MIDDLESBROUGH

West Brom boss Tony Pulis has been speaking about his pursuit of Ben Gibson this morning – and he admits it will be “very difficult” to prise the centre-half out of Middlesbrough.

It certainly will be if he continues to offer the kind of sums he has been putting on the table in the last week or so, with Boro having turned down two bids that have been branded “derisory” by senior figures close to the deal.

The Northern Echo:

West Brom’s biggest offer was still less than £20m, and it is understood it was staggered in a series of phases that would have meant Boro might have been waiting for the full duration of Gibson’s contract in order to receive their money.

Pulis will have to increase his offer significantly for Boro to even consider selling Gibson, with the England Under-21 international regarded in the same bracket as Michael Keane, who swapped Burnley for Everton for more than £30m this summer.

“Ben is a smashing player, and I am sure Middlesbrough will want to keep him,” said Pulis. “They’ll be looking to get promoted again and you can understand why they do not want to get rid of Ben.

“We have had inquiries for Ben, and we’ve had inquiries for other players as well. We’ll see how those inquiries go, but I think it’s going to be very hard to get Ben out of Middlesbrough.

“Gibson is not the only target. We have inquired about a few. A few of those are moving forward. We will have to wait and see.”

Boro are rather keener to sell Gaston Ramirez, and Spanish side Real Betis are increasingly confident of being able to agree a deal for the Uruguayan.

In terms of incomings, Boro have been heavily linked with a possible £7m deal for West Ham forward Ashley Fletcher.

Fletcher has fallen down the Hammers’ pecking order following the signing of Javier Hernandez, and Boro are reportedly leading the chase for his capture.


SUNDERLAND

It was a busy day on Wearside yesterday, and Simon Grayson’s squad is finally taking shape with the start of the new Championship season now just a little over a week away.

Jason Steele has completed a £500,000 move from Blackburn Rovers, while Lewis Grabban has agreed a season-long loan from Bournemouth.

Steele will compete with Robbin Ruiter for the goalkeeping position next season, with Sunderland set to offer their Dutch trialist a deal after he performed creditably for the second game in a row in last night’s goalless draw with Scunthorpe United.

“He (Ruiter) has impressed,” said Grayson. “He’s been very composed and done everything required. He’s made big saves when he’s had to, he’s been very good. We’ll analyse the situation, talk to his representatives and see if there’s a deal to be done.

“I think we were always looking to bring two in, with Jordan (Pickford) and Vito (Mannone) going out. You need to carry good goalkeepers. If we get another in, with Robbin, that might allow Max (Stryjek) to go out on loan. Robbin has come in and done very well, so we’ll see if there’s a deal to be done.”

Jeremain Lens was not involved in the goalless draw at Glanford Park, but Sunderland have not received a formal offer for the Dutchman, who is expected to leave before the transfer window closes.

The Northern Echo:

“He (Lens) came off at the weekend with a hip injury,” said Grayson. “He tried to train on Monday, felt a reaction, so we thought it’d be wise to leave him at home. Hopefully, he’ll be ready for the weekend (against Celtic).

“There’s speculation about all our players, there’ll be loads of rumours while the window is still open. (If) somebody offers us the right money, there’s a decision to be made, otherwise they’re available for the first game of the season.

“There’s no bids for him or anything like that, or any of our players. We’ll keep working with them, making them fit and able for the first game of the season.”


NEWCASTLE

Newcastle’s fifth summer signing will be confirmed this morning when Mikel Merino completes his move from Borussia Dortmund.

Merino, a 21-year-old central midfielder, is joining on an initial loan deal, although Newcastle are committed to a permanent deal worth around £6m next summer no matter what happens in the next 12 months.

Merino is set to battle with Isaac Hayden and Jack Colback for the right to partner Jonjo Shelvey at the base of Newcastle’s midfield, and represented Spain at the recent European Under-21 Championships.

Rafael Benitez wants to make more signings this summer, but the Newcastle boss admits his squad is already too big and he will have to move players out of St James’ Park before he can bring more players in.

Benitez has earmarked six or seven players that are surplus to requirements, with Tim Krul, Karl Darlow, Chancel Mbemba, Achraf Lazaar, Henri Saivet and Emmanuel Riviere all available if an acceptable deal can be struck.

The Northern Echo:

“We have to move players out if we want to move players in,” said Benitez. “That’s something we have to manage between now and the end of the window.”

Newcastle continued their pre-season preparations with a resounding 4-0 win at Bradford City last night, with summer signing Jacob Murphy scoring two of the goals.


OTHER CLUBS

The Independent reports that Real Madrid's £160m move for Kylian Mbappe could see Gareth Bale sold to Manchester United. Bale has made it known he is only interested in joining United if he leaves the Bernabeu but the move could yet be scuppered by United's cross-city rivals after Manchester City who were reported to also be in the race to sign Mbappe.

Also in the Independent, it is reported that Manchester United remain keen on Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic. The Red Devils remain confident they can tempt Chelsea to part with the 28-year-old for a fee in excess of £40m. However, Juventus and Inter Milan are also showing interest in the Serbian playmaker.

The Northern Echo: Nemanja Matic and Diego Costa set to miss Chelsea’s Asia tour

The Daily Mirror says that Everton boss Ronald Koeman has not finished his recruitment drive as he is still keen on adding three more players to his squad.

Koeman is keen to add a central defender, striker and Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. Koeman confirmed Ross Barkley is on his way out of Goodison but he does not need to sell the England midfielder to fund the moves.

Staying with Everton and they are set to join the race to sign West Ham defender James Collins, writes The Sun. The Toffees have been active in the transfer market this summer and will face competition from Crystal Palace and Stoke City for the 33-year-old.

Collins has a year remaining on his contract with the Hammers but a fee in the region of £2m could be enough to pry him away from West Ham.