The transfer window opened in early January, and speculation is heating up about potential deals. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here.
TOP STORY: PSG offer three-year deal to Ramos
Paris Saint-Germain have offered Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos a three-year deal worth €15 million a season, according to Onda Cero.
Madrid and Ramos appear to be in a stand-off over a new contract, with Los Blancos seemingly unwilling to budge on a two-year-deal that Ramos has deemed unacceptable and PSG are looking to take advantage.
The Parisiens know that Madrid are unlikely to be able to match their three-year offer, particularly when the Spanish club are trying to find a way to finance a move for PSG striker Kylian Mbappe in the next 12-15 months.
Madrid’s two-year offer also comes with a 10% salary reduction, which could see Ramos choose to leave.
Ramos and Florentino Perez are yet to have a direct conversation, though, and so far talks between Ramos’ brother Rene, his representative, and the Madrid president have not gone smoothly.
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– Transfer grades: Arsenal get ‘D’ for Ozil exit
LIVE BLOG
11.15 GMT: Erling Haaland reportedly has a €75m release clause in his contract at Dortmund, which could see him go in 2022. But will the club lose him before then?
1:45
Archie Rhind-Tutt and Steve Cherundolo discuss Erling Haaland’s future if Dortmund fail to qualify for the Champions League.
10.31 GMT: Borussia Dortmund will add to their stars of the future by announcing Julian Rijkhoff’s transfer from Ajax this month.
The attacker turned 16 on Monday and can now make the move across the border. Sources have told ESPN’s Stephan Uersfeld that Rijkhoff, who names Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski as his role models, will initially join the club’s U17 side, but they expect him to make the senior squad rather sooner than later.
Dortmund will pay compensation to sign the attacker.
09.56 GMT: Manchester City midfielder Daniel Arzani has moved on loan to AGF in Denmark.
Arzani, 22, had been on loan with Dutch side FC Utrecht for the first half of the season. The Australia international signed for City from A-League club Melbourne City in 2018 but has yet to play for them and spent a two-year loan spell with Celtic but tore his ACL in his first senior appearance and departed them in May 2020.
AGF chief Jacob Nielsen said: “Arzani is a talented and exciting player who can perform both in the offensive part of midfield and on a wing. He is a technically strong player, rounded by the Australian mentality, as we know well in AGF, where it is healthy virtues and a good work mentality that characterise their football players. So he will fit well into our squad in the Spring, where we enter a period with many matches.”
09.41 GMT: AC Milan and US Cremonese have reached an agreement over the loan of striker Lorenzo Colombo.
Colombo, 18, has one goal in 11 senior games for Milan and will try his luck in Serie B for the rest of the season.
09.18 GMT: Sevilla president Pepe Castro has confirmed his club is in advanced talks to sign Argentine forward Papu Gomez from Serie A club Atalanta.
The Andalusian club sold Spanish striker Carlos Fernandez to Real Sociedad earlier this week and is looking for a replacement.
“He is a player that interests us,” Castro said of Gomez. “Negotiations are very advanced but the documents have yet to be signed.”
Gomez, 32, has a contract with the Bergamaschi until June 2022 and is expected to arrive to Seville on Tuesday to complete his permanent transfer. He has scored four goals and set up two more in 10 league appearances this season.
Sevilla have offered Atalanta €8m to sign the veteran striker, who is in his seventh campaign at Atalanta.
08.33 GMT: The biggest news in the soccer world on Monday involved the manager change at Chelsea. Club legend Frank Lampard was sacked, and sources have told ESPN’s James Olley that former Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel is lined up to come in to revamp the struggling Blues, who are ninth in the Premier League at the halfway point of their 2020-21 campaign.
With a lot to unpack around the seismic switch at Stamford Bridge, ESPN’s reporters James Olley, Mark Ogden, Julien Laurens, Gab Marcotti and Tom Hamilton break down the story.
– Why Chelsea sacked Lampard, where he failed, Tuchel’s to-do list
1:32
Julien Laurens and Gab Marcotti both have doubts that Thomas Tuchel is the right man to lead Chelsea.
08.00 GMT: Europe’s elite football clubs are expected to miss out on over €2 billion ($2.43bn) in revenue by the end of the 2020-21 season due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Deloitte’s Football Money League.
The report published on Tuesday said the figure includes amounts missed in 2019-20 when the top 20 highest-earning clubs in Europe earned €8.2bn of combined revenue, which was down 12% on the previous season. That drop in income of €1.1bn was primarily down to the deferral of broadcast revenue into the financial year ending in 2021, with all the major leagues brought to a standstill in March last year due to the pandemic.
With the majority of games being played without spectators since June, matchday revenue for top European clubs is likely to remain close to zero until the end of the 2020-21 season.
The Money League standings for 2019-20 remained broadly consistent with previous years as Barcelona held the top spot with an annual revenue of €715.1m.The Catalan outfit, however, suffered the second largest revenue fall among the clubs featuring on the list, having delivered a record-breaking year in 2018-19 when they became the first club to break the €800m revenue barrier.
Real Madrid reported an 8% increase in commercial income to retain second spot in the rankings (€714.9m), while European champions Bayern Munich moved up to third (€634.1m) following a Treble-winning campaign. Manchester United (€580m) and Liverpool (€558.6m) make up the top five with Liverpool moving up from seventh last year, replacing Paris Saint-Germain.
1:26
Janusz Michallik is convinced Bayern Munich have won the Bundesliga after their stunning 4-0 win over Schalke.
PAPER TALK (by Nick Judd)
Neuhaus eyed by Spurs and Dortmund
Tottenham Hotspur and Borussia Dortmund are among the clubs looking to sign Borussia Monchengladbach sensation Florian Neuhaus, according to Sport1.
Many of Europe’s top sides have been watching the 23-year-old midfielder, though financial constrictions could hurt Dortmund’s attempts to sign him, especially if they fail to quality for the Champions League.
Bayern Munich are also interested in the player, who reportedly has a €40m release clause in his contract. Spurs could be set to lose Dele Alli on loan to PSG, while Javi Martinez will leave Bayern this summer, meaning both clubs are in the market for midfield reinforcements.
Arsenal, Napoli and Crystal Palace are interested in signing Marseille left-back Jordan Amavi, say L’Equipe.
The 26-year-old has resumed training this week after sustaining a calf injury, but talks about a prolonged stay at the club beyond the end of the season appear to have stalled.
Amavi’s representatives have been in discussion with club head of football Pablo Longoria, but they appear to be at a dead end. Amavi is free to find a new home for next season and Napoli and Crystal Palace have expressed an interest, while Arsenal appear to be late entrants into the race for his signature.
The former Aston Villa defender has impressed when he’s played this season, making a high number of interceptions and attacking forward runs.
Tap-ins
– Liverpool are closing in on signing Derby County wonderkid Kadie Gordon, according to the Liverpool Echo. The 16-year-old’s style has drawn comparisons with both Mohamed Salah and Mason Greenwood, and Liverpool appear to have beaten off interest from Tottenham and Manchester United to land the youngster. Derby’s Academy Player of the Season last year will cost an initial fee of £1m, which could rise to around £3m.
– Marseille youngster Marley Ake could soon join Juventus, according to Calciomercato. Ake has agreed personal terms and so only a medical appears to be blocking his move from Ligue 1 to Serie A. Juventus have already let youngster Franco Tongya move to the French club in the other direction, and it is now hoped that winger Ake can push for a first-team spot under Andrea Pirlo.
