Former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta, 36, is closing in on becoming the successor to Arsene Wenger at the Emirates. (Daily Telegraph)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and director of football Txiki Begiristain have given permission for their assistant coach Arteta to speak to his old club. (Sport)
Arsenal also intend to speak to record goalscorer Thierry Henry about their vacant managerial position early next week. (Sky Sports)
Rafael Benitez, thought to be a target for West Ham, would prefer to stay as Newcastle manager, but wants assurances over transfer budgets from current owner Mike Ashley. (Daily Telegraph)
Benitez wants a transfer kitty of £100m, full control over transfers and a £6m-per-year contract to stay at St James’ Park. (Daily Express)
Liverpool want veteran Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, 40, who has left Juventus after 17 years, but may face competition from champions Manchester City. (Sun)
Juventus want to bring back Alvaro Morata, who played for the club from 2014-16. The 25-year-old scored 11 Premier League goals in 31 appearances in his first season at Chelsea. (Independent)
Chelsea have ruled out allowing the on-loan Michy Batshuayi, 24, to join Borussia Dortmund, but would welcome the German side signing Morata. (Daily Mirror)
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero, 29, says he only expects to play with Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi for Argentina, and that he is happy at the Etihad. (Corriere dello Sport in Italian)
The agent of Napoli midfielder Jorginho says a transfer to Manchester City will be a formality once the clubs agree on a fee. Napoli want up to £60m for the 26-year-old – but City will try to agree a price closer to £50m. (Manchester Evening News)
Napoli have placed a 120m euros (£104.7m) price tag on Senegal international centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, 26, in an attempt to deter Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United. (RAI Sport, via Football Italia)
Shakhtar Donetsk have announced that head coach Paulo Fonseca – who has been linked with West Ham and Everton – has signed a new two-year contract. (Shakhtar Donetsk)
Leicester have agreed a fee with Porto of £17.5m plus add-ons for defender Ricardo Pereira, 24. (A Bola, via Leicester Mercury)
Relegated West Brom are expected to focus on a new manager this week and could turn to Brentford head coach Dean Smith, 47. (London Evening Standard)
But caretaker boss Darren Moore, 44, the former Baggies defender, is set to be named full-time boss at the Hawthorns. (Birmingham Mail)
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho believes Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, will not be allowed to leave Real Madrid for a European league and predicts only a pre-retirement move to the MLS would be permitted. (Marca)
Paris St-Germain’s Brazil forward Neymar, 26, has returned to full training having sustained a broken metatarsal in February. (Daily Mail)
Ruben Neves says he has “no interest” in leaving Wolves despite reported interest in the 21-year-old midfielder from some of Europe’s biggest clubs. (Express and Star)
Leeds are targeting out-of-contract Hull striker Abel Hernandez, 27. (Yorkshire Post)
Rangers are expected to continue their pursuit of Brighton defender Connor Goldson, having had an initial bid for the 25-year-old rejected by the Seagulls. (Argus)
Thursday’s gossip
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