Paris Saint-Germain join Kai Havertz chase - European Paper Talk
Plus updates on Lionel Messi, Edinson Cavani and Nemanja Matic
Saturday 19 October 2019 09:50, UK
The focus returns to club football this weekend after the international break and the back pages are chock full of transfer news and more to reflect that.
So we asked our friends at Football Whispers to round up all the latest news and gossip from the continent.
France
Paris Saint-Germain forward Edinson Cavani has rejected an approach from David Beckham's new Major League Soccer franchise Inter Miami after reports he would become one of the former England captain's first big-name signings. (L'Equipe)
One club who are still in the hunt for the 32-year-old Uruguayan are Atletico Madrid. They would like to sign PSG's all-time leading scorer on a free transfer when his contract expires. Manchester United, Inter, Juventus and former side Napoli are also on alert. (L'Equipe)
Paris Saint-Germain have joined Barcelona, Real Madrid and a host of Premier League clubs in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen's highly-rated German international Kai Havertz. (Le10Sport)
Leeds United have joined Ligue 1 sides Lille and Marseille in the race to sign Al-Sadd's Algerian forward Baghdad Bounedjah. (Le Buteur)
Spain
Lionel Messi has clarified his comments about not wanting a contract for life at Barcelona. It recently emerged the Argentine's deal allows him to leave for free at the end of each season.
But the club captain says he has no intention of departing the Nou Camp. "What I said was that I don't want a contract that binds me," Messi said. "I don't want to be here if I'm not happy. I want to compete, perform and keep fighting for targets, not being here simply due to my contract." (Marca)
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has quashed talk he will sell Spanish midfielder Fabian Ruiz to one of La Liga's big two. "Fabian Ruiz? Leave? As someone wrote, why should I sell him for €60m if they had offered me €180m?" (AS)
Teenage talent Pedri has revealed he could have joined Real Madrid before signing for Barcelona. The Las Palmas midfielder, 16, will join the Catalans in the summer and said: "I had no luck [at Madrid]. I arrived the first day and I could not train for a snowfall, it was a brutal cold." (Sport)
Italy
Inter are concerned Manchester United will thwart their attempts to sign Nemanja Matic by triggering a one-year contract extension in the Serbian midfielder's contract. That would prevent the Nerazzurri agreeing a pre-contract with the 31-year-old in January. (Corriere dello Sport)
Inter boss Antonio Conte is desperate to sign a midfielder in January and has made Barcelona's Ivan Rakitic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio his two primary targets. (Calciomercato)
Chelsea are interested in Chievo Verona's 19-year-old midfielder Emanuel Vignato. The Italian Under-20 international is also being tracked by Bayern Munich, Milan and Internazionale. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
Napoli forward Dries Mertens is hopeful of extending his contract with the Neapolitans but has been linked with moves to China and Borussia Dortmund. His deal expires next summer. (Sky in Italy)
Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti is keeping an eye on Fiorentina midfielder Gaetano Castrovilli. The 22-year-old has spent the last two seasons out on loan with Serie B side Cremonese and has starred for La Viola since the start of the season. (Calciomercato)
Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke will go head-to-head for Atalanta's German full-back Robin Gosens. (Calciomercato)
Germany
Bayer Leverkusen are interested in bringing Real Madrid forward Lucas Vazquez to the Bundesliga. He's previously been linked with Arsenal and Milan. (Sport Bild)
Bayern legend Lothar Matthaus says Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Christian Eriksen is not of the requisite level to play for his former club. "For me he is not a player who helps the Bayern. If he's not good enough for Tottenham, he's not good enough for Bayern." (Sport1)
Turkey
Manchester United made an approach for Juventus' Turkish defender Merih Demiral this summer before deciding to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester City in a world-record deal for a defender. (Sporx)
