The January transfer window may seem like a distant memory, but that doesn’t mean the rumour mill has shut down! Speculation over summer moves is heating up, so check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here.
TOP STORY: Man City and Chelsea look at Dahoud
Manchester City and Chelsea are both considering making a move for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, reports The Daily Mail.
Dahoud, 25, will have an idea of what to expect if he joins the Blues, having previously worked with manager Thomas Tuchel at Dortmund.
The Syrian-born Germany international has a contract which is coming to an end in 2022, and the Bundesliga side may be more willing to negotiate in the summer to ensure they don’t lose him for free.
Tottenham Hotspur and Everton are also said to be among those taking an interest in Dahoud’s situation.
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LIVE BLOG
17.00 GMT: Will Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be staying in charge of Man United?
1:22
Gab Marcotti examines the pressure on Manchester United and AC Milan to win the UEFA Europa League.
16.14 GMT: Danish outlet BT claims that Southampton’s Jannik Vestergaard is of interest to Tottenham.
Vestergaard, 28, has impressed in the Premier League this season and almost moved to Leicester City last summer.
The defender’s current contract expires in 2022, so Southampton might be forced into letting him depart as they were with compatriot Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who also moved to Tottenham.
15.35 GMT: Tottenham have reportedly informed Benfica that they won’t take up their €40m option to sign striker Carlos Vinicius permanently once his loan expires in the summer, says The Daily Mail.
Talks began over extending his stay at the beginning of March and involved the player’s agent, Flavio Ribeiro. The 25-year-old has scored nine goals in 19 games for Tottenham, but the report reads: “Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is willing to offer £17m (€20m) for Vinicius, a little more than the £14.5m (€17m) Benfica paid Napoli to bring him to Portugal in 2019.”
14.58 GMT: The Daily Mail claims that Manchester City are now leading the race for Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish‘s signature.
Grealish, 25, is one of the top young players in Europe and Villa are reportedly looking for around £100m to let him go.
City and rivals Man United are front of the queue, with the player himself reported to favour a move to City.
14.17 GMT: Any chance Cristiano Ronaldo could head back to Real Madrid?
1:40
Julien Laurens reads between the lines on Zinedine Zidane’s answer regarding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future.
14.00 GMT: Dortmund have announced the signing of PSG defender Soumaila Coulibaly.
Coulibaly, 17, has yet to play for the PSG first team but is a France U18 international. The centre-back is recovering from a knee injury and will join in the summer when his contract expires.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to play for such a traditional club in the future,” he told the club website. “I am grateful for the training I enjoyed at Paris Saint Germain, but I think this move is now the best step for me. I had offers from other clubs, but when I was for the first time When I spoke to the BVB officials, I knew straight away that this was the right club for me. I can’t wait to get started at my new club.”
13.30 GMT: Chelsea have put contract talks with Tammy Abraham on hold, sources have told ESPN’s James Olley.
The 23-year-old striker was expected to sign a long-term deal last season but negotiations stalled in part over his wage demands.
Abraham ended up triggering an automatic one-year extension last July, tying him to the club until 2023 and earning him a small increase on his £50,000-a-week wage.
That extra 12 months reduced the urgency to find a longer agreement but sources have told ESPN that both parties are now likely to wait until the end of the season before reviewing the situation.
Abraham is also thought to be wary of speculation that Chelsea will look to sign another striker this summer. ESPN reported on March 5 that senior figures at the club were confident of pulling off a move for Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
12.49 GMT: Gab Marcotti runs through 11 reasons for Barcelona to be cheerful. Including:
There’s a backbone of world-class talent, and most of it is young
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (28), Frenkie de Jong (23), Pedri (18) and Ansu Fati (18) are undoubted A-list players, among the best in the world in their roles. Ronald Araujo (22), Sergino Dest (20) and Ilaix Moriba (18) are on their way to reaching that level.
