are surely tired of Jose Mourinho. After what can mildly be described as a contentious three-year spell at Real Madrid, in which the Portuguese endured numerous public spats with the club's players and board, Mourinho probably isn't someone welcome at the Bernabeu.
So it's little surprise that Madrid president Florentino Perez has told The Special One to do his shopping elsewhere. According to the , Chelsea have been told that and are not for sale.
According to the English publication, the Londoners are preparing a £100 million bid to land two of Madrid's brightest young talents. Mourinho's admiration for Varane stems back to the Frenchman's arrival at the Bernabeu in 2011, under then-boss Mourinho. The club's interest in Bale, however, is a fresher revelation.
As the ground thaws and London warms, Chelsea have continually been linked with big-money moves in the summer. Usually, though, the names have been Varane and . Whether Bale's name returns as the summer moves closer and closer will be an interesting story to follow.
It has been nearly a year since made an international splash at the 2014 World Cup with Louis van Gaal's Netherlands. It seems like it has been just as long since Depay has been rumoured to follow his then-national team coach to Manchester United.
Finally, then, there seems to be some progress. London daily reports that Depay arrived in England on Thursday to open negotiations with United.
According to the report, the Old Trafford club will offer the Netherlands international £130,000 a week and pay Depay's current club PSV Eindhoven a £25 million transfer fee in order to get the deal done.
's heroic goal that sent Real Madrid past Atletico and into the Champions League semifinals had the football world buzzing on Wednesday night, including some Internet buzz that perhaps Madrid could find room for the Mexican international on their squad after all.
That's looking doubtful, to put it gently, but that doesn't mean Chicharito isn't in demand. According to the , there are still no plans for the Manchester United loanee to return to his parent club, but West Ham are interested in bringing the striker back to England.
With West Ham preparing for their move into the Olympic Stadium in 2016, the club appear anxious to retool -- including trying again to convince David Moyes he should trade San Sebastian for East London, so says the -- to usher in a new era of competitiveness. And with one year remaining on his contract and a mooted £7 million price tag, Chicharito could well fit the bill.
Roberto Mancini's fondness for is no secret. The former Manchester City manager, now in charge at Inter, has singled out Toure for praise in at least two news conferences since returning to the San Siro in November.
The reports that Toure is, indeed, a summer target for the Italian club, but of more interest is that the Ivorian is only one of Inter's Man City targets. The second is former Fiorentina striker .
Inter have proposed taking Jovetic on loan with a view to buy at £15 million. The Mail reports that negotiations opened on Thursday and will continue. Considering City paid £22 million for the Montenegrin just two years ago, and the player's injury history, the reigning Premier League champions may well want their cash up front -- and potentially more of it than Inter have offered thus far.
Since Newcastle returned to the Premier League in 2010-11, the club have earned a reputation as France's second English side (you didn't think anyone could replace Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, did you?) French internationals Loic Remy, Mathieu Debuchy, Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa have all plied their trade at St James' Park at one point in their career, and could well be the next import from France to join the Magpies.
Sure, Ayew may be a Ghanaian international, but he was born in France and the entirety of his senior career -- and a couple years of his youth development -- has been spent at Marseille. And now, according to the , Ayew is set to swap the south of France for Tyneside.
Ayew's Marseille contract expires in the summer, making his price tag the sort Newcastle's hierarchy are famously fond of: free. Liverpool, Everton, Swansea, Roma, Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli all are supposedly interested, but the Mirror reports that Ayew is most likely destined for the Premier League.
What makes Newcastle more appealing than Liverpool, Everton or Swansea, then? According to the newspaper, a lucrative wage packet.
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