On the face of it, things are settling down at Chelsea. Michy Batshuayi’s near-post instincts are alive and well, Marcos Alonso’s goals mean that Diego Costa’s absence is felt less and less by the day, and Antonio Conte seems happy with the transfer business this summer. But then, shockwaves from Germany. A cryptic message from one Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who both “surely needs to leave Borussia Dortmund” and “needs time to think about it”. Either way, Conte has got goosebumps. “This club and these fans are incredible, but if I want to grow, I feel I need to leave,” said the Gabon international on Sunday. “This is the question I keep on asking myself – and I don’t have an answer. I need time to think about it. If I want to grow, I surely need to leave this summer. I am 28 and I need to grow. If I leave, it will only be somewhere I would play regularly.” Chelsea are not Aubameyang’s only suitors – big-spending Milan still hold a strong interest, the club where the forward started his career.
Given that Liverpool have nil interest in losing Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona, the Catalan club’s email about a “deadline” to accept their latest offer has been happily assigned to a folder marked “junk”. Sky Sports claims that Liverpool had until 7pm on Sunday to accept Barça’s latest bid, thought to be £119m, but with the ultimatum making less of an impression than the Rumour Mill on a stag do, the deal may have finally hit the buffers for good. More encouraging for Ernesto Valverde and co is the imminent arrival of Jean Michaël Seri from Nice, after the coin for his £36m release clause was hoisted out of the vault – and that of Ousmane Dembélé, who is “just hours” from completing a £110m move from Dortmund, according to reports in France, in language reminiscent of an estate agent promising that they are running “just minutes” late or that a flat is just “moments” from any amenities. What does it all mean? Nobody knows.
Samir Nasri is off to Turkey! Well he’s technically already there, having flown by private jet to meet the accountants at Antalyaspor. Despite being a bright spark in Manchester City’s pre-season games, the 30-year-old appears to have no future under Pep Guardiola and is expected to sign a two-year deal with the Süper Lig club, who count Samuel Eto’o, Jérémy Ménez, Johan Djourou and the former Spurs midfielder Sandro in their ranks.
The Daily Star seems to think Arsenal have offered Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain £125,000 a week – an increase of £25,000 a week on their initial offer – to ward off interest from Chelsea, who are mulling over a £40m bid for the England international.
West Brom like the cut of Kevin Wimmer’s jib and are willing to pay up to £18m to secure said jib at the Hawthorns. Spurs, having signed Davinson Sánchez, have little room for Wimmer in their defence and a move to West Brom would open up the possibility of Jonny Evans completing a transfer to Manchester City. The magical merry-go-round of the transfer window just keeps on giving.
Burnley are close to breaking their transfer record after a £15m bid for Chris Wood was accepted by Leeds over the weekend. The striker earned some hard-won praise on Twitter after announcing to Whites fans 34 minutes before he was due to start against Sunderland on Saturday that “given it has always been my ambition to play at the highest level, I don’t feel it is right to play today”. His move to the highest level Burnley should be rubber-stamped on Monday.
