The coronavirus pandemic has made the transfer market uncertain — and you can find out when the windows open and close here — but here are the rumours floating around Europe’s big leagues and beyond.
Click here to check out all the latest major completed transfers across Europe.
TOP STORY: Two-way race to sign French phenom Camavinga
Stade Rennes defender Eduardo Camavinga has been a wanted man this summer, and Marca believes Real Madrid face stiff competition from Paris Saint-Germain.
Los Blancos have made no secret of their admiration for the 17-year-old but while they looked favourites to take him to Madrid, PSG would rather he stayed in Ligue 1 and joined them instead.
Camavinga’s stock rose once again this week in France after he came on as a substitute to replace N’Golo Kante to make his official international debut.
Madrid have been doing their best to sign the youngster, but both PSG sporting director Leonardo and coach Thomas Tuchel were quick to praise a player they believe has huge potential.
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13.51 BST: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said it is “nice” that the club are linked with Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara this summer.
Bayern coach Hansi Flick hinted that Thiago had played his final game for the club after the Champions League final last month.
Sources have told ESPN that Liverpool are interested in a deal for Thiago and Klopp said he is unable to prevent talk about the midfielder moving to Anfield.
“If I could invent a word to end speculations I’d be really rich,” he told a news conference ahead of their Premier League opener against Leeds United on Saturday.
“Did I mention that Thiago is a really good player? It’s nice that we are linked with him but that’s all. “Good for you I cannot end the speculation.”
13.24 BST: Roma defender Alessandro Florenzi will undergo a medical at Paris Saint-Germain, reports L’Equipe.
The right-back, who was on loan at Valencia last season, could be officially unveiled by PSG this weekend should he pass his medical later on Friday.
Speaking on Thursday in a news conference, PSG manager Thomas Tuchel said: “I’m confident in Alessandro Florenzi signing from AS Roma. He’s not in Paris today but hopefully tomorrow”.
Florenzi, 29, has three years left on his Roma contract and is expected to join the club on loan with an option for PSG to make the transfer permanent.
13.00 BST: Mikel Arteta has admitted on the eve of the new Premier League season that Arsenal’s squad is imbalanced and the club are still actively looking to strengthen before the window closes next month.
The Gunners currently have more than 30 first-team players on their books and are looking to offload several players including Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira and Mesut Ozil. Several other players including Hector Bellerin and Emiliano Martinez has been linked with moves away from the club and although they are currently without five central defenders due to injury, Arsenal have eight in their squad.
“Number wise, some positions are overbooked,” Arteta said in a news conference via video link. “Some others are in terms of the specific qualities we need, they are still not there.
“It is going to be very difficult to achieve what we want in one or two windows. It is a process, it has to be evolving and most importantly it has to be a sustainable model that we can consistently fit in, as well of course using our academy players.
“We are still active in the market, we are looking at different options. We are active in the market with players in and out, at the moment the squad balance is not ideal and what we want to achieve.
“There is still some work to do but we have to bear in mind the complications of this market. The complexity and as well the timing because you can see that clubs are behaving in may different ways and it is a bit uncertain how this is going to evolve in the next few weeks.”
12.29 BST: Chelsea have rejected offers from Inter Milan for midfielder N’Golo Kante, according to The Guardian.
The Italian side have reportedly offered midfielder to include either Marcelo Brozovic or Christian Eriken as part of a potential transfer deal.
The Blues do not want to see Kante leave despite the France international being limited to 28 appearances last season due to injury.
Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte signed Kante four years ago while at Chelsea, and the player became an integral part of the Italian’s 2016-17 Premier League-winning side.
12.16 BST: ICYMI — AC Milan confirmed the transfer of striker Andre Silva to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
Silva, 24, rejoins Frankfurt having spent the 2019-20 season on loan at the German club. Bild reports Frankfurt signed the Portugal international for €9m. Silva joined AC Milan in 2017 for €38m.
11.57 BST: The summer of 2021 could be a busy one at the Bernabeu, with Diario AS reporting Real Madrid are lining up a spending spree that could see not just Camavinga but also Kylian Mbappe and Dayot Upamecano join the club.
Madrid ruled out any major signings this summer due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but the newspaper claims that will change next year.
Mbappe, who has been a long-term top Madrid target, has a contract at Paris Saint-Germain until 2022 and has thus far shown no signs of extending.
In July, defender Upamecano signed a new deal at RB Leipzig until 2023 — but reportedly with a reduced buyout clause of around €45m.
According to AS, the French trio would be “the spine of reinforcements that Madrid want… a centre-back, a midfielder and a star in attack.”
11.24 BST: Luis Suarez‘s departure from Barcelona is being held up over negotiations regarding the termination of his contract, sources have told ESPN’s Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden.
Juventus are the front-runners to sign the striker but he wants to have the final year of his contract paid off before leaving Camp Nou. If the issue cannot be resolved, he could yet see out his deal at the club.
While Juve is his likely destination if he does finally leave, Atletico Madrid continue to monitor the situation. However, sources suggest they would struggle to finance a move given the cost of his salary.
If Suarez does leave — and providing Barca can raise funds from other sales — the Catalan club could look to replace him with Lautaro Martinez or Memphis Depay.
Martinez is a long-term target and TyC reports that his agents will meet with Barca this week. But sources have told ESPN that things have gone quiet on that front due to the costs involved in the deal.
The same source says Memphis is an “interesting” option for the club given his close relationship with coach Ronald Koeman. If Barca do table a bid for the Lyon forward, Manchester United will have the chance to match it due to a clause included in the deal when they sold him in 2017.
