Less than 24 hours go!
“This time next year, we’ll be millionaires”. Well, Athletic Bilbao will pocket a cool £71.6m for Kepa Arrizabalaga, while Chelsea might earn around £35m for Thibaut Courtois, who looks set to join Real Madrid, with Mateo Kovacic’s season-long loan sweetening that deal. One day until the summer window does not just close but slams shut, and there’s plenty of potential movers and shakers to keep an eye on before then. Hurry:
• Chelsea are set to sign goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for a world-record fee, with Thibaut Courtois heading to Madrid
• Jack Grealish is upset at being priced out of a £25m move to Tottenham – but both parties are still keen to make it happen
• Wolves want to seal a deal for Leander Dendoncker after Adama Traoré winged in from Middlesbrough for £18m
• Leicester are in talks to sign two defenders – Filip Benkovic and Caglar Soyuncu – with Manchester United still keen on Harry Maguire
• And Jérôme Boateng has phoned José Mourinho to tell him that he will not join Manchester United this summer
• Aston Villa are adamant they will retain Grealish – but are set to sign Joe Bryan from Bristol City and Hibernian midfielder John McGinn
• Plus, Brad Smith has swapped Bournemouth for the MLS and Lee Camp has exited Cardiff for Birmingham
Done deal klaxon! Birmingham City have snapped up Lee Camp on a two-year deal. He joins on a free transfer from Cardiff, solving Garry Monk’s self-made goalkeeping crisis. Monk has exiled David Stockdale and Tomasz Kuszczak, meaning Connal Trueman made his debut against Norwich on Saturday. Camp follows loan signings Omar Bogle and Connor Mahoney into St Andrew’s, after the EFL lifted the club’s transfer embargo.
From Manchester airport to Merseyside: Bernard is at Everton’s Finch Farm training ground, where he will undergo a medical. Across town at Anfield, Danny Ings and Sheyi Ojo are the most likely departures from Liverpool before Thursday’s deadline.
Done deal klaxon! Bournemouth defender Brad Smith has joined MLS club Seattle Sounders on a season-long loan. They currently sit eighth in the Western Conference, with 29 points from their 22 games. Smith, who joined the Cherries from Liverpool in 2016, has made 11 first-team appearances. The Australia defender’s loan to the MLS includes a recall clause in January, should Eddie Howe wish to activate it.
No move for Robert Snodgrass in this window. Scotland international is staying at West Ham despite loan interest from Aston Villa
North of the border, Scottish champions Celtic are to swoop for former defender Emilio Izaguirre. The 32-year-old has been playing in Al-Fayha in Saudi Arabia but has ripped up his contract to be able to seal a return to Celtic Park, where he previously spent seven seasons, winning six titles. Brendan Rodgers is also keen on a loan move for the Australia international Daniel Arzani, once the teenager formally completes his move to Manchester City. They have, though, seemingly lost out in the race for the Hibernian midfielder John McGinn, who is set to sign for Aston Villa.
At Middlesbrough, out goes Adama Traoré and in comes Jordan Hugill on a season-long loan from West Ham United. Hugill, the former Boro season-ticket holder who was pulling pints in the town’s Dickens Inn a handful of years ago, bolsters Tony Pulis’s front line. “I used to sit in the North Stand,” he says. “I’ve had many nights at the Riverside and I’m looking forward to many more.” The 26-year-old, a graduate of Glenn Hoddle’s former academy in Spain signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with West Ham in January following a £10m move from Preston but made just three appearances for the club.
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Calling Bournemouth and Wolves supporters! What’s your verdict on your club’s summer business? Blindingly good, or is your team still short in key areas. Let us know:
Valencia are attempting to sign Michy Batshuayi on loan for the year, with the club still considering whether to accept the request or not. It could be completed any time before the end of the month. Kurt Zouma is interesting Everton in a similar deal.
Could another Le Havre prospect be heading for the Premier League? A couple of reports suggest Brighton are in pursuit of the defender Harold Moukoudi after being priced out of a move for the Reading defender Liam Moore, who handed in a transfer request this month. The France Under-20 international could follow a well-trodden path, with Benjamin Mendy, Riyad Mahrez, Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet – not forgetting Liverpool’s Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle, signed by Gerard Houllier in 2001 – in having graduated through the Ligue 2 club’s youth system.
