The coronavirus pandemic has made the summer transfer window uncertain, but here are the rumours floating around Europe’s big leagues and beyond.
TOP STORY: Chelsea consider Ter Stegen move
Chelsea are contemplating an ambitious move for Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, according to the Daily Telegraph.
It’s no secret that the Blues are interested in replacing Kepa Arrizabalaga during the summer after a poor run of form throughout the campaign, with Frank Lampard considering the possibility of including Kepa in a deal that would see 28-year-old Ter Stegen make his way over to Stamford Bridge.
Barca aren’t really interested in letting him go, and they’re more invested in the idea of extending his contract — which is set to expire in June 2022. For now, Chelsea are happy to sit back and see how those negotiations play out.
Among the other keepers linked as Kepa’s successor are Atletico Madrid‘s Jan Oblak; Dean Henderson, who is on loan at Sheffield United from Manchester United, and Andre Onana of Ajax.
– Olley: Kepa must show he can fit in Chelsea’s title plans
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LIVE BLOG
17.00 BST: Arsenal are ready to offer a new contract worth £250,000-a-week to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, says the Daily Telegraph.
Aubameyang’s deal expires in 2021 and the Gunners realise how important the Gabon striker is to their future plans.
16.30 BST: Liverpool are set to land 16-year-old Polish forward Mateusz Musialowski from SMS Lodz, says Football Insider.
Musialowski has represented Poland at Under-17 level and will leave Lodz, who play in Poland’s fourth tier, for England as the two clubs have agreed a fee.
15.44 BST: Arsenal are reportedly confident of beating Man United to the signing of Chelsea star Willian, according to ESPN Brasil’s Bruno Vicari.
Willian’s contract is due to expire on July 26 and Chelsea are only willing to offer the 31-year-old a new two-year deal, while he wants three.
As a result, the Gunners are keen to add him for nothing this summer and are evidently getting closer to an agreement.
14.55 BST: Manchester City could get a bargain in Nathan Ake if Bournemouth are relegated.
1:15
Craig Burley says any player that can help Man City’s defence is a good signing for Pep Guardiola.
14.32 BST: Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Inter Milan are willing to listen to offers of around €60m for centre-back Milan Skriniar.
Skriniar, 25, has attracted interest from Manchester City in the past and Inter are looking to raise funds in order to finance some of their own moves.
Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic is another player who could depart the Italian club.
13.53 BST: Marca reports that Manchester City are closing on a move for Valencia winger Ferran Torres.
Torres, 20, is highly rated and City are keen to find a replacement for Leroy Sane, who left the club for Bayern Munich earlier this month.
City are reportedly ready to part with €35m and Yangel Herrera as a part of the deal. Valencia, however, want more money.
13.15 BST: Real Madrid winger Lucas Vazquez is of interest to Tottenham, says Defensa Central.
Vazquez, 29, played at Real when Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho was there, but only in the reserve team.
He has only made 22 appearances for Zinedine Zidane this season and is reported to be ready to move on, with Tottenham set to offer €16m for him.
12.50 BST: Brest defender Ronael Pierre-Gabriel was assaulted and had his car destroyed only weeks after signing for the Ligue 1 club.
Pierre-Gabriel, 22, signed on a season-long loan from Bundesliga club Mainz on July 7 but was involved in a serious incident on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, as Brest statement on social media read: “Last night, in the Brest neighbourhood, Ronael Pierre-Gabriel was the victim of an assault and suffered injuries before his car was burned down and completely destroyed.
“Brest strongly condemn this event and give its full support to Ronael. In a place where these events are few and far between, it’s regrettable to see these types of incidents happen to a boy who only arrived two weeks ago in Finistere and had no issues with anyone.”
12.15 BST: Juventus might need to think about changing their coach this summer.
1:26
Gab Marcotti contemplates Maurizio Sarri’s position at Juventus and if he is the right man to take the team forward.
11.37 BST: PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has increased speculation he could be headed to the Premier League by moving into a house in London.
Areola, 27, bought the house nine months ago but only moved in this week after refurbishing it. The France international spent this season on loan at La Liga champions Real Madrid but only made eight appearances and won’t stay beyond the summer.
PSG’s first-choice Keylor Navas seems set in the No. 1 spot, so Areola could move on, with Chelsea reportedly interested.
11.18 BST: Aston Villa forward Jack Grealish has attracted plenty of attention and has been linked with a £60m move to Man United this summer.
Villa beat Arsenal 1-0 on Tuesday to give themselves a chance of avoiding relegation, but will need to beat West on Sunday in their final game of the season to make sure.
Asked if that could be his final game for Villa, Grealish told Sky Sports: “I’m not too sure at the moment. I have one aim and that’s to keep Villa in the Premier League. That’s all I’m thinking about at the moment.”
10.53 BST: Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has backed Mexico international Raul Jimenez to move to Old Trafford.
The Wolves forward is close to completing a second impressive campaign in the Premier League, with 17 goals so far this campaign — equalling his previous season’s tally — with one match remaining.
United have been heavily linked with signing a new central striker when the transfer window opens, and Ferdinand said he believes Jimenez would be a great choice.
“I wouldn’t say no at all,” Ferdinand told BT. “I think he’s something different to what they’ve got. What I like about him is he scores all types of goals. He’s at the back post heading things and bullying defenders, and he can score tremendous goals like that [against Burnley] out of nothing.”
10.26 BST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he has yet to be approached by AC Milan with a deal to remain at the club next season.
Ibrahimovic, 38, who has scored seven goals and set up four more in 15 league appearances since joining from LA Galaxy, is tied to Milan for the remainder of the season, with an option to extend his stay until June 2021.
