Real Madrid join Atletico Madrid in race for Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal could be willing to cash in on Alexandre Lacazette and Real Madrid have joined local rivals Atletico Madrid in the race for the French forward’s signature. The Sun reveal that Gunners boss Mikel Arteta is no longer seeing eye-to-eye with Lacazette and he is no longer in his manager’s long-term plans. The 29-year-old has just 18 months remaining on his current contract and Arsenal have “no plans” to discuss a new deal, opening the door to a potential summer exit. Real Madrid are keen to replace transfer flop Luka Jovic and find competition for Karim Benzema, while Lacazette has been a long-term target for Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid.

Paper Round’s view: Arsenal will need to sell Lacazette this summer, otherwise they risk losing him for free the following year. It’s been a tough few years for the Frenchman in north London. Gunners fans were desperate for a new striker and rejoiced when Lacazette was signed by Arsene Wenger back in 2017 – only for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to join the Premier League club just six months later. Lacazette has played second fiddle to Aubameyang ever since really. It might be harsh but his future doesn’t lie at Arsenal and if the club can sell him for a decent fee, they will be able to invest the money in other areas of the squad. A move to either Madrid club would be a step up to Champions League football as well. It could be a win-win if a transfer were to happen.

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho has reportedly held “crisis talks” with on-loan forward Gareth Bale. The Portugese boss’ voice was picked up by a microphone asking “You want to stay here? Or go to Real Madrid and play no football?” in a video released by Spurs. The Sun reveal that Mourinho was actually relaying a conversation he had with Bale to his coaching staff. The Welshman has made just one Premier League start since his fairytale return to Tottenham back in the summer transfer window. The Sun report that Mourinho is “running out of patience” with Bale after initially not even being keen on the club signing him on loan from Real Madrid for the season.

Paper Round’s view: It was meant to be a fairytale return to north London – but it certainly hasn’t worked out that way. Bale’s minutes have partially been limited by injury, but have mainly been limited due to the fact that Mourinho simply doesn’t fancy him. The 31-year-old has been an unused substitute in the past two Premier League matches – but the most telling sign from his manager was the fact that he wasn’t called upon when Tottenham desperately needed goal in their 1-1 draw against Fulham last week. Mourinho brought on Erik Lamela and Carlos Vinicius and kept one unused substitution. That speaks volume to a player like Bale… so it seems like the Wales international won’t be staying at Spurs next season.