Wednesday 13 June 2018 12:16, UK
The World Cup may nearly be upon us but that does not stop clubs in their pursuit of players this summer.
Our friends at Football Whispers have scoured the European media market to identify the best stories from across the continent.
Liverpool transfer target Timo Werner is Bayern Munich's favoured choice to replace Robert Lewandowski, should the Poland international be sold. Former Bayern technical director Michael Reschke first made contact with Werner in 2014 when he was a teenager at Stuttgart but his agent was concerned a move to the Allianz Arena was too soon in his career. Lewandowski declared last month, via his agent, he wants to leave Bayern. (Sport Bild)
Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno has agreed to join Arsenal after turning down a move to Napoli. Leno, 26, will be sold for a fee around €25m with an announcement on his future "imminent" as Arsenal are keen to finalise the transfer quickly. Leno told Leverkusen he wanted to leave the club in April with the Bundesliga side signing Lukas Hradecky, 28, on a free transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt as his replacement. (Sport Bild)
Borussia Dortmund are keen on signing Rennes forward Ismaila Sarr but will have to break their transfer record to land the Senegal international. New BVB coach Lucien Favre has personally identified Sarr, 20, as a potential transfer target but Rennes value the striker at €30m. Dortmund are hoping their good relations with the Ligue 1 club, having signed Ousmane Dembele in 2016, will help smooth negotiations. (Sport Bild)
Real Madrid first made contact with Julen Lopetegui last Wednesday following their failure to appoint Mauricio Pochettino. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy insisted that even €100m wouldn't be enough for the European champions to take his manager which meant Florentino Perez switched focus. Perez was keen to avoid lengthy negotiations with any clubs and Lopetegui's name was suggested by general director Jose Angel Sanchez. (Marca)
Gareth Bale's future at Real Madrid looks even more uncertain following the appointment of Lopetegui. Deciding the future of the Welshman is one of the incoming coach's first major jobs but his close relationship with Spain playmaker Isco means he may view Bale as disposable. A report claims, "Isco is to Lopetegui, what Benzema was to Zidane". (AS)
Barcelona are close to finalising the sale of midfielder and Everton transfer target Andre Gomes to an unnamed club for around €30m. Gomes, 24, has struggled at the Camp Nou since arriving from Valencia in 2016 but has been linked with moves to a number of Premier League and Serie A clubs, plus Monaco. Barca could be using the Portugal international as a makeweight in deals for Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic or Manchester United transfer target Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. (Mundo Deportivo)
Borussia Dortmund are interested in signing Barcelona centre-back Yerry Mina having missed out on the Colombian when he joined the Catalan club in January. Barca signed Mina, 23, for €11.8m from Palmeiras despite Dortmund's attempts to gazump them with a €25m offer. However, Mina has found playing time hard to come by in Spain and with the arrival of Clement Lenglet from Sevilla will be pushed further down the pecking order. (Mundo Deportivo)
AC Milan are in the market for Arsenal transfer target Gelson Martins, with the winger one of six players to request a contract termination at Sporting Lisbon. Martins, 23, scored 12 goals with 13 assists last season and the Rossoneri would like open negotiations quickly as they fear more Premier League clubs will try to sign the Portugal international. (Corriere dello Sport)
Inter Milan want to sign Radja Nainggolan from Roma and have made an offer of €22m plus a youth-team player of their choice. Nerazzurri coach Luciano Spalletti is a huge fan of the all-action Belgium midfielder, who missed on a spot at the World Cup, and wants to make him his fourth summer signing. Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio has already held talks in Milan with Nainggolan's agent. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Juventus have agreed deals to sign Russian international midfielder Aleksandr Golovin and Portugal full-back Joao Cancelo. The Bianconeri will pay CSKA Moscow €20m for Golovin, 22, having first opened negotiations six months ago and have beaten a number of top European clubs to his signature with Arsenal, Chelsea and Monaco also linked. Cancelo, 22, will arrive on a season-long loan from Valencia ahead of a €35m permanent switch next summer. (Tuttosport)
Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal enquired about signing Thomas Lemar this summer but the Monaco winger will join Atletico Madrid for a fee that could rise to €72m. While Liverpool and Arsenal failed to follow up their interest with a concrete offer, Chelsea asked Monaco to wait until their managerial situation was resolved but Lemar wanted his future resolved before the World Cup. (L'Equipe)
Bordeaux and Anderlecht are interested in signing Manchester City forward Thierry Ambrose. France forward Ambrose, 21, is yet to make a first-team appearances for City having joined from Auxerre in 2015. He enjoyed an encouraging spell on loan at NAC Breda last season, scoring 10 goals in 31 Eredivisie games. (L'Equipe)
