Transfer Rumours: Stoke Eye Up Hart, Wolves Rule Out Rondon, Man Utd Lead Race for Fernandes & More

Yes, it's that time again everybody.

Transfer rumours are flying about left, right and centre and on today's edition of the rumours mill, we've got plenty of interesting stories to dissect - with Antonio Valenica considering a move to Sheffield United and Stoke offering Joe Hart a lifeline amongst them.

Here's a look at the latest stories from around Europe.

Serie A Top Dogs All After Manolas

Kostas Manolas - who seems to have been linked with a move away from Roma every summer since the dawn of time - is generally considered to be one of the most complete defenders in Serie A. It therefore comes as no surprise to see his name crop up once again.

Juventus, Napoli and now Milan are all looking to make an approach for the 28-year-old, according to Sportitalia (via Football Italia), but Roma are unsurprisingly unwilling to let him go for anything less than his €36m release clause.

For reasons that are somewhat unclear, Milan responded to Roma's valuation by instead asking for a discount. Good luck with that one, lads.

Stoke Prove They Aren't Hart-Less

Poor old Joe Hart. Nothing has been going his way over the past few years and the former Head & Shoulders aficionado appears to be stuck in an inescapable cycle of disappointing every new club he signs for...by being generally rubbish.

Now it appears Stoke are willing to offer him yet another lifeline if they are forced to part ways with Jack Butland this summer. Aston Villa are looking like strong contenders to land the England number two for around £20m and The Sun are reporting that the Potters will look to replace him with Hart.

A drop down to the Championship would probably make sense for Hart, but you can almost guarantee it's all going to go wrong for him.

Wolves Pull Out of Race for Salomon Rondon

Salomon Rondon did (surprisingly?) well on loan at Newcastle last season and West Brom's failure to earn promotion back into the Premier League almost guarantees that he'll return to the top flight next season.

Wolves won't be in the running to land him on a permanent deal though as, according to Football Insider, the Venezuelan's £16.5m release clause will be far too costly - or maybe it's just because he isn't Portuguese, who knows?

Newcastle and West Ham remain in the hunt, so there will still be plenty more to come from this particular saga, that's for sure.

Ivan Perisic Is Unhappy at Inter...and Is Unhappy With the Teams Who Want to Take Him Away From Inter

Ivan Perisic may be starting to creep beyond his prime, but he's still a decent player - just ask any England supporter, they'll be sure to let you know how they feel about him.

He's likely to be on the move this summer, with FC Inter News claiming that Arsenal, Leicester and Wolves all expressing an interest in the Inter winger. Unfortunately, there's a catch for all three teams.

Arsenal, as has been well reported, have basically no money to spend and will be playing Europa League football and Perisic is said to be uninterested in signing for either Leicester or Wolves. It's a bold approach from Ivan the Terrible, so let's see how it plays out.

Manchester United Go All Out for Bruno Fernandes

We all know Bruno Fernandes is a very, very good player. We all know basically everyone in Europe wants a piece of him. So what's new today?

Well, it appears Manchester United are willing to pull out all the stops to land him this summer and, as reported by O Jogo, the move will not depend on whether the Red Devils end up selling Paul Pogba to Real Madrid.

Radio Rossonera also claim that United are 'leading the race' to sign Fernandes for £70m, ahead of Premier League rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, who are also keeping a close eye on the midfielder.

Antonio Valenica's Future Could Lie in Ecuador or Sheffield

To say that Antonio Valencia has a variety of options in front of him this summer would be a severe understatement.

Ecuadorian publication Tera Deportes have listed a number of sides that are supposedly interested in snapping up the former Manchester United man, including Liga de Quito, Barcelona, Galatasaray or Sheffield United. The Blades, being the only Premier League outfit still in the running, could then stand a decent chance at landing the 33-year-old.

The Daily Mail have also claimed that Sheffield United have already sent an offer through to the free agent, so expect to hear further developments on this story over the coming weeks.

Man Utd Will Be Making a Bid for Sean Longstaff This Summer

Sean Longstaff cropped out of seemingly nowhere to impress for Newcastle in 2018/19, making a string of fine performances before having his season cut short through injury.

Those performances have warranted plenty of interest from Manchester United and, according to the Evening Standard, the Red Devils will be making a bid for the 21-year-old at some point this summer.

A little vague, but the report does note that a bid will only come after United have filled the priority areas of right back and centre back - which means we may be waiting until transfer deadline day before this one even takes off.

West Ham Apparently 'Love' Jasper Cillessen

West Ham have a very good goalkeeper in the shape of Lukasz Fabianski, which pretty much negates the need to waste money on signing another very good goalkeeper. Right?

Sport do not agree with this sentiment and seem to be under the impression that West Ham would willing to offer Barcelona €20m to sign reserve keeper Jasper Cillessen. Everton, who already have two goalkeepers in their ranks, are also being linked.

The Hammers do need a new reserve keeper after Adrian's departure, but would Cillessen really want to move from being the second choice keeper at the Nou Camp to being *potentially* the second choice keeper at the London Stadium? It's a transfer story that really doesn't make all that much sense and should therefore be taken with more than a pinch of salt.

Source : 90min