Paper Talk: Liverpool suffer big blow in hunt for Ligue 1 starlet

Liverpool have missed out in the race to snare one of Ligue 1’s brightest young stars, while Chelsea have a deal in place to sign a World Cup hero, according to Tuesday’s newspapers.

BLOW FOR KLOPP AS AOUAR COMMITS TO NEW DEAL

Liverpool have missed out on the signing of Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp, who also hopes to sign his teammate Nabil Fekir this summer despite the deal already stalling, was keen on bringing Aouar to Anfield this summer.

However, the 20-year-old has penned a new five-year deal at the club to end Klopp’s hopes of luring him away – for this summer at least.

Aouar caught the eye of both the Reds and Barcelona after impressing during his breakout season in Ligue 1 – and is seen by Lyon as a natural successor to Fekir in the No 10 role. His presence is a strong reason why Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas is prepared to negotiate the sale of his prized asset.

However, Liverpool’s hopes of landing Aouar have now been dashed – and it remains to be seen if they will go back in for his teammate Fekir after the World Cup, with the latter now also mentioned as a Manchester United target.

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AND THE REST

Russian superkid Aleksandr Golovin’s mum has confirmed he could be off to Chelsea (The Sun)

Riyad Mahrez has been excused from Leicester training as he moves closer to a switch to Manchester City (The Sun)

Huddersfield and Wolves are leading the chase for £18m-rated Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore (The Sun)

AC Milan have signed former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina on a free transfer after he left Napoli (The Sun)

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is taking on Rangers boss Steven Gerrard in a bid to sign Liverpool’s Harry Wilson (The Sun)

England players have been told they must belt out the national anthem as Gareth Southgate encourages ‘togetherness’ (Daily Telegraph)

Russia World Cup hero Denis Cheryshev could be asked to provide anti-doping chiefs with documentary evidence an injection he was given was legal after his own father was quoted saying it contained “growth hormone” (Daily Telegraph)

Daley Blind would have to take a pay cut in order to re-join Ajax from Manchester United this summer (Daily Telegraph)

West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster is on the verge of a £2.5m move to Watford (Daily Telegraph)

Gareth Southgate has called on England to entertain the nation in the World Cup last 16-clash against Colombia (Daily Express)

Jose Pekerman has left England guessing by saying he will give James Rodriguez until the last minute to declare himself fit for the World Cup last-16 tie (Daily Express)

Huddersfield are targeting Leicester striker Ahmed Musa and Hertha Berlin left-back Marvin Plattenhardt (Daily Mirror)

Harry Kane has banned himself from social media during the World Cup after admitting Euro 2016 criticism affected him (Daily Mirror)

Gareth Southgate has told the England players talk is cheap and it’s time to deliver on a World Cup pitch (Daily Mirror)

Aston Villa owner Tony Xia has stunned club officials by claiming he does not want to sell to Americans (Daily Mirror)

Bayern Munich have refused to be drawn over talks linking them with a move for Manchester United star Anthony Martial (Daily Mirror)

England are hungry and better than ever, says former World Cup Golden Boot winner Davor Suker (Daily Mail)

RB Leipzig are hoping to beat Manchester United to the signing of Nottingham Forest’s 16-year-old English left-back Matthew Bondswell (Daily Mail)

Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi has handed in a transfer request as he looks to push through a move to Arsenal (Daily Mail)

Defiant Radamel Falcao says Colombia have the tools to beat ‘favourites’ England (The Times)