Sport
Bartomeu rejects Messi’s transfer, Mane eye Barcelona
Lionel Messi’s father has told Paris St-Germain that the Barcelona and Argentina forward, 33, wants to join Manchester City. (L’Equipe – in French)
Messi called Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola last Tuesday – before telling Barcelona he wants to leave – and told him ‘I want to win the next two Ballon d’Or awards, and I can only do that with you’. (Marca)
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has rejected a meeting with Messi to negotiate his departure and is clinging to a £624m termination clause. (El Periodico – in Spanish)
Chelsea are interested in signing AC Milan and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, 21. (Football Insider)
Liverpool and Netherlands midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum, 29, is wanted by Barcelona. (Goal)
Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is open to a move to Barcelona
Everton have agreed personal terms with Real Madrid’s James Rodriguez, 29, after the Colombian winger spent the last two seasons on loan at Bayern Munich. (beIN via Sun)
Republic of Ireland right-back Matt Doherty, 28, will have a medical with Tottenham on Saturday after they agreed to pay an initial £12m to Wolves. (Football London)
Senegal forward Sadio Mane, 28, is open to leaving Liverpool and re-joining former Southampton boss Ronald Koeman at Barcelona. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish)
Freiburg and Germany defender Robin Koch, 22, has agreed personal terms with Leeds United. (Football Insider)
Manchester United are close to completing deals for young Spanish full-backs Marc Jurado, 16, and Alvaro Fernandez, 17, who would join from Barcelona and Real Madrid’s youth set-ups respectively. (Sky Sports)
Aston Villa are set to beat off competition from Sheffield United and Fulham to complete a £12m deal for Nottingham Forest right-back Matty Cash, 23. (Telegraph – subscription required)
Real Betis are closing in on the signing of Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, 37, who has been released by Manchester City. (Marca)
AC Milan are in talks over re-signing Bournemouth goalkeeper Asmir Begovic after having the 33-year-old Bosnian on loan for the second half of last season. (Telegraph – subscription required)
Inter Milan are in the final stages of negotiating a £1.34m deal to sign Roma’s Serbia left-back Aleksandar Kolarov, 34. (Gazzetta dello Sport – in Italian)
