Thursdays Rags

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Paper Talk & Gossip .. (Thursday July 16)


THE SUN
•Aston Villa fear striker Christian Benteke will be sold to Manchester United by the weekend as Louis van Gaal is set to activate a £32.5m release clause in his contract and beat Liverpool to his signature.
•Meanwhile, furious United boss Van Gaal has slammed goalkeeper Victor Valdes' attitude and wants to boot him out of Old Trafford.
•Robin van Persie's bitter Manchester United exit will be softened by a £12.3m pay packet.
•Everton manager Roberto Martinez has dismissed Manchester City's efforts to sign James McCarthy.
•Stewart Downing will seal his emotional £5m return to Middlesbrough today.
•Jack Wilshere wants talks with Arsene Wenger over his Arsenal position.
•Chelsea are keen on £24m Zenit St Petersburg schemer Axel Witsel.

DAILY MIRROR
•Tottenham are in talks to sell striker Roberto Soldado to Sevilla.
•Claudio Ranieri could make free agent striker Carlton Cole his first signing as Leicester boss.
•Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has insisted there is "no chance" star striker Gonzalo Higuain will leave the club this summer after he was linked with a host of clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United.
•Everton will not offer James McCarthy a new deal to ward off Manchester City and Tottenham.
•Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger does not want to sell Spanish full-back Nacho Monreal, amid reports from Spain that Athletic Bilbao are close to completing a £7m deal.
•Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen has admitted Brendan Rodgers would have been sacked following last season's meltdown had he been at another club.
•Slaven Bilic has warned West Ham are ready to hit the ground running and has already got Arsenal in his sights.
•He has also confirmed that he wants to hang onto midfielder Alex Song, who played for the club on loan from Barcelona last season.

DAILY STAR
•Manchester United are ready to make a final bid for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, while Madrid may take United keeper David De Gea on a free transfer next summer.
•Old Trafford boss Louis van Gaal has urged Argentina frontman Angel Di Maria to stick with United.
•Jack Wilshere insists Arsenal are ready to go toe-to-toe with Chelsea in the title race.

DAILY MAIL
•Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke is keen on forcing a move to Liverpool, but the Reds still need to agree a fee.
•Manchester United and Roma are tracking Argentina keeper Sergio Romero, 28, who is a free agent after leaving Sampdoria.
•Meanwhile, United have moved to beat Aston Villa for Barnsley's highly-rated right-back Mason Holgate.
•Raheem Sterling's agent Aidy Ward is set to pocket around £2m from his player's £49m move to Manchester City.
•Watford are in discussions with AZ Alkmaar over a £3.5m deal for winger Steven Berghuis.

THE EXPRESS
•Everton boss Roberto Martinez says midfielder James McCarthy, 24, will not be sold to Manchester City.
•Stewart Downing will earn a bonus of £1.8m a year if he can help Middlesbrough back into the Premier League.

THE TELEGRAPH
•Aston Villa are hopeful of signing Nice defender Jordan Amavi, 21, this week after agreeing a fee of around £9m.
•West Ham midfielder Mark Noble has praised the way Slaven Bilic has transformed the club, insisting they were no longer the "circus act" of yesteryear.