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Newcastle players have solved those indifferences regarding unpaid bonuses with owner Mike Ashley, the captain Jamaal Lascelles has confirmed. The Newcastle squad had refused to fulfil any media duties with broadcasters but any blackout is over. Lascelles said: “We’ve managed to sort the off-field stuff; now that’s out of the way, we don’t have any reason why we can’t go out and put on a good performance. No one’s moaning, no one’s upset and now it’s just about gelling together even more, working hard, getting a good energy around the club and the training ground – and doing what we do best which is working hard and playing as team.”
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Bernard has waltzed his way through passport control at Manchester airport, and his on his way to Merseyside to put the finishing touches to his free transfer. The Brazil winger will undergo a medical inside the next 24 hours, with Everton set to wrap up a lucrative deal for the former Shakhtar man. Meanwhile, in Florence, Kevin Mirallas has been officially unveiled as a Fiorentina player after joining on loan:
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Rangers have allowed Greg Docherty to depart Ibrox on a season-long loan deal. The 21-year-old midfielder joins Shrewsbury Town, who have been ravaged for their prized assets, including manager Paul Hurst, Toto Nsiala, Jon Nolan and Abu Ogogo. Up at Kilmarnock, they’ve signed Watford goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann on loan until May.
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Told that Tottenham were willing to match Aston Villa’s £25m valuation of Jack Grealish but then told he was no longer for sale by new owners. A moving of the goalposts ...
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Premier League teams have just over 24 hours to bring in new players. Who should the club you support be targeting? Do Bournemouth need another defender? Do Tottenham Hotspur need a sea of new faces, and what about Cardiff City?
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A big-name arrival in Chongqing, where Jordi Cruyff has taken charge of the city’s Chinese Super League side. After six years in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the 44-year-old former Manchester United man succeeds Paulo Bento, who lost his job last month. Cruyff said: “I’ve been following the development of Chinese football from afar for some time now. There’s a lot of talk about the star signings, but there’s also a desire to build strong foundations to ensure that the game continues to grow in a sustainable way and that’s something I’ve seen at Chongqing Lifan.”
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Southampton’s recruitment last season was a little off-colour – their £19.2m club-record signing failed to muster a single goal. Newcastle’s was equally a little disappointing, though this summer has been worse. How will they both fare?
With Kepa Arrizabalaga heading to Chelsea for £71.6m, a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, it is time to take a trip down memory lane. In 2007, when Sunderland signed Craig Gordon from Hearts, he became Britain’s most expensive keeper at £9m, and the third-most expensive in the world, behind Gianluigi Buffon and Antonio Peruzzi. Gordon’s at Celtic these days, though was of interest to Chelsea a couple of years back.
It looks like being a very satisfying window for Wolves; they are confident of pulling off a deal to sign Leander Dendoncker, the Anderlecht midfielder, according to reports in Belgium. The 23-year-old, linked with Crystal Palace, among others, is on his way to the Midlands to complete a deal. He attended Sint-Guido-Instituut on the outskirts of Brussels, the same school as Romelu Lukaku. If they get Dendoncker over the line, surely that would mean the end their interest in Sam Clucas, of Swansea City:
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Aston Villa are closing in on the £2m signing of John McGinn from Hibernian, according to manager Neil Lennon. Celtic have had a couple of bids rebuffed and it seems that, despite a summer of financial worries, the Championship club have blown the Scottish champions out of the water. Brighton were also interested in the midfielder. Lennon said: “He went down to Birmingham, I think he is having a medical there. A fee has been agreed. I think Celtic have matched the offer but I think Villa are in the driving position.”
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If Wolves move for Sam Clucas, that could grease the wheels for Ryan Woods to get his move from Brentford to Swansea City. As for Chris Mepham and Ollie Watkins, manager Dean Smith is confident of keeping both, with the former of interest to Leicester City and Bournemouth. “I don’t think anyone’s come near the valuation we have on them,” he said. “So I fully expect them to stay. Funnier things have happened and some Premier League clubs come with crazy money that you can’t turn down but we will certainly have a plan in place if anything does happen, though I’d be very surprised.”
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Who needs transfers when congratulations are in order? Harry Kane has just posted a snap of his newborn baby daughter and second child, Vivienne Jane Kane – it’s got a ring to it. That could be the most exciting incoming at Tottenham this summer and all that, though Jack Grealish is reportedly unhappy at being priced out of a move to Spurs.