If you really want to look at the world through Azulgrana-tinted glasses, you might add Riqui Puig (21), Oscar Mingueza (21) and Francisco Trincao (21) to that list and maybe chuck in loanees Carles Alena (23) and Jean-Clair Todibo (21). I’m not going to go that far, but of the latter six there’s a pretty good chance that one will become world class and another couple will be serviceable contributors. Given their ages, that’s pretty good.
Everybody is hurting financially, it’s not just you … which means the football ecosystem has changed
Transfers spending and wages will almost certainly be down in the summer as there’s less cash in the system. That hurts you because it’s harder to dump assets in order to raise cash quickly. Barca had the highest wage bill in the world for several years, and other clubs simply aren’t going to want to pick up salaries of overpaid Camp Nou busts. But the lack of cash in the system works both ways. It also means there’s less competition for the guys you want to keep, in particular those whose contracts you may want to extend, like Pedri or Ousmane Dembele. And, if you do need to make signings, they should, by the same principle, be that much cheaper.
12.22 GMT: Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuain has told ESPN Argentina that Barcelona’s Lionel Messi could join him in MLS.
Higuain, 33, enjoyed a prolific career with Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus before moving to Inter Miami in 2020.
Messi has been linked with move to MLS when his contract at Barca expires this summer, though Man City and PSG are favourites to land the 33-year-old.
“[Andrea] Pirlo came here [to MLS] when he was a world champion, so did [Thierry] Henry, [David] Villa and [Blaise] Matuidi,” Higuain said. “I see no reason why Lionel couldn’t come here. If it would make him happy, we would welcome him with open arms.
“At some point he will decide where he wants to play play and what is in his own best interests on a personal and sporting level, but in my opinion he has the calibre to continue competing for the Champions League.”
12.05 GMT: Donny van de Beek only signed for Manchester United for around €45m in the summer from Ajax.
1:06
Janusz Michallik says the only way for Donny van de Beek to regain confidence is to leave Old Trafford.
11.34 GMT: Former Toronto FC star Victor Vazquez is set for a new spell in MLS after completing his move to the LA Galaxy.
The former Barcelona academy midfielder, who scored 18 goals in his two seasons under Greg Vanney at Toronto in a team that won the domestic treble in 2017, has agreed a one-year contract with a one-year option following his latest spell at Belgium side K.A.S. Eupen.
Vanney believes that the 34-year-old could help to bring out the best in Mexico striker Javier Hernandez at the Galaxy and added that the Spaniard’s arrival, a week following the signing of Samuel Grandsir from Monaco, didn’t rule out the potential return of Cristian Pavon from Boca Juniors after the winger was charged with rape in an Argentina court earlier this month.
“I don’t think [signing Samuel Grandsir] necessarily signifies we’re moving on from Cristian,” Vanney said. “We are continuing to look to build the roster, whether that is with Cristian or without Cristian is still a little bit to be determined. Samuel was going to be added regardless of whether Cristian was here or not. He is another piece. There is another wing that needs to be filled and there might be one or two more.”
10.56 GMT: MLS side Atlanta are set to complete the signing of defender Alan Franco from Independiente.
ESPN Argentina reports that the deal is done and the clubs are just finalising the paperwork to make it official.
The 24-year-old was a key member of the Independiente defence but, according to reports, the Argentine side will receive around $2.8m for 50% of his economic rights.
10.31 GMT: Sao Paulo have completed the signing of former Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid centre-back Joao Miranda as new manager Hernan Crespo continue the overhaul of his squad.
The 36-year-old defender returns to his former side as a free agent after Chinese Super League champions Jiangsu FC ceased operations last month.
10.04 GMT: Chelsea want to sign Dortmund striker Erling Haaland and Chelsea striker Timo Werner is underperforming. Does this make sense?
1:04
Could Erling Haaland leave Dortmund for Chelsea in exchange Timo Werner? Janusz Michallik weighs up the swap.
09.19 GMT: Football Insider claims that Man United are lining up a move for r Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Martinez, 28, only left Arsenal for Villa in the summer and has caught the eye of United already. He “is the top of their target list following his outstanding debut campaign for Villa,” according to the report.
