Tuesday’s Paper Round leads on Manchester City and Newcastle’s interest in Pedro Neto, with Wolves wanting £60m for the winger. Elsewhere, Aston Villa are looking to sign Ross Barkley and would be willing to sell Diego Carlos as part of a reshuffle before their Champions League campaign. Meanwhile, Chelsea are willing to listen to offers for Trevoh Chalobah.
MAN CITY AND NEWCASTLE TARGET WOLVES STAR
Manchester City and Newcastle are both interested in winger Pedro Neto, but Wolves will demand £60m this summer, the Telegraph reports. Wolves will need to make a significant sale to help Gary O’Neil reshape his squad, and Neto could be the ideal player to sell given his admirers.
Neto endured an injury-hit season, but Wolves still want at least £60m before they consider any offers for the 24-year-old.
The Telegraph adds: “Wolves are under no pressure to raise money to avoid breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules this summer, after their £140 million-plus sales last year.
“Matheus Nunes, Ruben Neves, Raúl Jiménez, Nathan Collins and Conor Coady were the high-profile exits last summer as Wolves took drastic action to prevent breaking the financial regulations.
“Yet head coach Gary O’Neil is aware that reshaping his squad ahead of next season will depend on a significant sale, with Neto admired by a number of clubs.
“Despite the winger’s season being disrupted by two separate hamstring injuries, Neto still ended the campaign with two goals and nine assists.”
VILLA CLOSE TO SIGNING BARKLEY
Ross Barkley is close to sealing a permanent basis to Aston Villa four years on from his loan spell at the club from Chelsea, the Guardian reports.
The 30-year-old impressed this season at Luton, who were relegated, and it is believed Barkley has a one-year deal remaining on his deal at the Hatters.
The Guardian adds: “The arrival of Barkley for a modest fee would represent shrewd business and a similar low-risk deal to when Villa signed Youri Tielemans at the end of his Leicester contract. Barkley has also been linked with Manchester United. Villa want two midfielders, a full-back and a forward. They are among the clubs interested in signing Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
“Villa need to be wary of profitability and sustainability rules despite the windfall from qualifying for the Champions League. For their latest accounts, covering 2022-23, Villa posted a £119.6m loss. Offloading Philippe Coutinho, who spent last season on loan in Qatar with Al-Duhail, will be among their main tasks. They may also have to consider serious offers for Jacob Ramsey, their homegrown midfielder.”
VILLA WILLING TO SELL CARLOS
Aston Villa are willing to listen to offers for Diego Carlos, while Jacob Ramsey will only leave if the club are unable to sell other players, according to the Telegraph. Villa may have qualified for the Champions League, which gives them a £50m boost, but they will still need to comply with financial rules after posting losses recently.
Ramsey has admirers in the form of Newcastle, Liverpool and Tottenham, and as an academy product would go down as pure profit, while Carlos would lighten the club’s wage bill.
The Telegraph adds: “Central defender Carlos has already attracted some attention and the fact he has two years remaining on a contract thought to be worth around £100,000-a-week means Villa could sell him.
“The 31-year-old joined Villa for a reported £26m two years ago, which would make his book value to the club £13m and Italian sources have claimed AC Milan have already shown an interest in him.
“While selling Carlos would not, in itself, give Villa a huge PSR boost, it would free up value space on the wage bill and give them a bit more breathing space.”
CHELSEA WANT £25M FOR CHALOBAH
Chelsea are willing to sell Trevoh Chalobah for £25m this summer and are braced for bids for the defender, the Telegraph reports. The 24-year-old was the subject of interest from Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Nottingham Forest last summer, and turned down a move to Forest.
Chalobah’s preference is for a club playing in Europe, but a move to Germany may no longer be on the cards.
The Telegraph writes: “A move to Bayern fell through late in last summer’s transfer window and the Germans have since signed Eric Dier, while Tottenham still want to sign a new central defender.
“It is believed that Chelsea will value Chalobah at around £25m again this summer and his sale would help the club’s profit and sustainability situation.
“Injuries meant that Chalobah did not make a single first-team appearance this season until February. But since then he has performed superbly and Chelsea did not lose a single League game in which he started.
“Chalobah started all five of Chelsea’s final League games which they won to secure European qualification for next season and scored in the victory over Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.”