Ranking the Week's 20 Hottest Transfer Rumours with Zlatan, Willian, Saul, Mane
With summer tournaments fast approaching, including UEFA Euro 2016 and the Copa America Centenario, several clubs have made an early start on their transfer activity, with Liverpool, Bayern Munich and others already confirming done deals.
There's certainly more to come, though, so we've rounded up the biggest rumours of the week and ranked them according to the players' reputations, the sizes of the fees involved and the recent successes or sizes of the buying clubs.
This time out, we've got Jose Mourinho's first targets after his confirmation as Manchester United boss, potential movement in both directions between Serie A and La Liga and plenty more besides.
20. Luis Hernandez
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Leicester City's title defence is not going to be the sort that sees them splash out on two or three £30 million-rated stars—as evidenced by their soon-to-be first signing, Sporting Gijon's Luis Hernandez.
The centre-back enjoyed a largely impressive season in La Liga, helping his team avoid relegation, and the Foxes look set to bring him in on a free transfer.
The Leicester Mercury reported the Spaniard will provide competition to regular defensive partnership Wes Morgan and Robert Huth at the King Power Stadium.
19. Markus Henriksen
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Gareth Vincent of the South Wales Evening Post reported Swansea City are targeting AZ Alkmaar's Markus Henriksen.
A £6 million asking price won't deter the Welsh club, with the Norwegian's agent, Jim Solbakken, reported by CalcioMercato.com (h/t the South Wales Evening Post) as suggesting the likes of Napoli, AC Milan and Everton were also in the frame for his signature.
Henriken scored 12 times last season.
18. Mario Balotelli
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Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli is being offered an escape route to Turkey, according to SportMediaset (h/t James Benson of the Express).
It's stated Galatasaray want to bring the striker to the Super Lig ahead of next term, with AC Milan not keen to extend his loan deal with the club after the forward failed to make an impact this season.
Balotelli was left out of Italy's squad for Euro 2016.
17. Martin Skrtel
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Long-serving Liverpool central defender Martin Skrtel is set to leave the club this summer, reported ESPN FC.
The Slovakian is wanted by Besiktas, and his agent, Karol Csonto, suggested to TV Markiza (h/t ESPN FC) he is "90 per cent certain" to leave Anfield, having fallen to fourth choice behind the likes of Kolo Toure and Dejan Lovren.
Inconsistency has plagued Skrtel's form for years, and his horror show at Southampton in March—off the bench at half-time with Liverpool 2-0 up and contributing heavily to a 3-2 loss—seems to have been the final nail in his coffin at the club.
16. Georginio Wijnaldum
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Newcastle United could lose one or two of their top talents because of their relegation from the Premier League, with Dutch midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum one player considering his future.
RomaNews (h/t Chris Waugh of Chronicle Live) quoted Wijnaldum's agent, Humphrey Nijman, as saying the midfielder is thinking about what to do and that Roma, a team he has been linked with, are a "great club."
Wijnaldum could cost around £12 million.
15. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic has told Manchester United he wants £220,000 per week to join them this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano and Marcus Christenson in the Guardian.
The Swedish striker is leaving Paris Saint-Germain upon the expiration of his contract in June and will be in demand—at least among the few clubs who could meet his enormous wage demands.
Zlatan is a known admirer of Jose Mourinho and would certainly give United a lift even though they are not in the UEFA Champions League next season.
14. Dani Alves
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Longtime Barcelona right-back Dani Alves could be set to depart the club, with Ed Malyon of the Mirror reporting he has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave on a free transfer.
Juventus are the interested party, with the Brazilian ready to make the move after June's Copa America following a farewell party at his current club.
Alves, 33, has been at the Camp Nou since 2008. His agent, Dinorah Santana, told Marca there was no agreement in place with Juve yet, although she revealed she had spoken with the Turin club, as well as Turkish, English and French sides.
13. Breel Embolo
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Tottenham Hotspur are in the market for FC Basel striker Breel Embolo, with the Swiss forward seemingly in demand this summer.
French outlet Mercato365 (h/t James Gray of the Express) stated Red Bull Leipzig have already made a big offer for the forward but that Spurs and other European sides are also in the running to sign him.
Embolo is in his nation's provisional squad for Euro 2016.
12. Danny Rose
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Pep Guardiola wants to sign eight new players for Manchester City this summer, according to Dave Kidd of the Mirror, with Tottenham Hotspur left-back Danny Rose one of those.
The England international could cost around £15 million, a reasonably small portion of a huge £200 million the Spanish manager reportedly wants to invest to reinvigorate a squad that fell well short of expectations last term.
A goalkeeper, centre-back, central midfielder and winger all look high on Pep's priority list too.
