Gossip: £62m septet could leave Spurs as £16m Benrahma eyed

While Arsenal throw £10m and a four-year deal at Willian, Tottenham want to raise funds for Said Benrahma by selling players. Crazy.

WHERE THERE’S A WILL…
How incredibly Arsenal it was to provide signs of encouragement and happiness by winning the FA Cup, before announcing a decision to make 55 employees redundant a matter of days later. And then, hours after that, to mull over the choice between Willian and Philippe Coutinho.

The Daily Mirror believe they ‘have picked’ the former over his international teammate. While Arsenal ‘were offered the opportunity’ to bring Coutinho in on loan, Willian is seen as ‘the cheaper option’ and a player Mikel Arteta ‘ is keen to bring in even, if only for the one season’.

A reminder that Willian has been offered a reported £10m signing-on fee to go with what The Guardian say are ‘colossal’ wages on what the Daily Telegraph claim is a three-year deal with the possibility of a further 12 months.

And he is the ‘cheaper option’.

SERGE OF ADRENALINE
Across north London, Tottenham are choosing to generate transfer funds by selling players. It really is a maverick approach that might just stick.

Back with the Mirror, as they claim the sale of Serge Aurier could signal the start of ‘a complete defensive shake-up’. AC Milan and Monaco both want the £35m right-back, with Kyle Walker-Peters already Southampton-bound for £12m as clubs circle Ryan Sessegnon.

Tottenham insist he ‘is going nowhere despite loan interest from former club Fulham. But Tanguy Ndombele seems likelier to be ditched as he is ‘unhappy’.

Jose Mourinho is of the belief that the midfielder ‘can be a hit’ and so he is ‘not prepared to give up on the Frenchman just yet’. But they quite like Milan Skriniar and so could do ‘separate business’ in ‘a possible swap deal’.

SKIPP AND A JUMP
Juan Foyth has also been ‘targeted for incorporation’ by Leeds, which sounds very formal. A move worth £15m or so is mooted by TyC Sports.

The Evening Standard then suggest Jack Clarke and Oliver Skipp could both be targeted by Fulham in possible loan moves. Mourinho is willing to give the former ‘a chance to win a place’ in his squad and will ‘run the rule’ over a player who could potentially bring ‘competition’ in forward places.

In terms of signings, the Mirror are back to tell us that Said Benrahma is available at £16m and Tottenham ‘could steal a march’ on that deal due to Arsenal’s interest in Willian and Chelsea’s purchase of Hakim Ziyech.

Benrahma, the Championship’s best player this season, was valued at £25m by Brentford but ‘a more realistic’ figure would see him leave.