Friday's transfer news: Everton rival Arsenal for Zaha, Spurs enter Fernandes race, Longstaff addresses Man Utd interest
Follow the latest updates live from the transfer window as we bring you the latest news, rumours and done deals throughout the summer ahead of the 8 August deadline. Arsenal are poised to announce their second signing of the summer in the form of St Etienne defender William Saliba, but they remain keen on Wilfried Zaha as well as moves for Kieran Tierney and Dani Ceballos.
The deal for Saliba will mean Tottenham have missed out on one of their targets, but the club are considering breaking their transfer record for the second time this month following the signing of Tangey Ndombele with a £70m offer for Real Betis’ Giovani Lo Celso. However, one name who could be leaving is Danny Rose, with Paris Saint-Germain and Schalke both interested in the available left-back.
Manchester United are ready to press on with their move for Bruno Fernandes by making an official bod for the Sporting midfielder, but Paul Pogba looks increasingly likely to stay at Old Trafford – largely because Real Madrid are going to give Gareth Bale one more chance at the Bernabeu, meaning they cannot afford their move for the United midfielder. Follow the latest news below.
Welcome to The Independent's transfer live blog, where we'll bring you the latest news, rumours and done deals throughout the summer right up until the transfer window deadline.
We begin this morning at Tottenham where reports suggest a second record-breaking move of the summer is on the cards.
It's no secret that Spurs are keen on Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, with the former Paris Saint-Germain star catching the eye once again in Spain and representing an enticing target at 23 years old.
According to The Mirror, Spurs are ready to press on with that interest and make a whopping £70m offer - which would smash the previous record set earlier this month in the £55m spent on Tanguy Ndombele.
But that's not the only move being discussed at Spurs.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Manchester United's move for Sporting midfielder Bruno Fernandes faces competition from Tottenham, who are said to be weighing up an offer if there is no progress in the hunt for Lo Celso.
United are expected to make an official bid for Fernandes in the coming days and believe they are leading the race for the 24-year-old, but the sudden interest from their Premier League rivals may just hasten up that move in order to avert any risk of him heading to north London.
Wrapping up the wave of Spurs news this morning, Mauricio Pochettino has spoken at length of his plan to leave the club at the end of last season if they had beaten Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The Argentine hinted at such a possibility before the match in Madrid, but after suffering a 2-0 defeat he has elected to continue with unfinished business to take care of.
"It was an amazing period," he said. "After five years in a difficult project at Tottenham we talk a lot about perception and reality, how we fight and all the energy we expend trying to get Tottenham fighting with the best teams in Europe and England.
"Of course it's always in your head, you never know. With the way I am, I am always going to prioritise the club over myself.
"Maybe if it was a different result after the final you can think, 'OK, maybe this is a moment to step out of the club, leave the club and give them the possibility of a really new chapter with a new coaching staff'.
"But after the final I felt this was not great to finish like this. I'm not a person that avoids facing problems or a difficult situation.
"I love a massive challenge, a difficult challenge and of course now to rebuild that mentality to make it possible to repeat a similar season, that is exciting and motivates me a lot."
Real Madrid are ready to give Gareth Bale one more chance - well, at least president Florentino Perez is.
Bale is not a part of manager Zinedine Zidane's future plans for Madrid, but the club are struggling to find anyone interested in signing the Wales international, who is also happy to see out his contract even if he is not selected.
The Independent can reveal that the situation is so desperate for Bale that Perez has spoken to Zidane in an effort to persuade him into playing Bale this season, and thus saving the club a fortune that they cannot afford in the proposed move for Paul Pogba.
Arsenal are ready to announce the signing of young French defender William Saliba.
The 18-year-old will stay with St Etienne for the rest of the season on loan, but is set to complete a £27m move to the Premier League once a medical has been completed.
The central defender was also being targeted by Tottenham, but despite St Etienne's preference to accept Spurs' offer the player's personal desire to join Arsenal has seen them win the race.
Arsenal have also received a fresh boost in their pursuit of Wilfried Zaha.
The forward has reiterated his desire to leave Crystal Palace for Arsenal after holding talks with his current club, having returned from from Africa Cup of Nations duty to prepare for the new season.
According to Sky Sports, Zaha has told the club he would like to leave, but he will not hand in a transfer request and the prospect of Arsenal coughing up the right figure to meet Palace's demands remains highly unlikely unless they can offload some of the deadwood in the club.
Salomon Rondon has completed a move to Dalian Yifang from West Brom for an undisclosed fee, the Sky Bet Championship club announced on Friday.
The striker spent last season on loan at Newcastle and links up again with manager Rafael Benitez, who left St James' Park for the Chinese Super League club at the end of last month.
Rondon joined the Baggies in the summer of 2015, making 120 appearances for the club and scoring 28 goals before their relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
The Venezuela international made 33 appearances for Newcastle last season.
