Mahrez leaving Manchester City for Al-Ahli, Spurs to get Blackburn’s Phillips
Riyad Mahrez is poised to leave Manchester City for the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli after a £30m deal was agreed for the Algerian.
Mahrez was signed by City in summer 2018 for about £60m and has won four Premier League titles, the Champions League and two FA Cups there. He also also claimed the title at Leicester in 2016. The 32-year-old will follow Ilkay Gündogan out of City as Pep Guardiola embarks on a mini rebuild.
Tottenham are poised to sign the England Under-19 international Ashley Phillips after triggering the £3m release clause in his contract at Blackburn. The 18-year-old centre-back signed a three-year contract with Blackburn last summer and won the Championship award for apprentice of the year last season, during which he made 14 appearances across all competitions.
Spurs were interested in Phillips last summer and Ange Postecoglou remains keen to add at least one senior centre-back, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba and Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven of interest. Phillips is scheduled to undergo a medical over the next 24 hours and could then fly to Asia to join Spurs on their pre-season tour.
Spurs are in Australia, where they lost 3-2 against West Ham on Tuesday. After the game Postecoglou said: “I don’t think it’s any secret about some of the areas we needed to strengthen. The goalkeeper was one and central defence is another.”
Tottenham recently addressed their need for a goalkeeper with the €19m arrival of Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli, and the midfielders James Maddison and Manor Solomon have also joined.
Wolves have all but sealed a return for Matt Doherty on a free, three years since sanctioning an almost £15m move to Tottenham. The 31-year-old full-back, who spent the second part of last season at Atlético Madrid, has agreed a three-year deal and will become Wolves’ first signing of note this window.
Doherty, who first joined Wolves from Bohemians in 2010, will undergo a medical on Wednesday. Wolves are seeking further additions and remain keen on the Bristol City midfielder Alex Scott, despite having two bids rejected for the teenager. They are also in talks over a deal to sign Aaron Cresswell from West Ham, who are keen to replace the left-back by buying Chelsea’s Ian Maatsen.
West Ham are open to selling Cresswell, who joined from Ipswich in 2014, but are not happy with an opening bid of £2.5m from Wolves and are expected to demand about £5m. West Ham are looking to add more youth. Maatsen spent last season on loan at Burnley, who want to bring the Dutch youngster back to Turf Moor, and his performances for Vincent Kompany’s team have made him a target for several clubs.
Chelsea have not made a decision on Maatsen’s future and the 21-yearold has made a positive impression on the head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, in pre-season. However Chelsea also have Ben Chilwell, Marc Cucurella and Lewis Hall and Maatsen could be forced to look elsewhere for regular football.
Chelsea’s asking price for Maatsen of about £20m could be a problem for Burnley. Nottingham Forest are tracking Maatsen, a product of Chelsea’s academy, and there is interest from overseas. West Ham’s technical director, Tim Steidten, has shortlisted Maatsen and they could make their move if Cresswell departs.
Cresswell has been important at West Ham but Emerson Palmieri started instead of the 33-year-old in the Europa Conference League final last season. Cresswell signed a one-year extension last month but Wolves are offering a new challenge and talks with West Ham over a fee are unlikely to be complicated.
Moyes is rebuilding after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m and is looking for additions in midfield and central defence. West Ham have failed with a bid to sign the Manchester United defender Harry Maguire on loan and are tracking the Monaco midfielder Youssouf Fofana. Steidten is driving the interest in Fofana. West Ham have failed with a bid for Fulham’s João Palhinha and other midfield targets include Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse, Everton’s Amadou Onana, Ajax’s Edson Álvarez and United’s Scott McTominay.
Burnley have signed the Switzerland striker Zeki Amdouni on a five-year deal. The 22-year-old scored 12 times for Basel in the Swiss Super League last season and was the Europa Conference League’s top scorer with seven goals.