Manchester United, City, Liverpool and Newcastle all battle for £35m Gabriel Veiga – Paper Round

United face battle for Veiga

Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool and Manchester City are all targeting Celta Vigo’s Gabri Veiga, according to the Mirror.

The 20-year-old looks set to leave in the summer, and with United perhaps losing Fred and other players, and as their Premier League rivals all hope to reinforce, there could be a bidding war on the cards.

“Mirror Football told you a fortnight ago that Manchester United and Newcastle were among those looking at the 20-year-old. And Manchester City and Liverpool are also keen, with super agent Pini Zahavi guiding the youngster.

“Veiga will cost around £35million and United lead the chase, having sent scouts to watch him six times this season.

The report also suggests that: “Tottenham are looking at Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte — one of the Sporting Lisbon stars who helped knock Arsenal out of the Europa League this month.”

Tuchel identifies two Chelsea targets

The Sun writes that Thomas Tuchel would like to sign two of his former players at Chelsea, now that he is the new manager at Bayern Munich.

After replacing Julian Nagelsmann at the Allianz Arena, he is looking at Edouard Mendy and Mateo Kovacic as potential summer targets.

“Mendy has fallen out of favour under the German head coach’s successor Graham Potter, who prefers Kepa Arrizabalaga between the sticks.

“The Senegal international has a contract with the West Londoners until 2025 but is among the lowest earners at Stamford Bridge.

“SunSport recently revealed that the 31-year-old turned down a six-year deal because he felt the club did not show him enough “respect” over wages.

“Kovacic, on the other hand, has a deal that runs out next year and Potter will be looking to make some space on his inflated squad after a busy January market.”

United bids may fail

The Mail reports that the Glazer family remains split over the potential sale of Manchester United, wth Avram Glazer and Joel Glazer less inclined to sell unless there is a huge offer on the table.

Three bids have been put forward, as has a financing deal from Elliott Investment Management.

“With the highest offers so far in the region of £5billion, from Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, of Qatar, and from Britain’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe and with the Glazers understood to want at least £6bn, there are growing concerns no outright sale will happen.

“This would be seen as worst-case scenario by many fans, who have largely reviled the Glazers since their leveraged buyout in 2005.

“The eldest of them, Avram, 62, is understood to be against a full sale of the club and so by asking Raine to attract bidders, he was effectively on a ‘fishing expedition’ to see how much they might theoretically get, at some undefined point on the future.

“Joel Glazer, 55, is thought to be reticent but ‘persuade-able’ about a full sale, as long as they bank a massive premium. So the second possibility is a sale will proceed, but only at close to £6bn.

“The other four siblings, Bryan 58, Kevin 56, Edward 50 and Darcie 52, are rumoured to be in favour of selling at a big profit, but not necessarily for as much as £6bn. Family dynamics will dictate what happens and, as the Glazers are famously silent, it is anyone’s guess what happens next.”

Laporta hopes to bring Lionel Messi back

The Argentine striker is out of contract in the summer, and has been linked with a move away from Parc des Princes.

“Speculation continues as to a potential return to Camp Nou for the number 10 as his contract comes to an end at Paris Saint-Germain this summer,” the paper writes.

“‘I have to find a way to improve Messi’s current relationship with Barcelona,’ the president assured a couple of days ago on the Youtube channel The Business and Money Behind Sports.

“‘We’ll see, but he knows that Barcelona’s doors are open to him.

“‘Messi is the best player in history. He has been the most important player in Barcelona’s history,’ Laporta continued.

“’I have to be very careful with what I say because he is a PSG player and I have to have respect.’

“In fact, Laporta has always left the door open to the Argentine and has never hidden his admiration.”