Review all Thursday's transfer news as Premier League clubs look to strengthen ahead of the new campaign, which begins in just over three weeks’ time. Lionel Messi’s future is no closer to being resolved despite the appointment of Ronald Koeman as Barcelona head coach, with the 33-year-old having become unhappy at the Nou Camp and Manchester City interested in swooping for him.
Jose Mourinho is reportedly keen on bringing Gareth Bale back to Tottenham, with the winger having been in a feud with Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane for some time now. Chelsea are also primed for a big-name signing, expecting to agree a deal to sign Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz before the end of the week.
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Manchester United continue their chase of Jadon Sancho, with personal terms proving the issue at the moment in securing the services of the Borussia Dortmund man. Follow live updates below.
Chelsea have confirmed the signing of former Barcelona academy defender Xavier Mbuyamba. The 18-year-old Dutch youth international has signed a three-year contract and will either stay with the development squad or head out on loan.
The Blues have also confirmed that Izzy Brown will spend next season on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
Arsenal have made a bid of £16m for Benfica midfielder Gabriel Appelt Pires, according to Portuguese publication A Bola.
The Brazilian midfielder, who was previously on the books of Juventus, is reportedly of interest to a number of clubs in Italy and Spain, as well as Turkish side Galatasaray.
Southampton are in pole position to sign Danny Welbeck from Watford, according to The Sun.
A clause in Welbeck's contract will reportedly allow him to leave Vicarage Road for £5.5m, with the former Arsenal and Manchester United striker keen to remain in the Premier League.
DONE DEAL! Fulham have indeed tied up the signing of Wigan left-back Antonee Robinson, as mentioned earlier. He cost around £2m and is expected to be back-up to Joe Bryan.
Will Ollie Watkins be a Premier League striker this season? After starring for Brentford last term he is on several clubs' wishlists, but Leeds Live claims Elland Road is his most likely destination, ahead of Aston Villa and Newcastle who are also interested. Watkins would provide competition for Patrick Bamford, Leeds' only out-and-out senior striker currently on the books. This one could rumble on for a few weeks, so watch this space.
Matty Longstaff is set to sign a new long-term deal at Newcastle United, despite interest from Udinese.
Longstaff, who came through Newcastle's academy alongside older brother Sean, had travelled to Italy for talks back in March, according to Sky Sports, but but the 20-year-old has been persuaded to stay at St James' Park by manager Steve Bruce.
Southampton are interested in bringing Jack Butland to St Mary's, The Times reports. Saints are looking to bolster their goalkeeping options and would offer the 24-year-old Angus Gunn as a potential makeweight in the deal for the 27-year-old Stoke City keeper.
Fulham are set to complete the £1.9m transfer of Antonee Robinson this week, the Wigan Athletic left-back who is available at a cut-price deal given Wigan's ongoing financial issues.
Robinson would likely be back-up for Joe Bryan, Fulham's two-goal hero in the play-off final at Wembley.
Man City fans have been somewhat hopeful in recent weeks that a move could be made for Bayern Munich left-back David Alaba.
The Austria international's contract with the Champions League finalists expires next summer, but with City needing to strengthen defensively, there has been talk of Pep Guardiola's team pursuing Alaba.
But former Bayern player and current board member Oliver Kahn has put a dampener on things, simply saying: "I'm really optimistic about keeping David Alaba at Bayern Munich."
West Ham are still in the hunt for Sampdoria defender Omar Colley, according to Sampdoria News today.
The 27-year-old defender would offer a left-footed option at centre-back, and he is keen to move to London after some of his family moved there while he played for Genk in Belgium. He is thought to be worth around £5m.
This is a very interesting read – former Barcelona forward Gerard Deulofeu pulling no punches in his assessment of working with the new Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman, after the pair worked together at Everton:
DONE DEAL! Hull have completed the signing of Rangers midfielder Greg Docherty for £400,000.