Ibrahimovic told Sky Italia after scoring twice in his team’s 2-1 win at Sassuolo on Tuesday: “I still have three games left and 10 days more, no-one has told me anything and I don’t expect anything else.”
Milan sporting director Frederic Massara recently said that the club will sit down with Ibrahimovic once the season is over.
“We will meet with him right after the season ends,” Massara said. “He is right now fully focused on the remaining games. We will meet and we will see if the bases are there for him to continue. The contribution that he has given cannot be questioned. He has transformed the team’s mentality, qualify and charisma.”
09.54 BST: Paris Saint-Germain are ready to respond to Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe interest with a bid for Vinicius Jr, newspaper Sport reports, saying the Brazilian winger is “an obsession” for PSG sporting director Leonardo.
Madrid are likely to move for Mbappe next summer when the 21-year-old will have just a year left on his contract in Paris. Vinicius has five years remaining on his Bernabeu deal and a prohibitive €700m release clause.
PSG’s interest in Vinicius is long-standing — with sources telling ESPN that he was mentioned in negotiations over Neymar last year — but there has been no contact since then and Madrid are highly unlikely to let him go in 2021.
Sport cites El Chiringuito, a notoriously colourful late-night discussion show on Spanish TV, as its source for claims that Vinicius’ friendship with Neymar could be used to cement a transfer.
09.31 BST: Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale isn’t going anywhere, according to his agent. And isn’t that just sad…
1:54
Sid Lowe says Gareth Bale choosing money over playing time is sad to see for football.
09.02 BST: Barcelona will analyse the future of Quique Setien once the season is over, according to Diario Sport. Setien is reportedly unlikely to continue at Barca next season with the club already looking at other options.
Former France and PSG coach Laurent Blanc is among those linked with the job. According to Sport, Blanc, 54, who is also a reported target of Valencia, would be eager to coach Barca even if it meant signing just a one-year contract.
Barca are hoping to lure Xavi Hernandez to Camp Nou next summer. The Al Sadd coach turned down the option to lead Barca in January but left the door open for a return to the club in the future.
08.26 BST: AC Milan have extended the contract of coach Stefano Pioli until July 2022, the club said on Tuesday, as the club abandoned widely-reported plans to replace him with former RB Leipzig and Schalke 044 coach Ralf Rangnick for next season.
Italian media have been reporting regularly since February that Milan have been in negotiations to hire the 62-year-old on the initiative of the club’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis. Yet those plans became untenable after Pioli inspired a revival.
Milan made the announcement immediately after the team won 2-1 at Sassuolo on Tuesday to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions and guarantee a place in next season’s Europa League.
– Stream Serie A games on ESPN+
08.00 BST: Chelsea are expected to make a formal offer for Bayer Leverkusen‘s Kai Havertz when their Champions League qualification is confirmed, sources have told ESPN.
The Blues are thought to be confident of securing a deal in the region of £70-£75m despite Leverkusen demanding closer to £90m when initial contact was made prior to this month.
Negotiations are yet to begin and so the exact structure of any transfer — relating to add-ons or performance bonuses — have not been determined but sources have told ESPN that Havertz is keen on joining Chelsea this summer and the club expect an agreement to be reached.
Informal discussions regarding personal terms with the 21-year-old have been positive with a four or five-year contract expected to be finalised without any issues once a fee is agreed.
1:14
Mark Ogden argues that stars like Kylian Mbappe aren’t the no-brainer signings Liverpool may think they are.
PAPER TALK (by Harry Kettle)
Mbappe set to stay at PSG
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has claimed that he will be staying in the French capital beyond the summer transfer window.
The World Cup winner has been at the heart of speculation over his immediate future, with the popular opinion being that he could be interested in joining La Liga champions Real Madrid. Alas, while his contract may be set to expire in 2022, it doesn’t appear as if he’s going to be going anywhere in the next few months — as the man himself confirmed shortly after PSG’s friendly triumph over Celtic.
“I just have to say that I’m here, I’m in the project for a fourth year,” Mbappe said on Tuesday evening after the match. “For everyone, the management, the supporters… I’m going to keep going, no matter what.”
Mbappe arrived at PSG from AS Monaco in 2017 in a deal worth €180m. When asked last week about Mbappe and other potential big signings, Real president Florentino Perez said: “No … Madrid will sign the best again when the situation changes.”
PSG coach Thomas Tuchel also echoed his star player’s sentiments, saying: “Kylian has a contract with us, we’re not ready to sell him. He is super important, he’s a key player, our player. It’s a gift to work with him.”
Everton’s Hojbjerg bid accepted
Southampton have accepted a bid worth up to £25m from Everton for midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the Evening Standard reports.
This latest development ensures that the Toffees have moved ahead of Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign the popular Dane. However, despite the first hurdle being cleared, Hojbjerg reportedly still prefers the idea of a move to North London — but Spurs still aren’t able to match the valuation put on him by the Saints.
Southampton had initially placed a £35m price tag on Hojbjerg, but as a result of him only having 12 months left on his contract, the club have decided to accept a lower offer.
Tap-ins
– Liverpool will demand a fee of £6m in order to agree to the sale of Loris Karius this summer, Goal reports. The controversial keeper has spent the last two years out on loan with Besiktas following his disastrous performance in the 2018 UEFA Champions League final, and at this stage, it seems as if his most likely destination will be Montpellier.
– Sky Sports is reporting that Celtic have expressed their interest in trying to sign West Ham United forward Albian Ajeti. Hoops boss Neil Lennon has been at the forefront of talks with the Premier League club, with the Scottish champions questioning his availability. Ajeti has struggled to make an impact on the relegation strugglers’ starting XI, with Celtic being willing to take him on either a permanent deal or a season-long loan.