Real Madrid Target Moves for £50m Man United and Tottenham Pair

La Liga side hope to land Old Trafford and White Hart Lane youngsters.

Real Madrid are said to be lining up moves for Tottenham youngster Sandro and Man United striker Javier Hernandez as Jose Mourinho looks to his Bernabeu board to back him in the summer transfer market. The La Liga giants are looking to put pressure back on Barcelona as they look to bring in further young talents to boost the club’s hopes of wrestling European domination back from their arch rivals Barcelona.

Mourinho is on the look out for fresh attacking options after Real Madrid’s threadbare attack was highlighted by long term injury to Gonzalo Higuain that led to the need to depend on Karim Benzema who has recently kicked into form but the Portuguese boss is keen on Mexican international Javier Hernandez who has been in fine form at Man United and the La Liga side will struggle to persuade Sir Alex Ferguson to consider offers.

The Real Madrid boss will hope to lure Hernandez with a move to Spain and will make a substantial offer for the 22 year old Guadalajara born striker. Chicharito’s form has been such that Ferguson has been forced to drop the Premier League’s top scorer, Dimitar Berbatov, to accommodate the youngster.

Mourinho is also said to be interested in Tottenham midfielder Sandro who has put in some very effective displays this season, especially whilst on Champions League duty. With Real Madrid reportedly open to offers for French international Lassana Diarra, there may be room for the Brazilian international.

Harry Redknapp is in many ways suffering side effects of a terrific season that has led some of his top performers to become very real targets of Europe’s elite. Rafael Van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric are currently the subject of huge interest from club’s who have been impressed by the form they have shown consistently throughout the domestic and European campaigns.

Offers for the pair will run to around £50m and the former Chelsea boss will be looking to president Florentino Perez to back him over the summer as he looks to freshen up a squad that already possesses some of the to young talent in Europe. In order to help finance such deals it is thought that Kaka may be sacrificed as well as squad players such as Fernando Gago and Sergio Canales.

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Rangers takeover bid moves closer

One of the main obstacles to businessman Craig Whyte's takeover of Rangers appears to have been cleared. Lloyds Bank are close to an agreement with Whyte over wiping out the Ibrox club's debt.  Agreement with the bank would mean that the only remaining hurdle for the venture capitalist is to conclude terms with currrent owner Sir David Murray.

Whyte has been weighing up a deal since November. However, it is understood that the conclusion of any such deal would leave Murray responsible for any of Rangers' remaining tax liabilities. Earlier this week it was understood the main sticking point to the deal related to certain financial demands by the bank.

But Lloyds rejected this notion, saying it "categorically denies the existence of any exit or 'redemption' fee". Whyte, a Rangers fan who grew up in Motherwell, has targeted Thursday for the deal to be concluded, one in which London-based property developer Andrew Ellis would become a 25% partner. Rangers are expected to announce on Thursday that the club's debt with Lloyds has been cut to about £21m from the £27.1m figure recorded in June.

Sources close to the deal had said the bank's desire for a payment of more than £1m was just one of the key stumbling blocks to the proposed deal. The bank's statement continued: "Any potential takeover is a matter for Rangers Football Club and its shareholders. "Suggestions that Lloyds Banking Group is blocking a deal to acquire the club are baseless and without foundation. We understand the concerns of Rangers' supporters, given recent media speculation.

"Lloyds Banking Group recognises the importance of Rangers FC to its supporters, shareholders and to the wider football industry in Scotland. We are committed to supporting the board of Rangers FC in their plan to ensure the financial stability of the club."

Murray's shareholding of the club is around the 85% mark. He is thought to be looking for £6m for his shares, the same amount he paid for a controlling interest in the club in 1988. He stepped down as chairman in August 2009 and relinquished his place on the board.

Ellis's RFC Holdings had tried to buy the club last year but that bid collapsed. Although he is involved with Whyte's bid, Ellis will not put any money in up front. The financial machinations have left fans of the club "weary with it all", according to Rangers Supporters Trust spokesman Stephen Smith.

He said: "There have been various deadlines which have come and gone, the first being in December when there was talk of Walter Smith getting money for the January transfer window, with another being in February. "But meanwhile, it seems the bank's restriction have been detrimental to our abilities on the pitch.

"We have had to go with five loan players in our squad, while fighting in all three domestic competitions and in Europe. Now we are down to one competition, the title race, and that might come down to fine margins. And if Rangers lose out then Rangers fans will not forgive the bank."

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Liverpool Plot Moves to Sign Impressive £35m Quartet

Anfield side plan raid to sign French talents.

Liverpool will battle Arsenal for the 28-year-old Frenchman Philippe Mexes, who is likely to leave Roma on a free transfer when his contract ends at the close of the season, if they decide Gary Cahill is not worth the money, or indeed if Cahill decides Liverpool are not worth the hassle of moving house, and joins Manchester United instead. Also linked with moves to Anfield, not for the first time, are Real Sociedad’s Antoine Griezmann, St Etienne’s Dimitri Payet and Yann M’Vila of Rennes.

SOURCE: Guardian

Director of football Damien Comolli is busily building a summer shopping list as he looks to revamp Liverpool’s squad and will hope that the Anfield club’s money men provide funds to bring in this quartet.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is keen on bringing in another centre back to strengthen his defence and is now looking to Roma’s experienced French international Philippe Mexes who seems likely to leave the Stadio Olimpico after seven solid years at the Serie A side. Given that Jamie Carragher and Sotirios Kyrgiakos are getting on a bit then it would make sense to bring in some more back up.

The Merseyside club are also looking to bring in more natural width having used the likes of Maxi, Dirk Kuyt, Milan Jovanovic and Joe Cole with mixed results and one name that is continually linked with Liverpool is Dimitri Payet, the promising Saint Etienne man has recently been drafted into the French senior international set-up, such has been his progress. Antoine Griezmann is another French talent who could be drafted in to offer another wide option.

Yann M’Vila would add more steel to the club’s midfield although given the good form shown by Lucas, perhaps such a move is less crucial.

Comolli’s connections with the French youth and Under 21 teams appears to lead to him being linked with just about every young talent coming through in the country and it seems that Liverpool will look to bring in promising talent to merge with the young stars coming through the club’s academy system.

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