Real Madrid and Chelsea in hunt for Bruno Guimaraes as Newcastle player may demand release clause – Paper Round

Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid are all keen to sign Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle, and his representatives may lobby for a release clause if he signs a new deal with his current club.

“The Magpies have been desperate to tie the Brazilian down amid interest from Real Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea.

“The midfielder, 25, has been in talks with Toon over a bumper new deal since the back end of last season.

“Guimaraes revealed in July that there were “doubts” over an extension having admitted he had held “conversations” with Madrid.

“Liverpool and Chelsea are also believed to have enquired over the summer, only to be told that the Samba star is not for sale.

“His representatives were keen for a release clause to be inserted in the new deal, which could be set well north of £100 million with Newcastle desperate not to lose him to a rival.”

The Daily Mail reports that Al-Ittihad forward Jota has been left out of the Saudi Pro League squad list, to accommodate the presence of Luiz Felipe.

That puts his future in doubt shortly after joining from Celtic.

“But just two months later, it has been reported that Jota, 24, has been left out of the club’s squad for league matches, to make way for new signing Luiz Felipe from LaLiga side Real Betis – even though the Italian is a defender, not a forward player.

“Luiz Felipe was signed close to the Saudi Arabian transfer deadline for a reported €22m (£18.8m), and it looks like it has caused Jota to move down the ranking at his new club.”

The Mirror believes that offers from Saudi Pro League sides may provide competition for Real Madrid for the signature of Kylian Mbappe, and may offer a fee to secure his arrival in the winter.

“Al-Hilal made a £257m bid to PSG to sign the forward earlier this summer, only for Mbappe himself to rebuff talks. Hilal, and their Saudi counterparts for that matter, find themselves in a similar position to Real Madrid should they make another attempt to sign him.

“They have the chance to swoop for his services on a free transfer from January, whilst they no doubt have the funds to try and tempt PSG into a sale in just four months’ time. Whether Mbappe would have changed his mind and would then be interested in a switch to Saudi Arabia at that time remains to be seen.”

Villarreal want to appoint Raul as their new manager, and Real Madrid have given the club legend permission to take the job.

“The coach is intrigued by the project that Villarreal offers him. It has nothing to do with other proposals he received in July and August. Eintracht Frankfurt, Schalke 04, Espanyol and Leeds are some of the teams that have shown interest in him, but he always put the Real Madrid project ahead of them, so much so that some of them were not even conveyed to the Real Madrid leaders.

“Villarreal’s challenge interests Raul, or at least has made him doubt staying with Los Blancos, something that has not always happened when he has been called by other clubs. It is not a simple locker room, something that can be confirmed by Quique Setien, a coach who could not handle veteran players with a lot of say within the group.”