West Ham back in talks to sign Javier Pastore from Paris Saint-Germain
Javier Pastore has one year left to run on his PSG contract
West Ham have re-opened talks to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News understands talks between the Premier League side and the Argentina midfielder earlier this month had halted due to the player's high wage demands.
According to Sky sources, the 28-year-old is currently asking for wages up to £190,000-a-week.
West Ham are keen to bring Pastore to the club and have re-opened talks over a deal that would be worth up to £17.5m.
PSG are willing to sell the Argentine as they aim to comply with UEFA's Financial Fair Play regulations.
Pastore, who joined PSG from Palermo in 2011, has only one year left on his current contract at the Parc des Princes.
He has scored 45 goals in 265 appearances for the current Ligue 1 champions.
New West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini is aiming to sign up to five players this summer after promising the club's fans an attacking revolution.
West Ham are in talks to sign Alfie Mawson and Lukasz Fabianski from Swansea - Sky sources
The club remain in talks with Swansea over deals to sign defender Alfie Mawson and goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, according to Sky sources.
Swansea have already rejected bids from West Ham for both players, but it is understood both parties are edging closer to an agreement over the respective fees.
Sky sources understand the negotiations between the clubs centre around the structure of the payments in both deals.
Felipe Anderson could join West Ham for a fee in the region of £26m - Sky sources
Elsewhere, West Ham look to be close to finalising a deal for Lazio midfielder Felipe Anderson, according to Sky in Italy.
Representatives from both clubs met in Rome earlier this week to agree a fee in the region of £26m - plus 20 per cent of the fee from a future sale.
Jose Mourinho says Paul Pogba should not be given France's winner against Australia
Paul Pogba was credited with France's winning goal, his 10th for his country
Jose Mourinho said Paul Pogba should not have been given France's winner against Australia - but praised the midfielder's desire to help seal a winning start for his country.
Pogba's best position for Manchester United was often debated during an inconsistent Premier League season for the 25-year-old, but speaking to Russia Today his club boss Mourinho applauded his role as a "box-to-box" midfielder in the goal, which sealed a 2-1 win for France.
"For me, it's not about the goal. I think it's an own goal, but it's the action," he said. "It's the determination of making it happen.
"The majority of French players were too comfortable or not wanting to risk too much, or not confident enough to make things happen. [Kylian] Mbappe didn't have a great game, nor Ousmane Dembele or Antoine Griezmann.
"The midfield were very positional, Paul didn't interfere a lot in the game, but then - this action is the action of a No 8.
Mourinho signed Pogba for Manchester United in August 2016
"That's what people used to call the box-to-box midfielders. And in this case, that was the action of an attacking part of box-to-box. It's a pity it wasn't a clean shot to make it a brilliant goal, but it got them the three points."
Mourinho had no issue with Didier Deschamps' team selection, but added it had failed to realise its potential as they stuttered to victory over a side who had been taken to extra-time by Syria in qualifying.
"I liked the way France approached the game - I like three attacking players with freedom, Mbappe, Griezmann and Dembele, without a clear No 9 but it didn't work very well.
"Australia were comfortable without the ball, but they had time to play and try to come to the final third in possession. The France midfield were not strong enough in terms of pressing.
"I think the main idea of every team in the three days so far has been not to press. Every team has been defensively compact, defensively organised, but we haven't see a pressing team."
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IHEANACHO (Nigeria) has a shot which is off target
When I saw my mother’s number come up on my phone last Monday shortly after 8 a.m., I knew why she was calling. I had been expecting the call for a few weeks.
My father, Bill Costello, had died.
It is funny what you think about when you lose someone. For me, among many thoughts, I started to think about the U.S. Open being in New York this week and how for most of my life I would either have watched the weekend golf with him or at least discussed it.
Sports were our bond.
My father was not one to say “I love you” all the time. Instead, our love was expressed in games of catch, shooting hoops, going to games or debating sports.
I tweeted something this week after he passed about our shared love of sports. It resonated with people more than I expected. But I guess it should not surprise me. For so many of us, sports bring us together and are the way many of us communicate with our dads.
My father would have been 85 on Thursday. He had a tough childhood, losing his mother when he was 10 then being abandoned by his father. Aunts and uncles in The Bronx raised him. He never spoke about the tough times when he was growing up.
We talked about baseball.
He grew up in the golden age of New York baseball. He would tell me about doubleheaders, paying a quarter to go to games and how he would make trips to all three ballparks at the time — Yankee Stadium, the Polo Ground and Ebbets Field.
I learned about all of the great players of the era and the teams he cherished. He was never really a fan of one team, but he loved the game and he passed that on to me. I was the only kid at Jefferson Township Middle School in 1988 who knew that Carl Furillo was the right fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers and was nicknamed “The Reading Rifle.”
As a sportswriter, I have interviewed hundreds of athletes. Talking to today’s stars never really fazes me, but talking to Willie Mays or Bobby Thomson or Yogi Berra always gave me pause, because I thought about my dad. I’m not sure he could ever really wrap his head around the fact that I was getting paid to talk to his heroes.
As I got older, he began to take me to games, and not just baseball. My first football game was Jets-Colts in 1984 at Giants Stadium. It has to be one of the worst games ever played. The Colts won, 9-5, in a game that featured four field goals and a safety. The Jets had 143 total yards. It was a miserable game, but we stayed until the end. Years later, I became the Jets beat writer for The Post, something that gave my father so much pride.
In the mid-80s, I fell in love with the Mets. My father would take me to Shea Stadium a few times a year, even though he loathed the trip from Jersey to Queens. Along the way, my vocabulary always expanded by a few four-letter words. I was surprised years later to learn that the proper name was just the Triboro Bridge and the not the God D— Triboro Bridge. But he dealt with traffic, the cost of parking and my desire to always stay through the ninth inning, because that is what dads do.
On Sunday, I will be thinking of my dad as I watch the U.S. Open. He loved to watch golf, and I would always join him for the majors. The U.S. Open always felt special when it fell on Father’s Day, like it does this year.
My father suffered from dementia over the past few years, so it has been a while since we were able to watch sports together or have a conversation about sports. It was one of the most difficult aspects of his illness for me, and it is what I will most about my father now that he is gone.
I will be watching the final round with my own son on Sunday, and I’ll be sure to tell him a few stories about his grandfather. My dad would have liked that.
