It’s the start of June, and the Copas and the Euros start within the next fortnight. Clubs are in hot pursuit to strengthen their squads before the prices for players spike up owing to these tournaments. Agents on the other hand, are on the look out to negotiate deals to capitalise on the marketing opportunities that their clients may subsequently bag and players are simply looking for some certainty regarding their future to avoid distractions while leading their countries out of the tunnel onto the pitch.
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Here are the transfer news and rumours for June 1st
Seria A
- Chelsea are looking to sign Roma defender Antonio Rudiger for a reported fee of €30million. Roma signed the defender permanently following an impressive loan spell for a deal worth €9 miliion, but many believe that the move was made permanent only to offload the centre-back elsewhere to make a profit, with the club struggling to retain star players like Miralem Pjanic and Radja Nainggolan.
- Napoli look to sell Manolo Gabbiadini and one of their midfielders to make a total of €40m. The club has been active in the transfer market and are looking to sell players to fund moves for their targets, with La Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that they have identified Gabbiadini as the best name to cash in. The club had an offer of for €25million from Wolfsburg last January for the player. It was turned down at the time, but a similar deal would likely be accepted in the summer.
- Inter Milan seem to be closing in on Feyenoord's Tonny Vilhena and should have a deal signed by tomorrow, say reports. Despite the club’s impending sale, TuttoMercatoWeb reports that the deal for Vilhena will be completed shortly, as representatives from the club are due to meet Vilhena's father and agent in Amsterdam today, and will sign a deal by tomorrow at the latest.
English Premier League
- Tottenham are planning to recruit a striker this summer, and have reportedly opened talks with Lyon to sign Alexandre Lacazette, as claimed by the Daily Mirror. The newspaper reports the North London club is ready to agree on a deal for the £30million-rated striker, who is said to be pursued by West Ham and Paris-Saint Germain as well.
- Leicester City are close to completing a deal to sign German goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler, as reported by Neue Presser. According to these reports, the Foxes have agreed to pay Hannover £2.7million to sign the former Man Utd 'keeper - meeting his release clause following Hannover's relegation from the Bundesliga. The German will compete with Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel for a starting spot.
- Arsenal have spoken to Atletico Madrid about winger Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, according to the Daily Express. Carrasco shined for Atletico in the Champions League final and was a constant threat to Real’s defence with his pace and skills. With Tomas Rosicky leaving and Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Danny Welbeck struggling to stay fit, Arsene Wenger is looking towards the Belgian to bolster his attacking options.
- Liverpool may sign former keeper Pepe Reina, reports Corriere dello Sport. The 33-year-old short stopper is tied with Napoli till June 30,2018 and the Serie A club are keen to hold on to the keeper. Rena had arrived at the North Italian side from Liverpool in the summer of 2014.
La Liga
- AS has reported that Real Madrid are looking to sign Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski, who has been linked with the Spanish giants for several months now.Sources in Germany suggest that there might be a private agreement between the striker and the Los Blancos after several meetings between Real Madrid’s director general Jose Angel Sanchez and the player’s agent Cezary Kucharski.
- Sevilla’s goalkeeper Beto has announced that he will be leaving the Europa League Champions this summer. In a farewell letter posted on the club’s official website, Beto thanked the club and the town of Seville for their welcome, and said he had been "lucky to have experienced a golden period at FC Sevilla" - winning three Europa League titles, to add to the one he achieved with FC Porto in 2011.
- Barcelona are lining up a bid for Manchester United’s Daley Blind in roundabouts of £14million, reports Sports. Earlier reports suggested that Juan Mata and Daley Blind will most likely be let go by Jose Mourinho, and Luis Enrique will pounce on the Dutch defender to reinforce his defence, with Dani Alves reportedly set to join Juventus and uncertainty surrouding the futures of Thomas Vermaelen and Javier Mascherano.
Rest of Europe
- Borussia Dortmund are closing in on Bayern Munich’s midfielder Sebastian Rode, according to media reports in Germany. According to reports in local outlet Der Westen and football magazine kicker, Rode has set his mind on a transfer to the Westfalenstadion, with the clubs yet to agree on a transfer fee said to be somewhere between €10 million and €15m.
- Aston Villa may appoint Roberto Di Matteo as their new manager in the next 48 hours as reported by Sky Sports. The former Chelsea boss, who led the Blues to their first ever Champions League title is understood to be on top of Villa's wish-list ever since the £76million takeover by the new owner Dr Tony Jiantong Xia, who looks to make a marquee appointment.
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic again shed light on his future in Wednesday’s press conference, dismissing rumours of a possible return to former club Malmo, "I'm still not interested in the Allsvenskan [Swedish league]. I'm too good for the Allsvenskan," he said, without giving any more hints about his next destination.
He further toyed with the reporters when pestered about his future, saying “I want you to still write a lot of stories, I get excited when I see them because I want to see who is making up the best story." He added, “When I'm tired of it, I'll let you know where I will go."