Rondon joins former Napoli captain Marek Hamsik and Belgium winger Yannick Carrasco on the books at Dalian Yifang.
"The club wishes Salomon and his family all the very best in the future," read a West Brom statement.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has left the door open to new additions in the summer transfer window, but admitted that the club may not sign a replacement for former captain Vincent Kompany.
He said: "We are so happy with the squad we have. I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the market.
"I don't know if players are going to leave or players are going to come."
When asked if he is in the market for a new centre-back to replace Vincent Kompany, who has joined Anderlecht as a player-coach, Guardiola added: "There is a chance but I don't know if it is possible. If not we have three incredible centre-backs."
Wolves are interested in signing AC Milan striker, Patrick Cutrone, according to reports.
Milan have made the 21-year-old available as they try and free up funds for Atletico Madrid forward, Angel Correa, and talks are in an advanced stage with Wolves confident the deal can be done.
Reports in Italy suggest the deal will be around £22 million.
Cutrone scored 9 goals for the Serie A giants last season and earned his international senior debut in March 2018 against Argentina.
Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has provided an update on Romelu Lukaku's future.
With Rashford acting as the lone striker up front so far this pre-season, Lukaku's future is up in the air with United's next pre-season opponents, Inter Milan, eager to recruit the Belgian.
Manchester United have made Barelona midfielder Ivan Rakitić a top priority, according to Catalan paper SPORT.
Reports suggest that it has become a ‘priority’ for the La Liga winners to sell him in order to raise funds, even though the player would prefer to stay in Spain.
With two years still left on his contract, Barcelona believe they can get £50 million for the Croatian.
Rakitić is believed to be one of the players offered to PSG as part of the proposed deal to bring Neymar back to the Nou Camp.
The Evening Standard are reporting that now free-agent, Fernando Llorente could re-join Tottenham after his contract expired at the end of last season.
The club have offered the striker a new one-year-deal on reduced terms as he weighs up his options with Tuscan outfit, Fiorentina, among a number of overseas clubs hoping to sign him.
The World Cup winner, who is also open to a return to Spain, scored just twice in the Premier League in two seasons but managed to score crucial goals against Borussia Dortmund and Manchester City in Spurs' journey to the Champions League Final last campaign.
Newcastle United midfielder, Sean Longstaff, has admitted that recent transfer speculation linking him with Manchester United is flattering, but ultimately, he is happy staying at his hometown club and working under new manager Steve Bruce.
The 21-year-old made just eight starts for Newcastle last year before a knee injury brought his campaign to a halt, but that doesn't seem to have deterred Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, from trying to sign him for the Red Devils.
“If somebody had said to be me a year ago I would be in this position, I would probably have laughed at them,”
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Kai Havertz has said that he is in no rush for a move despite being linked with Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Barcelona this summer.
Speaking to Bild, the 21-year-old said that he realises he may need to move clubs in the future, but for now, he is happy with life in Leverkusen.
''I am honest, at some point the next step must come for me. But I’m not going to worry about when exactly that will happen. What counts now is Bayer Leverkusen. We still have a lot to do. Leverkusen very quickly signaled that they wanted to keep me. That’s why it wasn’t an issue for me. Now I’m starting my tenth year here, maybe we can make it a golden one for the club. What will happen afterwards has not yet been decided. There is no club where I have already signed.
''I really don’t know yet whether FC Bayern is the next and right step for me. I also don’t know whether foreign countries would not be more suitable for me. I really don’t think too much about it at the moment.''
Forward Conor Chaplin becomes Barnsley's 10th signing of the summer as he signs from Coventry City on a four-year contract.
''This latest addition further improves our young, dynamic attacking core. Most importantly, he is a person of high character and in our research we’ve found that he is well-liked in each team he has been a part of.'' said Chief Executive Officer at Barnsley FC, Dane Murphy.
Roma have agreed a £5.4 million fee with Juventus to take former Chelsea striker, Gonzalo Higuaín, on a season-long loan.
According to The Daily Mail, the striker will initially arrive in the Italian capital on a temporary basis before making the move permanent for £24 million.
Juventus have been keen to offload the Argentinian for some time, after loan moves to AC Milan and Chelsea last season, and Roma are the latest potential suitors eager to secure Higuaín's signature.
Cardiff City have confirmed an agreement has been reached for defender, Bruno Ecuele Manga, to leave the club to join French side Dijon FCO.
"To Cardiff City, as you will know I have decided to leave but I didn’t want to go without saying a proper goodbye.
"There are loads of people I’d like to thank for the five years I spent in South Wales. I loved my time at the club and will have many fond memories. Playing in the Premier League was a dream for me and the journey to get there was incredible and one I will never forget.''
The summer transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday 8 August across the Premier League and Championship. The European transfer window remains open until Monday 2 September.
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