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Follow the latest updates live from the summer transfer window as Manchester United’s pursuit of Jadon Sancho dominates the headlines, with the Premier League club threatening that they will walk away from the deal if Borussia Dortmund do not lower their valuation.
However, news emerged overnight that United have ‘offered’ an official bid of €100m (£90.3m) for the England forward, with talks set to continue throughout Wednesday. Nother player who United have been strongly linked with is Jack Grealish, but the Aston Villa captain has been offered a new contract worth £100,000 a week to convince him to stay at Villa Park.
Manchester City remain active in the transfer market despite completing the signing of Ferran Torres on Tuesday, with Nathan Ake still set to move to the Etihad Stadium in the coming days. However, City have not made an approach for Barcelona utility man Sergi Roberto despite suggestions in Spain that they are targeting the right-back. Liverpool meanwhile are looking at Norwich City left-back Jamal Lewis and are also being linked with Real Betis defender Aissa Mandi, while Arsenal continue to target Philippe Coutinho and Thomas Partey as they press on with their recruitment plans. Follow the live news below.
In what sounds like a very ill-advised splurge and so very West Ham, the Hammers want to bring Barcelona’s Martin Braithwaite to east London, according to Mundo Deportivo.
The Danish international Braithwaite, who is expected to cost €20m, scored one goal in 11 appearances for Barcelona last season, and has never quite found his scoring boots since a decent period for Toulouse in Ligue 1 between 2015 and 2017.
Chelsea continue to chase Bayer Leverkusen’s attacking midfielder Kai Havertz, though the £70m asking price has so far proved a problem for the Premier League club.
However, if they need any more convincing about Havertz’s talents, they will get a good look at him this week.
Leverkusen boss Peter Bosz has confirmed that Havertz will feature in their Europa League round-of-16 second leg with Rangers on Thursday, and stressed that he remains fully committed to their campaign despite the obvious distractions.
Serie A side AC Milan and Bundesliga team Bayer Leverkusen are both said to be keeping tabs on the 22-year-old, who is estimated to be worth approximately £30m.
Another indication that Arsenal are looking to tighten the purse strings this summer is that the club have just announced 55 redundancies.
The potential signing of Willian on a free transfer makes all the more sense in that context.
Full story:
Southampton have signed centre-back Mohammed Salisu from Real Valladolid for £11m.
The 21-year-old defender is from Ghana, and enjoyed a breakthrough season in La Liga this year.
It was in that match that the Spaniard picked up the shoulder injury that has ruled him out of the Blues’ impending Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayern Munich.
Pedro is set to join Roma this summer.
A new name has cropped up on the Manchester United radar in the form of former Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who could be in line for a return to the Premier League.
Gueye left Everton last summer to move to Paris Saint-Germain, but he had failed to impress with limited opportunities due to the riches that PSG have at their disposal.
French outlet Le10Sport reports that Gueye is one player of interest for United, along with Aston Villa and Wolves.
Gueye signed for Everton in 2016 from Villa, leaving the club after their relegation from the Premier League, but moved on to Paris for £30m last year.
Norwich are ready to offload Josip Drmic, Tom Trybull and Moritz Leitner after relegation.
The trio have been told they are unlikely to be involved in the squad when they return ahead of the new Sky Bet Championship season, the PA news agency has reported.
They are due to be part of the rebuilding job at Carrow Road with the Canaries having already made six signings since dropping out of the Premier League, including Kieran Dowell from Everton.
Drmic has been an expensive failure after arriving on a free transfer from Borussia Monchengladbach last summer.
The striker scored just three goals across 25 appearances and was one of the club’s top earners, marking a wretched transfer window.
Expensive loan moves for Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann, Sevilla midfielder Ibrahim Amadou and Patrick Roberts from Manchester City were cut short mid-season as Norwich finished bottom of the table.
Drmic was sent off in his last game, a 2-0 defeat against Burnley, and all five of his starts came after the restart following the coronavirus lockdown.
The Times are reporting that Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen, Emerson Palmieri and Marcos Alonso are among those to be considered expendable as the Blues’ pursuit of Leicester full-back Chilwell continues.
Chelsea are expected to have to make Chilwell the most expensive defender in the world – at around £80 million – in order to secure his services.