0:59
Sid Lowe says that Barcelona have much more pressing needs in their defence than in midfield.
10.48 BST: Houssem Aouar remains Arsenal’s No.1 target for the rest of the transfer window, with first-team manager Mikel Arteta eager to build his side around the Lyon midfielder, sources told ESPN’s Julien Laurens.
Arteta views France Under-21 international Aouar as a pillar of the 4-3-3 formation he eventually wants to employ. Sources said Arsenal remain front-runners for Aouar’s signature, but they do not have the €60 million required to land him and would have to fund that through sales. Alexandre Lacazette is expected to seek clarification over his role in the Arsenal team amid growing speculation the club will allow him to leave for around £40m this summer, sources told ESPN’s James Olley.
Arsenal are the only club so far to show a strong interest in Aouar, with Manchester City and Juventus focusing on other areas of their respective squad rebuilds. Arsenal technical director Edu is good friends with Juninho, his counterpart at Lyon, and the pair speak regularly.
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10.11 BST: Gonzalo Higuain has agreed terms to terminate his contract with Juventus ahead of his move to Inter Miami, according to Sky Italia.
Juve will reportedly officialise Higuain’s departure once the Argentina forward agrees terms with the MLS franchise.
Higuain, 32, has one year left on his contract with Juve and he is in Miami to finalise terms with the American club. The former Napoli star is set to sign a two-year deal worth €7.5m per season.
Higuain joined Juve in the summer of 2016 from Napoli for €90m and scored 66 goals in 149 games for the Bianconeri. He had loan spells at AC Milan and Chelsea before returning to Juve last summer.
09.35 BST: Gareth Bale has been grabbing all the headlines, but another unwanted forward, Mariano Diaz, is also turning into a major headache for Real Madrid, sources have told ESPN’s Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez.
Coach Zinedine Zidane has made it clear that Diaz, who didn’t start a single La Liga game last season, has no future at the club. However the 27-year-old has three years left on a hefty €5m-a-year contract and is refusing to accept a move that would mean earning any less.
Madrid had a deal agreed with Benfica this month but Diaz turned it down because, even as one of their top earners, it involved a pay cut of around 50%.
The striker is behind Karim Benzema and even misfiring Luka Jovic in the pecking order at the Bernabeu.
09.00 BST: Mikel Arteta will now carry the title of Arsenal first-team manager instead of head coach as part of a restructuring that reflects his growing influence at the club.
Arteta, 38, was only appointed in December but an upturn in performances coupled with his leadership throughout the coronavirus pandemic has prompted Arsenal to effectively promote him.
As part of an overhaul which led to 55 non-playing staff redundancies, the departure of head of football Raul Sanllehi and a number of long-serving scouts, the club has also made Vinai Venkatesham chief executive.
Venkatesham, who was previously managing director, will oversee a three-man team responsible for all football affairs as Arteta works closely with technical director Edu and academy manager Per Mertesacker.
“He has walked into probably the toughest nine-month period this football club has had in its 134 year history,” Venkatesham said of Arteta. “I say probably, but I checked with [life president] Mr. [Ken] Friar and he has been here for 70 of those years and he says it is the toughest period the club has ever had so, take it from him if you don’t want to take it from me.
“During that period Mikel has lifted the spirits of fans, staff, players and driven this team to an FA Cup semifinal and an FA Cup final, winning that trophy and winning the Community Shield. That is no mean feat.
“And we really acknowledge the man’s capabilities, and that the man’s capabilities fit much better as a manager than as a head coach.”
Real consider move for Mahrez
FootMercato are reporting that Real Madrid have made contact with Riyad Mahrez‘s team of representatives over a potential move for the Manchester City attacker before the new season.
Mahrez is on Zinedine Zidane’s radar thanks to his form last season in which he scored 13 goals and added 16 assists. Madrid are believed to be gathering information on the 29-year-old winger.
However, Mahrez still has three years remaining on his contract at the Etihad Stadium and appears to be a major part of boss Pep Guardiola’s plans. Moreover, City have already lost another winger, Leroy Sane, to Bayern Munich, though they have signed Ferran Torres from Valencia.
It would appear as though City would be reluctant to see another major winger leave the club, though they would have time to replace him if he was tempted by a move to the Bernabeu.
1:19
Colin Udoh stresses the importance of regular football for Riyad Mahrez at Manchester City this season.
Rose to move on from Spurs
Serie A side Genoa are attempting to prise Danny Rose away from Tottenham Hotspur, according to Sky Sports and Sky Sports Italia.
Rose is under contract in north London until 2021 but it would appear as though he has no future under Jose Mourinho.
Genoa, who narrowly avoided relegation last season, believe it will be difficult to land left-back Rose, but they’re keen to get one over on rivals Cagliari, who are also interested, by signing Rose.
Rose is in the final year of his contract and Spurs need to offload players to help contribute to any potential new signings they want to bring in, which means they’re open to allowing Rose to leave.
Rose spent the second half of last season on loan at Newcastle United and made 11 appearances under Steve Bruce.
He has been at Tottenham for 13 years.
Tap-ins
– Jack Wilshere could be on the lookout for a new club this week with West Ham United likely to terminate his contract with less than 10 months remaining, reports the Daily Mail. The Hammers are keen to bolster their transfer kitty in an effort to increase their bid for Burnley defender James Tarkowski, and David Moyes is growing frustrated by so far not being able to strengthen his squad ahead of the new season. Wilshere has played just 18 games since making the switch to West Ham on a three-year deal.