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More Leicester speculation: the 2016 champions are considering the possibility of re-signing Danny Drinkwater from Chelsea only a year after his £35m move to Stamford Bridge, according to The Independent, while Watford are pressing to close a year-long loan deal for the Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro.
And with that, I’ll hand you back to a suitably well-nourished Ben, who can feed you with news and gossip to your heart’s desire for the rest of the afternoon.
Some Chelsea chat from you the public: “Kovacic to Chelsea as a loan makes sense,” cheers Mervyn Millar. “He still has a good chance of being there longer than one of the managers. Perhaps all Chelsea’s signings should be season-long loans. What’s the best XI they could assemble from out-of-favour benchwarmers hungry for minutes? Everyone wins, and hey presto, Chelsea get an entertaining footballing identity.” Given the number of Chelsea’s own players out on loan they could of course field a handy enough team of their own out-of-favour benchwarmers. While Ben Duxbury wonders: “Given Kepa Arrizabalaga (thanks copy and paste) has already paid his buy out clause with Bilbao, what happens if he fails his medical at Chelsea or doesn’t agree personal terms? Is he technically a free agent given he presumably hasn’t signed a contract with Chelsea?”
While Villa hold the line on Grealish, here’s Martin Laurence on why he’d be a good fit for Spurs:
Elsewhere, relentless newshound Sky Sources tells us Jordan Hugill has arrived on Teesside for a medical at Middlesbrough, who have gaps to fill after recent departures.
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The shadow-boxing around Leicester and defenders continues: Claude Puel’s side are reported to be close to a deal for Caglar Soyuncu and Filip Benkovic. No news on Harry Maguire going anywhere though. Yet.
In the meantime, Gary Naylor has this teaser, which may take some time, and spreadsheets, to answer: “Genuine question. Over the last 10 years, how many Premier League signings aged 24 or under have lost money for the club on subsequent transfer (say 50% of fee)? Excluding running down contracts, I suspect it’s very few. Ergo the risk in signing young players is low.”
Thanks Ben. And among those chunks of gossip are reports that Jack Grealish is staying put at Aston Villa for now, the club insist, soothing Steve Bruce’s troubled soul and doubtless frustrating Spurs, who were thought to have had a £25m deal lined up. Sky says Aston Villa’s executive chairman Nassef Sawiris has told Tottenham and any other potential suitors “he is not interested in their money”.
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With rumours swirling around left, right and centre, get a grip on all the concrete transfers. Tom Davies will guide you through the next chunk of gossip and goings-on ...
Kepa Arrizabalaga is due in London this afternoon to undergo a medical with Chelsea ahead of a world record transfer from Atletic Bilbao after the Spain goalkeeper’s £71.6m buy-out clause was triggered earlier this morning. Kepa will be joined at Stamford Bridge by the Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic, who is expected to complete a one-year loan move later today as he seeks greater game-time. That could conclude Chelsea’s incoming transfer business in this window, though other players could yet depart. Thibaut Courtois is expected to travel from Belgium to Spain to complete his own £35m move to Madrid, signing a six-year contract, having been absent without leave from Cobham all week. The Belgian international has entered the final 12 months of his deal. Meanwhile, there is interest from Milan in Tiemoue Bakayoko, while the likes of Danny Drinkwater and Tammy Abraham have attracted enquiries from fellow Premier League clubs seeking to bolster their ranks with loanees ahead of Thursday’s 5pm cut-off.
Any more for any more? “Sorry if this is already old, but are Chelsea really about to sign a keeper called Kepa?” asks Michael Hunt. “Are Golskora and Reliabulssentabakk still available as well?” Meanwhile, on the continent, Kévin Malcuit has swapped Lille for Naples, and George Puscas has joined Palermo on loan from Internazionale. Keep up:
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More on that news that Kepa Arrizabalaga is primed to join Chelsea, becoming the world’s most expensive goalkeeper:
Middlesbrough are working on deals for Yannick Bolasie and Jordan Hugill, according to our old friends at Sky. Crystal Palace and Burnley have both expressed an interest in Bolasie, deemed surplus to requirements by Marco Silva at Everton, who would prefer to sell the winger. Hugill, who joined West Ham from Preston for almost £10m in January, would likely leave on loan. Staying in the Football League, Ipswich are closing on a £1.6m deal for the Accrington striker, Kayden Jackson.
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Hearing of delays in West Ham’s moves for Arsenal’s Lucas Pérez and Fiorentina’s Carlos Sánchez. Both deals are close, but at the moment they seem likelier to happen tomorrow rather than today. Not much West Ham can do about it.
