Sergio Ramos tells Real Madrid he wants to leave for Manchester United

   

Defender asks club to listen to offers after United’s €40m bid 
• Ramos has two years remaining on his contract at Bernabéu

Sergio Ramos is determined to leave Real Madrid and join Manchester United this summer, according to sources close to the player.

Ramos has been informed by Real Madrid that they received a formal bid from United valued at €40m and that he had told the club that he wants to leave this summer. The 29-year-old also informed Real that he is only interested in joining United, despite interest from Manchester City, according to Sky Sports.

United are determined to sign Ramos and made a bid prior to the player meeting Madrid’s chief executive, José Ángel Sánchez, last week, although the Spanish club continued to brief that they had not yet had any offers.

During the meeting, held at the club’s Valdebebas HQ, Ramos confirmed to Madrid that he intended to leave and asked them to listen to offers. A conversation with the club’s president, Florentino Pérez, followed but there has been no reconciliation. Neither the player nor the club have made any public statement.

Madrid did not adopt the standard response, which is to insist that the player would only leave if United met the full value of his buy out clause, which stands at €180m, but they do value him prohibitively high, setting the price close to €100m. United are determined to use David de Gea as leverage and are prepared to prevent the goalkeeper from leaving this summer.

Ramos has two years left on his contract but negotiations for a renewal had reached a stalemate. He earns around €6m a year, but this is not just a tactic designed to draw a better offer from Madrid. The relationship between Madrid and the player’s camp is extremely tense and although it is impossible to predict how this will end, Ramos’s determination to leave is real.

Petr Cech seals £10m Arsenal move and tweets goodbye to Chelsea fans

Cech finalises move from Premier League champions 
• Arsenal drop interest in Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal 
• Mourinho will be fuming if Cech wins Arsenal the league title 
• Stoke City reject Chelsea’s £6m bid for Asmir Begovic

Petr Cech has completed his £10m transfer across London to Arsenal, drawing a line under a glittering 11-year career at Chelsea with an admission that “life doesn’t always turn out the way you think it will”.

The Czech international, who claimed 13 major trophies including the Champions League while at Stamford Bridge, conceded he had slipped behind Thibaut Courtois in the pecking order last season and, with little prospect of that situation changing, decided it was time for a new start.

The 33-year-old spoke to Roman Abramovich and stressed his desire to remain in the Premier League despite interest from Paris Saint-Germain, with the owner duly sanctioning the move to a direct rival, albeit reluctantly, out of respect for Cech’s eye-catching contribution while at Chelsea.

The goalkeeper has signed a four-year contract worth a basic £100,000 a week and may confront his former team-mates in the Community Shield at Wembley on 2 August. Arsenal are due at Stamford Bridge in mid-September. “I thought this would never happen, but it is time for me to say goodbye to Chelsea Football Club: the club I have lived every single minute for since joining in July, 2014, the club in which I thought I’d hang my gloves and boots one day and finish my career,” he wrote in an open letter published on social media. “But life doesn’t always turn out the way you think it will.

“It has been an incredible journey with so many highs and not many lows. We have managed to win every single English trophy as well as the Europa League and the biggest of all – the Champions League. Looking back at all the achievements, including our first ever league double in 2010, back to back titles in 2005 and 2006, and multiple Premier League and FA Cup wins, I couldn’t be more proud. As a team, we made history together.

“Last summer, things changed and I understood I was no longer the first-choice keeper, but I felt it was not the right time for me to go. During the season it became clear that my situation would not improve and, as I know I am not at the stage of my career where I want to be on the bench, I made my decision to move on and look for new challenges.”

Cech, who ended with 228 clean sheets from his 494 games, featured only seven times in the Premier League last season, with the champions winning all of them and the keeper conceding only twice, but Courtois’ position as the long-term No1 remained clear. Chelsea have seen a £6m bid for the Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic rejected but are expected to return with an improved offer for a player who is entering the final year of his contract at the Britannia Stadium. Stoke may attempt to take a player on loan from Stamford Bridge as part of the deal but that is unlikely to be Victor Moses.

“The limited playing time gave me the chance to refresh and rest mentally as well as made me realise just how much I enjoy playing football at the highest level, because I missed it badly every game day I was not involved,” said Cech. “I have the same commitment to football, the same motivation and the same hunger for success as I had at the beginning of my career. I love the challenges brought by the top quality players you face while playing in the Premier League: simply the best and the most challenging league in the world. That’s why I spoke to Mr Abramovich about me staying in the Premier League, and I’d like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for his support in this matter.”

Arsenal, who have dropped their interest in Juventus’ Arturo Vidal, may now sanction David Ospina’s move to Fenerbahce. Wojciech Szczesny, who will compete with Cech for a first-team place next season, welcomed the older man to the club on his Instagram account and is intent on remaining at the Emirates Stadium. “Petr Cech is a player I have admired for a long time and I am very pleased that he has decided to join us,” said the manager, Arsène Wenger. “He has proven over many seasons that he is one of the outstanding keepers in the world and he will add great strength to our squad.”

Cech added: “When Arsène spoke to me about his ambitions for this club, and how he saw me as part of this team, the decision was clear.”

Paulinho makes £9.9m switch from Tottenham to Guangzhou Evergrande

Paulinho reunited with Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chinese champions 
• Fellow Spurs midfielder Étienne Capoue in discussions with Watford

Tottenham Hotspur have finally kick-started the process of shifting out some of their higher-earning fringe players by sanctioning the Brazil international Paulinho’s £9.9m sale to Guangzhou Evergrande.

The midfielder has signed a four-year contract, almost doubling the £55,000-a-week wages he commanded at White Hart Lane, after a disappointing two-season spell in the Premier League. The former Corinthians player, who boasts 32 caps, will join his former national team coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, at the Chinese Super League club and will line up alongside his compatriots Ricardo Goulart, Elkeson and Alan next term.

Paulinho made 30 appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side last season but generally underwhelmed following his arrival from Corinthians, with whom he had forged a formidable reputation. He was one of a number of high-profile signings made ahead of Gareth Bale’s record sale to Real Madrid in the summer of 2013, of whom only Christian Eriksen and, possibly, Nacer Chadli have proved consistently successful, with other departures set to follow.

The French midfielder Étienne Capoue is in discussions with newly promoted Watford – who had also initially coveted Paulinho – over a potential season-long loan move with an option to make the move permanent, while Tottenham are inviting offers for Vlad Chiriches and Roberto Soldado, who were also part of that summer’s recruitment drive. Emmanuel Adebayor, Younes Kaboul, Aaron Lennon and Benjamin Stambouli are also available for transfer, though Andros Townsend will most likely remain at the club despite enduring a bit-part role last term.