvaro Fernandez on loan after the 20-year-old impressed at Preston last season. (Sky Sports via Twitter)
Wolves are expected to complete the signing of West Ham’s 33-year-old English defender Aaron Cresswell before the transfer window closes. (Football Insider)
Brighton’s 19-year-old Paraguay forward Julio Enciso is a target for Italian champions Napoli. (Telegraph)
Bournemouth are set to hijack Leeds United’s move for Norwich City’s English right-back Max Aarons, 23. (Athletic – subscription required)
Leeds winger Wilfried Gnonto asked to be left out of their line-up to face Shrewsbury Town in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night as the Italian, 19, seeks a move. (Mail)