RB Leipzig midfielder Emil Forsberg could become Arsenal’s first signing since the appointment of Unai Emery as manager. Valued at £47m, the Swedish “anti-Zlatan” has also got antennae twitching at Atlético Madrid and Juventus. Freiburg’s Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu has revealed that Arsenal are after him too and has said he’ll hold talks with the club in the coming weeks. Soyoncu will cost around £35m, while the Gunners also have Juventus full-back Stephan Lichtsteiner lined up in their cross-hairs. The Swiss international is available on a free transfer from 1 July and Arsenal are reported to have a deal in place to sign him.
Having made it clear that he’s not entirely satisfied with life at Real Madrid in the immediate aftermath of their latest Champions League win, bicycle-kicking Welshman Gareth Bale is once again being linked with a summer move to Manchester United. José Mourinho is believed to be unconcerned by the amount of time Bale spends sidelined by injury, although some reports suggest Real’s match-winner is not hugely enamoured with the dreary manner in which Manchester United play under his potential new boss. German champions Bayern Munich are also understood to be monitoring the 28-year-old’s situation with interest. Having used his post-match interview to hint that he too might leave the Bernabéu this summer, Cristiano Ronaldo has since expressed regret over his comments and was decidedly more coy about his future during Sunday’s homecoming celebrations.
While much is regularly made of the manner in which Real “always find a way” to win the Champions League, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that it was Liverpool who found a way to lose it on Saturday night. Most people’s big finger o’blame is pointing at Loris Karius, whose brace of blunders either side of Gareth Bale’s stunning overhead kick gifted the match to the Spanish side. Having had question marks over his future going into the final, the German seems extremely unlikely to play again for Liverpool, who are expected to ramp up their interest in AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma, Roma’s Alisson and Atlético Madrid’s Jan Oblak.
Not deemed good enough to get in a very ordinary Everton’s side last season, Ademola Lookman was farmed out on loan to RB Leipzig and impressed the Bundesliga side’s bosses so much they want to make the move permanent.
Manchester United are ready to bid the thick end of £100m to bring Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Old Trafford, while Real Betis are eager to sign Andreas Pereira, the Brazilian winger who has spent the past two years on loan at Valencia and Granada. In other news pertaining to United, reports in Italy suggest Paul Pogba would quite like to go back to Juventus after a mixed season in which he shipped a lot of criticism.
And finally, Fulham will begin their preparations for life back in the Premier League by signing 20-year-old Auxerre midfielder Lamine Fomba.