The former Scotland Under-21s international spent Tuesday at London's Harley Street Hospital undergoing a medical and has agreed a three-year deal - with the option of a fourth. The 23-year-old was told he no longer had a role to play at Ibrox and Tigers boss Grant McCann made Docherty a key target. Hull were relegated from the Sky Bet Championship last month but Docherty has been reassured by McCann that he plans to lead his side back to England's second tier at the first attempt. McCann told Hull's website: "We're delighted to have added Greg to the group because he'll bring a different dynamic to our midfield. "He's got great energy, has the ability to go from box-to-box and boasts a wide passing range. On top of that, he'll provide a real threat in the final third of the pitch with his ability to both score and create goals. "Despite only being 23-years-of-age, he's very level headed and mature. I'm excited to start working with Greg on the back of the conversations I've had with him over the past couple of days, which have been really encouraging. "He's coming here with a real hunger and desire to want to show people how good he is."
More on Ben White's situation. The 22-year-old defender, who played all 46 of Leeds' games last season as they were promoted to the Premier League, is wanted at Elland Road, but their latest bid of £25m is reportedly their final offer and if Brighton reject the bid, the club's chief executive Angus Kinnear has told Sky Sports they are prepared to look elsewhere.
"He is a player that we rate very highly, we know the fans love him and we think Ben enjoyed his time here. We have made no secret of the fact that we would like to bring him here permanently.
"We also have to be very respectful of the fact that he is a Brighton player, he is training with them currently and there have been discussions. "I think it is going to be challenging to make him a Leeds United player but if it is not Ben White, then we have other options which are in advanced stages and we will be closing in on one of them soon."
What next for Fikayo Tomori? The Chelsea defender made a brilliant start to the 2019-20 season and was a regular fixture in Frank Lampard's back three, but faded in the latter half of the season after suffering injuries and falling down the pecking order.
L'Equipe is reporting that Ligue 1 side Rennes would like to sign the 22-year-old defender, either on loan or on a permanent deal, but Chelsea's Marina Granovskaia is determined to get the best possible price and is holding out for other clubs to enter a bidding war.
Georginio Wijnaldum is a target of Barcelona, and various reports say Ronald Koeman is keen to link up with the midfielder after using him in his Dutch national side.
Wijnaldum only has a year left on his Liverpool contract and is thought to be keen on the idea of heading to the Nou Camp.
Gerard Deulofeu has said he expects to leave Watford this summer rather than stay and play in the Championship.
He suffered a major knee injury which ruled him out for much of 2020 so far, and still has three years left on his Watford contract, but that hasn't stopped him drawing the attention of clubs in Italy and Spain, with Valencia, Celta Vigo and AC Milan all thought to be interested.
Chelsea have resumed talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the transfer of Kai Havertz, according to the Guardian, and are closing in on a deal after "productive talks".
The Blues' initial bid of €65m (£58.6m) plus €15m in add-ons earlier this week was rejected, with Leverkusen holding out for more than €100m, but Chelsea are confident of reaching a compromise via a list of generous bonuses to Leverkusen, should the player live up to his enormous potential.
Gabriel could well be announced today as an Arsenal player. The Lille and Brazil Under-20 defender has impressed this season in Ligue 1 and was subject to a bid from Napoli and Everton too, but is set to move to the Emirates.
It will be interesting to see how Mikel Arteta sets up his defence next season in their opening game at Fulham. Pablo Mari is unlikely to be fit in time, but there is still a dearth of options with William Saliba, David Luis, Socratis and Rob Holding. Then there’s Shkodran Mustafi and Calum Chambers, who are also recovering from injuries. Throw in Gabriel and it is quite a selection.
United are also understood to be keeping an eye on Juventus winger Douglas Costa, while West Ham could see Lazio come in for their former player Felipe Anderson, who faces an uncertain future at the London Stadium as David Moyes contemplates a squad revamp.
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