The summer transfer window is here, and there’s plenty of gossip swirling about who’s moving where. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings and goings and, of course, done deals!
TOP STORY: Roma hope to win race for Dybala
Paulo Dybala remains a free agent after leaving Juventus at the expiry of his contract at the start of the month, but AS Roma are hoping to beat Serie A rivals Inter Milan and Napoli to his signature.
Dybala, 28, was expected to sign for Inter, but talks over a contract failed to come to an agreement. Now Roma boss Jose Mourinho believes he can persuade the midfielder to move to Rome — even though he cannot offer Champions League football.
Corriere dello Sport reports that Roma will put a contract offer on the table in the next 24 hours after Mourinho personally spoke to the Argentina international on the phone on Saturday to sell the project to him. The club are growing increasingly confident that they can get him to join them.
However, Roma are not prepared to wait around for an answer and will switch targets to free agent Jesse Lingard or Atalanta’s Mario Pasalic if they are left hanging.
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14.22 BST: AC Milan are set to make a third transfer offer for Club Brugge forward Charles De Ketelaere.
De Ketelaere, 21, is also wanted by Leeds United, who have made higher offer than Milan, but the Belgium international favours a move to Serie A.
The latest Milan offer is set to be €30m plus €5m in add-ons, which will still be slightly below the proposal from Leeds.
Calciomercato reports that personal terms have already been agreed with the player over a five-year deal worth around €2.5m a season.
13.41 BST: Real Sociedad are on the verge of signing Take Kubo from Real Madrid, according to local reports. The Basque outfit will reportedly pay a transfer fee of €6m to Madrid to acquire 50% of Kubo’s sporting rights. Madrid will include a buy-back clause in the contract.
Kubo, 21, is expected to sign a contract with the San Sebastian-based club until June 2027.
Since joining Madrid in July 2019 from FC Tokyo, the winger has played on loan at Real Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe. Kubo made 27 league appearances in his second loan spell at Mallorca last season. He is under contract with Madrid until June 2024.
13.02 BST: Manchester United are ready to join the chase for Brentford striker Ivan Toney, reports the Sunday Mirror.
Toney, 26, scored 12 goals last season in his debut Premier League campaign, having netted 31 times in the Championship in 2020-21 to fire the Bees into the top flight.
Leeds United, Newcastle United and West Ham United have already been linked, but now Erik ten Hag is said to be monitoring the situation for the Red Devils.
The report says that Man United will only take their interest further should either Cristiano Ronaldo or Anthony Martial leave the club.
Toney started his career at Newcastle before making his name at Peterborough United.
12.20 BST: Barcelona are not looking to slow down in the transfer market and have now turned their focus on signing Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, El Mundo Deportivo reports.
On Saturday, Barca reached agreement to sign Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich to bolster their attack and are now prepared to strengthen their defensive line with the arrival of Kounde.
Barca coach Xavi is a big admirer of the former Bordeaux star. The French centre-back is expected to leave Sevilla this summer and is a target of top European clubs including Chelsea and Tottenham.
Kounde, 23, is in California recovering from a groin operation he underwent last month. He is under contract with Sevilla through June 2024.
11.38 BST: Remember Phil Jones? The Sun on Sunday reports that the Manchester United defender, who remarkably still has another year to run on his contract, is wanted by Wayne Rooney at D.C. United.
Rooney was appointed as the new coach of the MLS side on Tuesday, and is looking to bring in new players before the transfer window closes in a few weeks.
He tried to sign Jones on loan when he was manager of Derby County last season, before the club hit financial troubles.
United are eager to get Jones’ £100,000-a-week wage off their books, but he may have to take a significant pay cut to move to D.C. United.
11.00 BST: Arsenal are confident of landing left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City for £30m. On Friday, ESPN sources revealed that the two clubs were in talks, and now the The Sun says that the Gunners are close to landing their fifth signing of the summer having agreed the fee.
Technical director Edu Gaspar is now working to finalise the deal, which hinges on being able to agree personal terms with the 25-year-old. Zinchenko isn’t willing to play as backup to Kieran Tierney, and instead he’s keen to find out exactly what role he’ll have to play at the Emirates if he moves to north London.
To that end, Arteta is considering using Zinchenko in a central midfield role, which is an area of the pitch that has been causing him issues not only last season, but throughout preseason too.
Arsenal have already signed Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner.
10.12 BST: Bayern Munich have once again distanced themselves from a move for Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has made an official request to leave United this summer so he can continue to play Champions League football, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
Bayern were thought to be one of the few clubs in the Champions League that could afford the 37-year-old, but they have no intention of making an offer.
“I love Cristiano Ronaldo, a fantastic player, but each club has a philosophy and I am not sure if it would be the right signal for Bayern and the Bundesliga to send if we were to sign him now,” Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said.
Sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic added: “I have a lot of respect for Cristiano Ronaldo, but we are not interested in him.”
And coach Julian Nagelsmann joined the band of officials to deny the reports, saying: “I saw all of the rumours about my interest in signing Cristiano Ronaldo, but it is not true.”
On Saturday, Bayern confirmed Robert Lewandowski will join Barcelona after the clubs reached a verbal agreement for his transfer on Saturday.
09.30 BST: ICYMI last night, Paris Saint-Germain completed the signing of striker Hugo Ekitike on loan from Stade de Reims.
Ekitike, 20, turned down a move to Newcastle United in favour of the switch to PSG, who he joins on a season-long loan with the option to make the switch permanent.
Paris Saint-Germain is pleased to announce the arrival of Hugo Ekitiké from Stade de Reims. ✍️
The French striker is on loan, with an option to buy, until the end of the season. 🔴🔵#WelcomeHugohttps://t.co/SSOzpWUXpq
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) July 16, 2022
PAPER GOSSIP
– Barcelona have expressed an interest in Carney Chukwuemeka, and now Aston Villa seem willing to part with a player who won the European Under-19 Championship with England. Fabrizio Romano reports that Villa are looking for a transfer fee of around £20m, but Barca face stiff competition from a number of other clubs. Chukwuemeka is entering the final year of his contract, which means Aston Villa face the prospect of losing him for nothing next summer if they don’t tie him to a new deal.
– Inter Milan are pushing to finalise a deal for Torino centre-back Bremer, according to Alfredo Pedulla. Personal terms with the 25-year-old were agreed in January, and now his representatives will meet with Torino in an effort to get the move sorted as early as Monday as Simone Inzaghi looks to complete his squad additions. Bremer has also interested Juventus and a number of English clubs, including Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
– Nicolo Zaniolo has been in good goal-scoring form for AS Roma during preseason and Juventus are said to be monitoring the midfielder’s contract discussions. Calciomercato reports that, while the 23-year-old’s existing contract is due to end in 2024, he’s keen to renew, but only with an increase in salary. Juve could be able to tempt him to Turin for a fee of around €40-45m, with a percentage of any resale heading back to the Italian capital.