Round-up — Witsel, Niasse, Stones, Koulibaly, etc

Lyndon Lloyd | Sunday, 24 July 2016

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With the new season less than three weeks away, the same stories continue to do the rounds, with reports as adamant they are close to fruition as before.

According to reports in Italy, Axel Witsel has told Zenit St Petersburg that he wants to leave, he has come to a salary agreement with Everton and the two clubs have decided on a fee of between £25m and £30m, depending on who you believe.

Other reports in the same country claim he is closer to signing for Inter Milan for a similar fee, while still others suggest one of his representatives is advising him to wait on Juventus and the outcome of the Paul Pogba situation.

Everton are believed to have had the best offer on the table for the past month but the player's preference for Italy has apparently precluded the transfer from being completed thus far.

One player who looks likely to be heading out of Goodison is Oumar Niasse with Fanatik in Turkey saying a loan deal has been struck with Galatasaray and his move should be completed in the next few days.

His omission from the matchday squad for Barnsley yesterday would certainly seem to back that story up.

Meanwhile, reports closer to home in The Independent argue, in wonderfully non-committal and unspecific terminology, that Manchester City "are preparing" a £50m offer for John Stones.

If that deal does go through, the Blues might have to look elsewhere than Kalidou Koulibaly who has "reconciled" with Napoli and looks set to stay there according to yet more Italian reports.

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