Arsene Wenger has admitted he is struggling to get Alexis Sanchez to commit to a new deal at Arsenal.
Although the Frenchman has insisted that his prized possession won't be going anywhere this summer, he's "not super optimistic" that Sanchez will renew his commitment to the club next summer.
Wenger told SFR Sport: “In the short term he will remain an Arsenal player. Now, will we manage to extend his contract?
“Whether we manage to get him to sign an extension or not - we have so far not been able to.
“On that level I am not super optimistic. We have the firm intention not to sell him.”
Danny Rose has apologised for the timing and manner of his comments during a newspaper interview in which he criticised Tottenham's transfer policy and placed into doubt his future at the club.
Rose told The Sun that he was underpaid and considering a move north - with Manchester United known to be interested - but rowed back on those comments in a statement released on Friday morning.
"Having had time to consider my actions I acknowledge now that the timing and manner of what I said was ill-judged," he said.
"My words were not meant to offend and for that I would like to apologise to the chairman, manager, my team mates and the fans.
"I'd also like to wish the lads good luck ahead of Sunday's game against Newcastle."
↵Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino remains hopeful that Virgil van Dijk will “change his point of view” about wanting to leave the club.
The defender, who will his miss side’s Premier League opener against Swansea after being struck down with a virus, submitted a transfer request earlier this week asking that Southampton “consider the interest” in him.
Van Dijk continues to be linked with a move to Anfield despite Liverpool’s insistence in June that they had dropped their interest in the defender following Saints’ threat to report the club over an alleged illegal approach.
The 26-year-old has also attracted interest from the likes of Premier League champions Chelsea and Manchester City.
But after it emerged that none of the centre-back’s potential suitors have tabled an offer, Pellegrino expressed his belief that the player could still return to the fold at St Mary’s.
Liverpool have denied that Philippe Coutinho has formally asked to leave the club.
Sky Sports reported on Friday lunchtime that the Brazilian had handed in a transfer request on the back of Liverpool's statement earlier in the day.
The Reds' owners, Fenway Sports Group, rejected a second bid for the player from Barcelona on Thursday and followed it up with an unequivocal declaration of their intention to keep the 25-year-old midfielder.
Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Liverpool will only sign their first-choice transfer targets and if they fail to do so, will not go for a “plan B, C or D”.
The Reds have already brought in Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Dominic Solanke but have been left frustrated in their pursuits of their other top targets.
Jose Mourinho has confirmed Manchester United are in talks with Zlatan Ibrahimovic about signing for the second part of the new season.
The 35-year-old scored 28 goals in his debut season at Old Trafford before suffering cruciate knee-ligament damage in United’s Europa League quarter-final second-leg win over Anderlecht last April.
Ibrahimovic was let go at the end of his one-year contract, but the veteran Swede is undergoing rehabilitation at United ahead of his expected return to fitness around Christmas.
Mourinho said during pre-season that a new deal was a possibility and confirmed ahead of the Premier League opener against West Ham that talks are under way.
Liverpool are standing firm and “100 per cent” determined to keep Philippe Coutinho at the club this summer, despite the player’s emailed transfer request as he seeks a move to Barcelona, who also see Tottenham Hotspur’s Christian Eriksen as an ideal alternative.
While the Brazilian’s camp remain hopeful that a deal can still be done before the end of the window, The Independent understands that the Catalan club had already started preparing for a rejection from Liverpool by investigating other attacking midfield options, and had initiated the process of trying to prise Eriksen from Spurs by making contact through intermediaries.
Sources close to the situation say Coutinho sees Barca as a dream move and had been increasingly dejected about the prospect of a transfer evaporating, although there has been some bemusement by those at Camp Nou that he signed a new five-year deal in January when their interest was known.
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