Zinedine Zidane has left the door open for Manchester United to land Gareth Bale this summer as Real Madrid line up a move for AS Monaco star Kylian Mbappe. Elsewhere, Chelsea wants Arsenal's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in a $65.6m move to bolster their homegrown squad at Stamford Bridge, while AC Milan has moved to sign Chelsea “misfit” Diego Costa after opening talks with his agent Jorge Mendes about taking him to Italy. Here's a full report of the latest summer transfer updates:
Bale may likely join Manchester United
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has made no secret of his “admiration” for the Welshman and Madrid's desire to sign Monaco star Kylian Mbappe could apparently force the Spanish club to let Bale go, according to the Independent.
Zidane told reporters: “I hope Ronaldo, Benzema, and Bale stay this season, I hope everyone remains here, but anything can happen right up until the end of August.”
Out of these three players Zidane mentioned, Bale is most likely to depart Santiago Bernabeu this summer. The Wales international is expected to start in the most “advanced” attacking role when Madrid face Manchester United in the UEFA Super Cup in August as Cristiano Ronaldo takes a break following FIFA Confederation Cup duty with his country Portugal.
Chelsea is in need of homegrown players
According to Daily Mail, Chelsea is in the race to sign Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Everton's Ross Barkley in a bid to bolster their homegrown number this season.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte needs options after allowing John Terry, Nathaniel Chalobah and Asmir Begovic to leave the club this summer window, all of whom counted towards the homegrown quota in the Chelsea roster. Conte is aware Chelsea can only have seventeen foreign players in their twenty-five man roster for the season. A homegrown player does not have to have been born in the UK but has to have been “registered” with any FAW or FA club for three years.
AC Milan interested in Diego Costa
Diego Costa has not played any part in Chelsea's preseason matches, opting to head to Brazil while his next move is decided. According to SkySports, AC Milan chief Marco Fassone has now confirmed that he discussed with Costa's agent Jorge Mendes over a possible deal. The AC Milan chief executive said: “I would prefer to avoid talking about players from other clubs.
No doubt, Costa is a fantastic player but still a Chelsea player.”
“I met with Jorge Mendes (Costa agent), there's a lot you can as well talk to him about. Like I said earlier, Diego Costa is a fantastic player, but he is of Chelsea for now.”