But United already have three goalkeepers, I hear you shout.
Evidently: “United’s plan is to keep Dean Henderson and bring in replacements for longstanding number one David de Gea, 30, as well as his former deputy Sergio Romero, 34.”
08.52 GMT: ICYMI – Former Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs has verbally agreed to join Inter Miami at the end of the season, sources have told ESPN’s James Olley.
The 31-year-old is expected to sign a two-and-a-half year deal with David Beckham’s MLS franchise and will move to the United States once his contract expires at West Bromwich Albion this summer.
Gibbs moved to the Hawthorns from Arsenal in August 2017 for £7m and has made 100 appearances.
The left-back, who has amassed 10 England caps, is West Brom’s highest-paid player on £70,000-a-week and the club are looking to reduce their wage bill with relegation to the Championship increasingly likely. They are 10 points adrift of 17th-placed Newcastle United.
New York Red Bulls and DC United had expressed an interest in Gibbs but did not enter serious negotiations with Inter Miami the front-runners throughout.
The paperwork is yet to be signed but all parties are confident the deal will go through, meaning Gibbs will arrive midway through new manager Phil Neville’s first season in charge.
08.30 GMT: Lucas Vazquez looks set to leave Real Madrid this summer, according to Marca.
Vazquez, 29, becomes a free agent in 2021 and contract talks between his agent and the club have so far proved fruitless.
The Spanish winger’s agent met with Real Madrid general director Jose Angel Sanchez earlier this week but no agreement was reached for a new deal and he has already turned down an offer made from Real Madrid which included a three-year deal that would see his current wages cut by 10%.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, are reportedly targeting Jorge de Frutos as a replacement for Vazquez.
Madrid let De Frutos leave for Levante last summer but a buy-back clause was included in the deal. De Frutos, 24, has had a starring role at Levante, scoring three goals and setting up eight more in 26 league appearances.
0:54
Janusz Michallik says Cristiano Ronaldo’s drive and determination for success will keep him at Juventus.
PAPER TALK (by Danny Lewis)
Juventus are eyeing a move for Atalanta wing-back Robin Gosens, as has been reported by Calciomercato.
This comes with Alex Sandro‘s stock falling, as Juventus are reportedly ready to listen to offers to sign him in the region of €25m.
Gosens’ contract comes to an end in the summer of 2022 and the report says that Atalanta are looking to bring in around €35m-€40m for the 26-year-old, having signed him from Heracles for just €2m in 2017.
Pochettino wants Aurier reunion
Paris Saint-Germain are looking into the possibility of signing Tottenham right-back Serge Aurier, reports Foot Mercato.
PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino is keen to be reunited with the 28-year-old, whom he managed during his time in north London.
The two enjoyed working together, says the story, and adds Spurs will be willing to accept an offer in the region of €12m.
This will also fulfil Aurier’s desire to play for PSG again, after the Ivory Coast international was on the books in Paris from 2014-2017.
Tap-ins
– Barcelona and Real Madrid are going to battle it out for Argentine youngster Gonzalo Sosa, reports AS. The 16-year-old recently impressed in a friendly for Racing, which has improved his chances of a big move. Los Blancos were the first to scout the attacking midfielder, but Barcelona are now looking to bring him in. Meanwhile, the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Bayern Munich are keeping an eye out.
– Napoli are hoping to bring Barcelona left-back Junior Firpo in on loan with an option to sign him permanently, reports Sport. However, Barcelona are only willing to let the 24-year-old leave permanently, with €20m enough to land him, though they may be willing to accept a loan with an obligation to sign.
– Dortmund are keeping an eye on Liverpool attacker Divock Origi, says Football Insider. The Reds were asking for around €25m in January, but the outlet suggests an offer of €15m could be enough for BVB to sign the Belgian. The 25-year-old has scored some big goals for Liverpool in the past, but has hardly played this term and hit the back of the net just once.