Mateo Kovacic, the Croatia midfielder, will sign on a season-long loan in a deal that will smooth Thibaut Courtois’ departure for the Bernabeu. Chelsea had written to the goalkeeper demanding he report back to the club’s training base at Cobham today after missing this week’s sessions, but Courtois is understood to remain in Belgium awaiting confirmation he can travel to Spain to complete his transfer. A six-year deal has apparently been struck with Real and should be finalised tomorrow, with Chelsea to receive £35m for the player.
It has been a tumbleweed summer for Tottenham Hotspur – with Mauricio Pochettino yet to bolster his squad. “I wonder if I’m the only one a little miffed at the lack of signings,” says Paul Saunders, via email. “We may have the best new stadium, but we aren’t close to competing on the same level as Manchester City and Liverpool as things stand. Top four possibly, but winners unlikely.” No, Alan O’Connor is also concerned. “Even if Grealish does arrive, I’m not sure he adds that much quality,” he says. “Is he really going to push Son, Lamela, Moura, Alli or Eriksen for a starting place. Would someone like Fekir be out of reach for Spurs at this point due to financial constraints? Should they be looking to improve in other areas? Backup for Kane, cover at CB, cover for Dembélé if he is staying ... For a team that needs to push on and improve if they are going to win a trophy, they are not exactly pushing the boat out to improve the squad.”
A few nuggets from Ligue 1, courtesy of Get French Football News (GFFN):
• Newcastle United have agreed personal terms with Valenciennes’ 19-year-old central defender Sikou Niakaté, but his entourage is not confident that the club will meet his €3m before tomorrow’s deadline
• Olivier Giroud has told French outlets that he has spoken to Nabil Fékir about coming to Chelsea: “We would obviously welcome him, he is a super player”
• And local sources in Montpellier believe that 22-year-old attacker Isaac Mbenza has already travelled to England ahead of a possible €15m move to Huddersfield Town
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Kepa to Chelsea: Athletic Bilbao have confirmed the earlier news that his lawyers, at 9.22am this morning, have activated the £71.6m release clause, paving the way for the Spain goalkeeper to make the move to Chelsea. “Athletic thanks the player for his contribution during the time he has remained in our club,” a statement read. In short, Kepa’s en route to London as he edges closer to becoming a Chelsea player ...
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No comment. Real Madrid head coach Julen Lopetegui refused to be drawn on speculation linking the Chelsea goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, with a move to the club:
I always say that I’m not talking about players who are not at Real Madrid,” the former Spain coach said. “Keylor [Navas] is our goalkeeper and there are no other goalkeepers I can talk about except Keylor, Kiko [Casilla], [Andriy] Lunin and Luca [Zidane]. Keylor is phenomenal, he has our full confidence and is an extraordinary goalkeeper. He’s delighted to belong to Real Madrid and we’re delighted with him.”
As for the Croatia midfielder, Mateo Kovacic, set for a switch in the opposite direction, Lopetegui added: “It’s true that Mateo has expressed his desire to leave. I’ve expressed my desire for him to stay. If he leaves, we’ll see how we organise things. The solution that we’d look for at the right time would be a player at Kovacic’s level, someone who is a top-level footballer. To compete all the objectives, we need a balanced squad.”
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In the Football League, Ipswich Town have completed the double signing of Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala, with the pair reunited with Paul Hurst. Shrewsbury Town fumed at Ipswich allegedly making their first move via text – insisting the duo were going nowhere – but they had little choice but to cave in. Meanwhile, these days Marc-Antoine Fortuné is running out in Chesterfield colours, playing under Martin Allen. Who knew?
Jack Grealish’s future at Aston Villa remains uncertain, with Tottenham Hotspur circling. Last night, there were murmurs of the club rebuffing a £25m bid. And, it’s not far from doom and gloom for Steve Bruce’s side, with Joe Bryan set to sign from Bristol City for £6m after undergoing a medical. He will join the Ashton Gate exodus, following the exits of Bobby Reid and Aden Flint, to Cardiff and Middlesbrough, respectively.
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Done deal klaxon! Derby have whisked Martyn Waghorn through the door from Ipswich, with the striker arriving on a three-year deal for a fee of £5m. He ought to fill the void left by Vydra, who could be joined at Burnley by Jay Rodriguez, my colleague Ed Aarons reports. They are hopeful of re-signing the striker, who left for Southampton in 2012.
