Take another look over the biggest transfer news, rumours and done deals from Tuesday 23 July.
There will be a rush to get deals done in the closing days of the window with Manchester United seemingly ready to continue their rebuild.
We’ll have the latest on Harry Maguire, Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku, while Gareth Bale‘s future remains uncertain.
Teaming up Barcelona captain Lionel Messi with new signing Antoine Griezmann, and also bringing back Neymar from Paris Saint Germain, excites many both inside and outside the Camp Nou.
But with Barca’s finances already worryingly stretched even before paying €120 million to sign Griezmann last week, the idea of pushing the limits even further to sign Neymar should trouble anyone concerned about the Catalan club’s long-term economic health.
Ex-Atletico Madrid forward Griezmann’s arrival has brought Barca’s summer spending to almost €240 million, including Frenkie De Jong from Ajax (€75m). While players worth around €100 million have been sold - including Andre Gomes to Everton (€25m). However the club’s tricky financial situation still left the blaugrana board scrambling embarrassingly last week.
“I’ve been captain for some games,” De Gea said. “Of course, it is amazing to be captain of a club like Manchester United and defend this badge. It’s amazing, so of course I’ll be really, really happy to captain.”
Arsenal are still some way off Crystal Palace's valuation for Wilfried Zaha, with the Selhurst Park hierarchy having rebuffed the latest approaches, writes Miguel Delaney.
Proving themselves as steadfast on this deal as Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Palace have set an asking price of £80m for the player.
Arsenal have most recently suggested a £55m deal with £10m dependent on clauses, as well as highly-rated Reiss Nelson on loan as a temporary replacement for Zaha, but the Selhurst Park club have insisted this is nowhere near enough.
The brutal reality, when you get right down to it, is that Zinedine Zidanehas just never really fancied Gareth Bale as a player, writes Miguel Delaney.
The French legend personally scouted Bale for Florentino Perez back when Real Madrid were first trying to sign the Welsh star back in 2013, precisely because the club president highly valued his opinion - but there was already some difference on this issue then.
Zidane watched Bale’s Europa League performance for Tottenham Hotspur against Lyon that February and, while he was complimentary, the current Madrid boss was nowhere near as effusive about it all as Perez. The president saw Bale as the medium-term successor to Cristiano Ronaldo, and pressed ahead with what became a personal project.
This is also part of the reason they’re all at the current impasse.
Bale has objectively been a success for Madrid, and certainly more so than Zidane the player in terms of pure numbers. He's won three times the major trophies (six to two), four times the Champions Leagues (four to one), and scored three times the Champions League final goals (three to one).
Manchester United have registered their interest in the 24-year-old, with the Old Trafford club pressing hard to get a deal done.
Fernandes takes on Liverpool with Sporting in the US tomorrow, but he's unsure if that will be his last game for the Portuguese outfit or not.
“The president decides that, not me,” Fernandes told A Bola. “I don't care about the market, I've talked about this many times.
“The only thing I can do now is that I need to catch the plane so I don't miss it. Will this be the last match for Sporting? I don't know, it's the coach who decides.
“I said I'd like to play in England, but I don't care about it right now. If it could be this season? It could be when the club decides, I'm not in charge.”
The Gunners are keen to bring the 22-year-old to the Emirates on a season-long loan deal and hope to tie up a move soon.
Ceballos, who has made 56 appearances for Madrid, has also been linked with Tottenham, who are understood to have cooled their interest at the lack of scope for the move to be made permanent.
The Spain Under-21 international will be the Gunners' second signing of the summer, following the earlier arrival of Gabriel Martinelli.
Unai Emery's side continue their pre-season tour of the United States with a friendly against Ceballos' parent club on Wednesday, though it is unclear whether the deal will be done in time or if he will feature.
Emery told the Mirror: "Ceballos is a very good player. I know him from (Real) Betis at the beginning and Real Madrid.
"He played very well in the Under-21s (European Championship), his national team won the competition."
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Pogba appears to have concentrated on pre-season, with Juan Mata revealing the French midfielder is not allowing speculation to distract him.
“He’s a fantastic midfielder and he’s a very good guy,” the 31-year-old added.
“I think he’s happy. Obviously as a team-mate, and as a friend also, I would like him to stay and to be happy because he is a very good player for us.
“We know we have to do better than last season. This club has won more trophies than any other club in England.”