11. Yaya Toure
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Yaya Toure's future is no closer to being resolved after the Manchester City man turned down two potential moves.
Jamie Jackson of the Guardian wrote the Ivorian has rejected deals that would've seen him move to the Chinese Super League, with Shanghai SIPG and Jiangsu Suning both offering £30 million deals to the midfielder.
Toure also dismissed Inter Milan as an option, and he would reportedly prefer to remain in the Premier League next season. He has just over one year left on his City contract.
10. Kurt Zouma
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Chelsea centre-back Kurt Zouma could be on his way to AS Roma—but a complicated wait-and-see game will dictate his future.
That's according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t David Wright of the Express), with Roma having a £7 million compulsory purchase agreement in place for Antonio Rudiger, who is on loan from Stuttgart. CalcioMercatoWeb said Liverpool want to immediately sign the German from Roma for £15 million, though, giving the Serie A side a quick profit.
If that happens, La Gazzetta dello Sport said Roma want to replace him with Zouma, who may want to leave west London for Champions League football.
9. Mattia De Sciglio
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Bayern Munich's incoming boss, Carlo Ancelotti, has earmarked AC Milan full-back Mattia De Sciglio as a potential summer signing, with Juventus also interested in the defender.
That's according to La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Gazzetta World), which indicated De Sciglio is one of a handful of players Milan do not want to sell—despite the fact he was out of favour for much of the second half of last season.
De Sciglio, comfortable on either side of defence, was part of the Milan team that reached and lost the most recent Coppa Italia final.
8. Ilkay Gundogan
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Pep Guardiola's first signing at Manchester City will be Ilkay Gundogan, per James Robson of the Manchester Evening News.
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder would cost £17.8 million. He is injured with a knee problem and will miss Euro 2016, but Guardiola had already earmarked him as the perfect midfield addition.
The deal is "practically done," according to the MEN's sources in Germany.
7. Kostas Manolas
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Roma centre-back Kostas Manolas is a prime candidate to fill the defensive void at Manchester United.
Sky Sport Italia (h/t Uche Amako of the Express) suggested United want the Greek this summer and are willing to pay £30 million for him, with Chelsea also keen to make their interest known.
Manolas could be Mourinho's first signing at Old Trafford.
6. Sadio Mane
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Liverpool are looking at continuing a recent theme and trying to sign a Southampton star to boost their squad.
Chris McKenna of the Daily Star reported the Reds turned their attention to Sadio Mane following Mario Gotze's decision to stay in Germany rather than move to the Premier League.
Mane is rated at around £25 million by the Saints, and the McKenna stated Manchester United had an offer turned down for him last year.
5. Oscar
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Incoming Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has been told one of his tasks is to break up the squad's Brazilian clique, according to Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph.
To that end, one of Conte's challenges this summer will be to offload attacking midfielder Oscar, with Juventus and Chinese Super League clubs said to be interested.
Alexandre Pato's loan deal won't be extended and Diego Costa may also leave, according to the report.
4. Alvaro Morata
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Jose Felix Diaz of Marca reported that Real Madrid still intend to exercise their buyback option on Juventus striker Alvaro Morata even though his price has gone up to €30 million as a result of the fact he has played in more than half of the Italian club's games since his switch to Turin in 2014.
In addition, Real have until July 15 to activate the clause, giving them time to negotiate a sell-on agreement with a third club to raise an instant profit.
Premier League clubs, including Arsenal, have previously been linked with the frontman.
3. Romelu Lukaku
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Everton forward Romelu Lukaku looks set to depart the club this summer, with Manchester United and Chelsea both chasing his signature.
John Cross of the Mirror reported it is Lukaku's former club Chelsea that will win the battle, signing the player for £65 million after selling him for £28 million in 2014.
The Belgian would be expected to lead the line under new boss Conte.
2. Saul Niguez
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Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul only signed a new contract until 2021 as recently as May 18—but Mourinho wants to make him one of the new faces of Manchester United.
Saul, included in Spain's provisional Euro 2016 squad although he is uncapped at senior level, has had a fantastic season with Atleti since breaking into the team on a regular basis in November and has a release clause in excess of £50 million.
Simon Rice of the Independent reported Mourinho and United are willing to pay the fee, however—especially on the back of the success of last summer's big-money signing, Anthony Martial, who cost an initial £36 million.
1. Willian
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Chelsea might be looking to break up the Brazilian clique in the squad, but one player going nowhere is Willian.
Manchester United's new boss, Mourinho, has reportedly already hinted he wants to sign his former player, but Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard stated Chelsea would refuse to let the attacking midfielder go—even if they received a £60 million bid.
Willian has two years left on his deal with the Blues.
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