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Big news out of Burnley ... Ben Mee has signed a new three-year deal at Turf Moor, following on in signing on the dotted line after the arrivals of Ben Gibson, Joe Hart and Matej Vydra. The 28-year-old defender has made 248 appearances in six years Burnley.
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Brentford know how to nail a transfer window; they have sold players for a total profit of more than £50m since promotion in 2014, yet remain as competitive as ever:
Danny Ings and Sheyi Ojo are the most likely departures from Liverpool before the domestic transfer deadline as Jurgen Klopp looks to trim his squad ahead of the new season. Ings has attracted interest from several Premier League clubs this summer having reluctantly accepted he should leave Anfield for regular first team football after an injury-plagued few years. Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are possible destinations for the striker, who was also wanted by former club Burnley before they switched their attentions to signing Matej Vydra from Derby County. Liverpool want £20m for the 26-year-old. Liverpool have received several loan enquiries for Ojo, their talented 21-year-old winger, with Aston Villa keen to take him to the Championship. The Anfield club would prefer a permanent deal, however, and West Bromwich Albion are interested. As for other would-be departures such as Simon Mignolet, Divock Origi and Lazar Markovic, they all have suitors in Europe and, as such, have until the end of the month to finalise transfers.
Jérôme Boateng has been on the blower, to let down Mr Mourinho gently and inform the Portuguese that he will not be swapping the Oberpollinger for the Trafford Centre:
Done deal klaxon! Adama Traoré joins Wolves on a whopping five-year deal after the club activated his £18m release clause at Middlesbrough. The 22-year-old speeding winger, once of Aston Villa, graduated through the Barcelona academy and becomes Nuno’s fifth summer signing following promotion to the Premier League. Meanwhile, there are a few murmurs that Wolves that five may become six, with Sam Clucas reportedly of interest. The Swansea City midfielder failed to agree terms on a move to Burnley but is said to be a target, with Brentford midfielder Ryan Woods still keen on a move to south Wales.
It may have got lost amid the noise around the big-boys, but Bournemouth shattered their transfer record last night, signing the Colombia midfielder Jefferson Lerma for a club-record £25m fee. Eddie Howe’s No 1 summer target, a player the club had tracked long before his World Cup appearances in Russia, has signed contract until 2023 on the south coast. That £25m eclipses the £20m they shelled out for Nathan Aké, last summer. In 2013, their transfer record stood at just £2.5m, when they signed striker Tokelo Rantie from Swedish club Malmo. Want another crunching dose of context? Lerma arrives 10 years to the day that Bournemouth were handed a 17-point deduction in the fourth tier of English football ...
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Lyon sound far from certain they will retain their captain, Nabil Fekir, this month. The attacking midfielder, who had come close to a £53m switch to Merseyside in June, returned to training on Monday after an extended post-World Cup break and was not included in his club’s travelling squad for Tuesday’s friendly at Chelsea. “For the moment, it’s too early to say whether he will stay,” said the Lyon manager, Bruno Génésio. “He wanted to leave at the end of last season, but he came back on Monday and was happy to come back. “Who knows? There may be opportunities that come up before the end of the window but, for now, he is a Lyon player.” Any other takers?
A big dollop of Chelsea news to get us started ... with Kepa Arrizabalaga en route to London to finalise a £71.6m move – a world-record fee for a goalkeeper – to Stamford Bridge. Mateo Kovacic is also expected in the capital ahead of sealing a season-long loan move from Real Madrid, Dominic Fifield reports:
Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic are travelling to London today to complete their respective moves to Chelsea, deals that are likely to conclude the Premier League club’s incoming business ahead of Thursday’s cut-off. The goalkeeper will cost £71.6m from Athletic Bilbao, having made that payment at 9.22am Spanish time to trigger his buy-out clause in Madrid (apparently the player has to meet the fee in Spain, with the buying club presumably providing him with the required funds) before flying to England.
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One day to go!
The end is near, this very nearly the final descent. Who will be sitting pretty come 5pm on Thursday? Who will be tearing their hair out, resigned to their fate? Will Athletic Bilbao’s Kepa Arrizabalaga become Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga? Will Everton get that Bernard deal over the line? What happens to Jack Grealish? We’ll keep an eye on all the movers and shakers. But before we get stuck in, feast on some red-hot rumours:
