The transfer window for Europe’s biggest clubs is closed, but click here for all the deals, and keep track of who has joined the big boys. Transfer Talk will continue to scour the world’s media and set correspondents loose to see what’s on the agenda for the summer.
TOP STORY: Man United’s £100m battle for Sancho
It promises to be an intriguing summer at Manchester United, with a full time manager to be announced and potentially the £100 million arrival of one of the world’s most exciting talents in Jadon Sancho.
Former Manchester City academy prospect Sancho has shone since moving to Borussia Dortmund and The Mirror believe he is already valued at £100m, with United said to be interested in bringing the 18-year-old back to England.
With nine goals and 14 assists in 31 games this season, Sancho has attracted the interest of Europe’s top clubs, with the report claiming Paris Saint-Germain are also eager to test Dortmund’s resolve with a bid.
However, with a contract until 2022 and only having signed Sancho for £10m in 2017, the Bundesliga title hopefuls will be desperate to keep hold of their rising star a while longer.
United, with or without caretaker boss Solskjaer, may have other ideas though and the report says they are ready to pay the biggest fee in English football history to take Sancho to Old Trafford.
Paul Pogba’s £89.3m move to United remains the highest fee paid by a Premier League club while Kyle Walker is the most expensive English player of all time following his £53m move to Sancho’s former club City in 2017.
LIVE:
23.13 GMT: That’ll do it for Sunday’s edition of Transfer Talk! Tune in tomorrow for another edition!
22.53 GMT: BBC’s Football Daily podcast has raised the question about whether Spurs should sell Harry Kane or not. Based on owner Daniel Levy’s previous opposition to this, it could be dead in the water, but given how topsy-turvy the transfer market is today, you never know.
What we do know is that Kane would certainly fetch more than a pretty penny to leave Tottenham.
21.21 GMT: A report from football.london discusses Arsenal loanee David Ospina, currently at Napoli, and an interesting clause in the deal that brought him to southern Italy.
Apparently, Ospina can be bought by Napoli at any time, but it becomes obligatory if he makes 30 appearances, which Napoli are hesistant to pull the trigger on. However, thanks to Alex Meret‘s red card today, Ospina appeared today and will make at least one more appearance, bringing him closer to the 30 appearances threshold.
20.40 GMT: According to football.london, Tottenham Hotspur fans are split on the hypothesised Gareth Bale-plus-cash deal that would bring Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen to Real Madrid.
Some fans are urging owner Daniel Levy to pull the trigger on the deal, while others are saying that Bale is not the same player he once was.
19.42 GMT: The Manchester Evening News reports that Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has identified what the club need to get in the transfer market: but it’s not a specific type of player.
“Forget abilities sometimes. Are you hungry enough? Have you got a desire to come in and improve yourself and try to improve this team with respect to what has gone on before you?”
He also says that caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to be hired full-time this summer.
18.45 GMT: Ex-Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott says he does not believe that 18-year-old Phil Foden needs to go out on loan to further his development.
The Manchester Evening News quotes him as saying, “Personally, I don’t think he should go out on loan. He’s only 18 and he’s still featuring every now and then.”
17.53 GMT: Sticking with Brendan Rodgers, the Birmingham Mail has linked him with a move for Aston Villa star John McGinn.
Rodgers tried to sign him last summer, but the midfielder chose to trade Hibernian for Aston Villa. He’s hoping to finally get his man this summer.
16.58 GMT: New Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has told Jamie Vardy he is ready to build team around the ex-England man.
“I’m so glad he’s [Vardy’s] here and he will absolutely be central for me,” Rodgers said. “When the ball comes in he’s a natural finisher and he has been since he was a young boy, so I’m looking forward to that and seeing him develop.”
16.15 GMT: The Express are reporting that Manchester United are ready to offer Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan in exchange for Mauro Icardi.
Despite his recent run of scoring four goals in two games, Lukaku remains second choice behind Marcus Rashford to lead the line under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Meanwhile, Icardi continues to remain out of the Inter team.
15.35 GMT: Big decisions need to make at Roma, with Il Corriere dello Sport reporting that directors — including Monchi and club legend Francesco Totti — were locked in a room until 1 a.m. to discuss the next steps following the 3-0 derby defeat to Lazio.
The position of manager Eusebio Di Francesco is not thought to be at risk with the upcoming Champions League round-of-16 second leg against Porto. However, other options — such as a ritiro — have been mooted.
A ritiro is where players finish training and then remain together at the training camp an effort to better their focus.
14.48 GMT: Sticking with Manchester City, a report in The Sun suggests Bernardo Silva will be offered a new six-year contract at club.
The report adds that he will almost double his £100,000-a-week wages and that, despite City having never sold a player against their will since Sheik Mansour’s takeover in 2008, it will ward off any interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona.
14.02 GMT: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola fancies a reunion with Thiago Alcantara, according to The Mirror.
City have missed on several central midfield targets in recent times, including Jorginho, Fred and Frenkie de Jong — and the report adds City will need to “smash” their transfer record to sign the Spain international.
Guardiola handed Thiago his senior debut at Barcelona and signed him for £21 million at Bayern Munich in 2013.
13.20 GMT: Real Madrid’s El Clasico defeat to Barcelona was a particularly bad night for Gareth Bale, who was booed by his own fans when he was substituted at the Bernabeu.
Former Blancos forward and scorer of the goal which clinched the club’s seventh European Cup/Champions League title in 1998, Pedrag Mijatovic said: “Five years on and we still don’t know his [Bale’s] best position.”
Is this his last season with the club?
12.30 GMT: Is this Jose Mourinho sending out an early signal as to who he wants to sign for his next club?
11.49 GMT: Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has said he will not be rushed into making a decision over his future.
“I’m very happy here,” he told reporters. “I’m not the youngest any more, [it] just needs sometimes a little bit of time, you know?
“The club doesn’t rush me, I don’t rush myself, so I have still more than one year to go so I try to see it relaxed and then we will see.”
11.16 GMT: Here’s an intriguing one. The Sun reckon boyhood West Ham fan Jonjo Shelvey could be off to the Hammers in the summer. The Newcastle midfielder is valued around £20m but has lost his starting place at St. James’ Park after a spell out with injuries.
11.08 GMT: Bayern Munich-bound Benjamin Pavard has told TFI that he wants France teammate Lucas Hernandez to join him in Bavaria this summer. Stuttgart defender Pavard will join Bayern at the end of the season and said of the Atletico Madrid man: “I hope that he will come to Bayern. He is a very good friend. It would be a good thing for him and for Bayern.”
11.05 GMT: While our top story has PSG battling Manchester United for Jadon Sancho, the Ligue 1 giants could be in for long-time Old Trafford target, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, according to Le10Sport. The Lazio midfielder has been touted as a possible replacement for Adrien Rabiot, who is set to leave in the summer.
10.33 GMT: Brendan Rodgers angered Celtic fans when he walked out on them to join Leicester this week and he could return north of the border … to land Dedryck Boyata from his former club. According to The Sun, Rodgers sees the ex-Manchester City man as an ideal fit for his defence.
10.15 GMT: Liverpool’s promising forward Harry Wilson is a target for Leeds United if they win promotion to the Premier League, according to The Sun. Wilson has scored 12 in 37 appearances on loan at Derby this season.
09.34 GMT: Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt wants to stay at Celta Vigo when his loan deal expires at the end of the season. He told Portuguese newspaper Faro de Vigo: “I like being here and I will give my all until the end of the season. I would like to continue at this great club.”
09.12 GMT: We start with Roma, and here’s Monchi discussing Edin Dzeko‘s future. Dzeko was linked with Chelsea not so long ago and his future has been subject to much speculation, but Monchi told DAZN: “I am happy with Dzeko’s performances. I hope he can stay here for a long time and I see no reason why we shouldn’t continue together.”
09.00 GMT: Welcome to Sunday’s edition of Transfer Talk!
Madrid to offer Spurs Bale for Eriksen
With Gareth Bale preparing his exit from Real Madrid this summer, the Mirror reports that the Spanish giants could be prepared to dangle him in front of Spurs in a bid to persuade them to let Christian Eriksen move in the opposite direction.
Bale has been in underwhelming form at the Bernabeu this season following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last summer. Despite scoring 13 goals for Los Blancos, Bale is still expected to leave the Spanish capital at the end of the season, and a return to Spurs might be an attractive option for both the player and his former club.
Madrid have stepped up their interest in Eriksen, who they want to tempt to La Liga. The Danish maestro is out of contract at the end of next season and has so far shown little inclination to put pen to paper on a new deal.
Madrid’s latest master plan involves the Spaniards offering Bale plus around £50 million in a bid to offload the Welshman and lure Eriksen from one capital to another.
FIFA could derail Chelsea shopping spree
World football’s governing body could wreck Chelsea’s plans of spending £200m before their transfer window ban kicks in, and could also turn their chances of attracting Zinedine Zidane as manager to dust.
So says the Sun, with the paper reporting that Chelsea’s hopes of a delay in punishment for their 29 breaches of transfer rules while they challenge the ruling — in line with those experienced by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico in similar situations in the past — will be dashed by world football’s bigwigs.
Chelsea will submit their appeal on Monday, but the chance of offering a £200m kitty to whoever replaces Maurizio Sarri, with Zidane their No. 1 target, appears to be diminishing.
A FIFA insider has told the Sun that the rules that allowed the Spanish triumvirate to splash the cash have since been established by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which could leave Chelsea in double trouble.
Arsenal gunning for Carrasco
Across North London, the Mirror cites the Express as reporting that Arsenal are back in the market for Belgian star Yannick Carrasco, who they attempted to sign in the January transfer window. Then the Gunners were unable to agree a loan fee with Chinese outfit Dalian Yifang.
But now they’re back, and they aren’t going to take no for an answer after freeing up funds for a summer transfer splurge. The former Monaco and Atletico Madrid midfielder is reported to be keen to get out of China at the earliest opportunity, despite earning a whopping £8.8m a year in the money-no-object league.
Handing him a similar pay packet might be problematical for a club known for its parsimony, and interest from AC Milan and their city rivals Inter could make Arsenal’s task even harder. That won’t put them off, though.
Tap-ins
– Arsenal are closing in on Yeovil young gun Daniel Ojo, according to the Mirror, which claims that the Italian-born former Charlton starlet is on already on the Gunners’ radar after making his debut for the Glovers in a 1-0 win over Cambridge United last weekend.
– On a busy night at the Mirror, the paper is also reporting that Pep Guardiola is keen on raiding Bayern Munich and breaking City’s transfer record to bring Thiago Alcantara to the Etihad. The pair have previously worked together at the Bundesliga giants during Guardiola’s time in charge at the Allianz Arena.