Developments at Manchester City and their pursuit of Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake, who is edging closer towards a move to Pep Guardiola’s side.
Sky Sports are reporting that Ake will undergo a medical within the next 24 hours after returning from a post-season holiday, and with personal terms as good as signed off, an announcement should come this week.
Manchester United’s decision over who will make up their goalkeeper unit next season could be forced by Dean Henderson.
The Sun reports that Henderson is ready to demand the No 1 spot at Old Trafford after a season with Sheffield United in which he out-performed David De Gea quite considerably.
Henderson is due to return to United in the coming days, but could yet depart on another loan if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains happy with De Gea – despite a season filled with clangers and below-par performances.
Manchester City new signing Ferran Torres will arrive at the Etihad Stadium with something of a reputation for being one of the more confident youngsters out on the market.
Having completed a £25m move to City from Valencia, Torres has issued something of a parting shot at certain individuals at the Spanish club that he believes wanted to force him out – including captain Dani Parejo – in a revealing farewell interview with Spanish daily Marca.
Torres did stress he retains his love of Valencia and could see himself back there one day, but also revealed that in order to sign a new contract, he demanded a huge pay rise, the captaincy and the offer to be presented by club owner Peter Lim himself. Unsurprisingly, none of them happened.
Brentford meanwhile will feel the cost of failing to win the Play-Off Final, having missed out on an apparent £160m pay day that Deloitte estimated would be the impact of promotion to the Premier League.
But their success this season has also alerted clubs to a number of their players, with The Telegraph reporting that Aston Villa are one of a number of clubs taking a close look at striker Ollie Watkins.
The forward is valued at £18m and has spearheaded Brentford’s phenomenal season in front of goal in 2019/20, and while the Bees are not heading for the Premier League, Watkins could well find himself in the top flight.
The London club were relegated from England’s top flight at the end of the 2018/19 campaign despite spending £100m on players, and Parker has said they will learn from those mistakes…
Full story here:
Alexis Sanchez, on loan at Inter Milan, is set to become a permanent part of the Serie A side this week.
Fabrizio Romano of Sky Italy is reporting that Inter will acquire the Chile international on a free, but they will be paying a wage of €7 million per season.
It is not clear whether the Gunners can afford or even desire to bring both players as well as Willian to the Emirates, but they are keeping tabs on all three.
As our own Miguel Delaney reported this week: Coutinho has been offered to Arsenal by Barcelona, with Matteo Guendouzi plus just £9m likely to be the trade-off, so the Gunners have a decision to make…
Here are further details:
Manchester City are closing in on their second signing of the summer.
Fresh from yesterday’s announcement that they had snapped up Ferran Torres from Valencia, City have agreed terms with Nathan Ake, according to Talksport.
It’s claimed that the Bournemouth defender is set to join City in the coming days once he has had a medical and the chance to head to the Etihad campus for his unveiling, with the report adding that Chelsea decided against matching the £41m offer that City submitted last week.
Manchester United are also being linked with Aston Villa captain Jack Grealish, whose future remains uncertain after helping to keep the club in the Premier League.
Villa are determined to keep Grealish at Villa Park for at least another season, but know that sooner or later he is going to look for a move to bigger and better things.
However, they will not allow him to leave to United or any other side without a fight, and The Sun reports that Villa will offer Grealish a new contract in the coming days worth £100,000 a week, representing a large pay rise for the 24-year-old.
The defender spent the second half of last season on loan at Newcastle and does not appear to be in Jose Mourinho’s plans in north London, but Rose hasn’t given up hope just yet.
Here’s all he had to say:
Relegated Watford are expecting a player exodus this month as a number of star names look to return to the Premier League, and one name who keeps cropping up is Ismaila Sarr.
Sarr enjoyed a good maiden season at Vicarage Road but was unable to help keep the Hornets up in the top flight, which has alerted a number of clubs to his availability including Premier League champions Liverpool.
The Watford Observer reports that as well as Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Wolves have already expressed an interest in the Senegal forward, with a transfer battle now set to unfold over his signature.
Finally, Tottenham Hotspur are close to signing Southampton midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojberg in a deal that will involve a £15m payment plus Kyle Walker-Peters, who spent the second half of last season on loan at St Mary’s.
