Lille’s owner Gerard Lopez reveals that his club have received ‘multiple bids’ for forward Victor Osimhen.

The Ngeria international has scored 18 goals for Lille in his debut season in Ligue 1 and the 21-year-old has attracted interest from Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham.

Lopez wants a fee close to the £72m Arsenal paid for Nicolas Pepe, and the Lille owner told the Daily Mail: “There are multiple offers.

“We turned down one English and one Spanish offer this January transfer window.

“There is a wide array [this summer] and I wouldn’t want to give the names of the clubs who are bidding but what I can tell you is that there are multiple [offers]. There are three championships that have clubs that have bid for him.”

Clubs in Spain and Italy are also keen on the Nigerian international forward, and the Lille owner believes the club can command the same fee as they recouped for Pepe.

“I am not being a sales guy because last year people didn’t believe that we had the offers we had with [Nicolas] Pepe and it turns out we had multiple of them,” Lopez added.

“Let me tell you with Osimhen, it is the same thing, whatever number you heard, the high number I have read is very much on the money of the offers that we have received. That’s where we are.”

Chelsea have moved ahead of Arsenal in the race to sign Philippe Coutinho as Barceloan have finally agreed to a loan deal for the Brazilian.

The former Liverpool star has been widely linked with a return to the Premier League ahead of the 2020-21 season.

Barcelona will request a minimum offer of €10m from any English club looking to secure a loan move for Coutinho.

However, due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, clubs are unlikely to match Barcelona’s €80m asking price.

Coutinho has spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Bundesliga superpower Bayern Munich, but the German club have opted against activating their €120m purchase clause.

Any potential future loan will now include, according to Football Espana, an obligatory purchase clause, rumoured to be set at €70m.

According to reports from Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan giants are now willing to facilitate a second successive loan move.

The Express claim Arsenal and Chelsea are vying for Coutinho’s signature, but the Blues are the frontrunners.

Coutinho’s agent Kia Joorabchian has made it clear his client favours a return to the Premier League after producing his best football at Liverpool.

Sassuolo confirm Jeremie Boga ‘has offers from Italy and abroad, but the objective is to keep him’ at the Mapei Stadium.

The 23-year-old is in his second season at Sassuolo, having purchased him for €3m from Chelsea.

Although the Stamford Bridge team does have a buy-back option, it seems they have no real intention of using it.

“When he arrived here with us, few knew who Boga was, so our scouting department deserves credit for finding this talent and our coach Roberto De Zerbi for helping him to grow,” Sassuolo director Giovanni Carnevali told Rai Radio 1 as cited by Football Italia.

“He has many offers from Italy and abroad. Sassuolo made a real effort to sign him outright and now we will evaluate the situation. The objective is to keep him with us, because we must have a project and focus on growth. Sacrificing the biggest names is sometimes necessary, but not always.

“Boga will continue to have clubs clamouring for him, and it’ll be good for us if he continues to get stronger. The aim is to keep him at Sassuolo.”

Michael Ballack has revealed why he had no issue with picking a move to Chelsea over joining Manchester United.

Chelsea had won back-to-back titles under Jose Mourinho just before Ballack moved to Stamford Bridge, and the midfielder admits this had a big impact on his decision to join.

The German was out of contract at Bayern and attracting interest from around Europe, so Mourinho moved quickly to sign him up.

“One of the first were Man United to show interest, but they also hasn’t had the best year,” recalled Ballack.

“I remember 2006 they went out in the group stage [of the Champions League].

“Winning the league is one thing but for me it was always the dream to win the Champions League. And what team could I really attack this trophy with? It was not easy to decide because there are so many good clubs but Man United in those days were not as good as before, like Bayern Munich – 2000, 2001 and even 1999 they had their best years.

“And they went out in the first round [the previous year], while Chelsea was winning the league twice with Jose Mourinho. They invested in a lot of players and had an amazing squad.

“For me, when Chelsea came I had to weigh these things. Man United are an amazing club with huge history but Chelsea also had huge ambitions.

“I chose Chelsea and the package was really good. I felt really comfortable with it, and London for me was also a point, an argument to join a great city.

“When you’re 29 and you’ve already got family, it’s important that they feel comfortable. I talked to my family and we made the decision to go to London.

“I gave the sign quite early to my agent that I would prefer Chelsea from the beginning. If we could agree on the numbers and the circumstances, then that would be my preference.”

A Champions League medal would elude Ballack but he did win two FA Cups, the League Cup and the Community Shield with Chelsea in addition to the 2009/10 title.

Ancelotti wanted to keep Ballack at the club but injury in the 2010 FA Cup final against Portsmouth killed any hope of a new deal so he returned to Bayer Leverkusen for two more years before retiring in 2012.

Arsenal defender David Luiz has confirmed he has held talks with Benfica president LuIs Filipe Vieira over a “dream” return to the club.

The Brazilian was an £8m Deadline Day signing from London rivals Chelsea last August, replacing club captain Laurent Koscielny, who joined Bordeaux the previous day.

“I already spoke with Vieira about the return… my dream is to end my career at Benfica,” he told Portuguese newspaper Record.

“When, I don’t know, but it will happen… it will, if President Vieira allows me and if the fans want me to come back. It will be one of the most beautiful moments of my career.”

Meanwhile, Martin Keown is of the opinion that Arsenal must let David Luiz leave this summer if Mikel Arteta is going to form a long-term centre-back partnership in his defence.

“David Luiz concerns me because if you’re going to pay £8m for him and give him £5m wages and he’s only going to be there for one season, I’m not sure about the wisdom of that,” he told talkSPORT.

“Is he a proper defender? Can he play in a back four? His best defending came when he was in a back three at Chelsea when they won the Premier League [in 2016-17].

“It’s the most crucial area which he [Mikel Arteta] has to get right.

“Holding’s been injured, it’s hard to judge him, he probably deserves another opportunity. I think that Sokratis could be a useful defender but I can understand the uncertainty of giving David Luiz a new deal.

“Do they now start to be harsh and make those key decisions? If David Luiz isn’t the answer, then he has to go now.”