LIVE: Lamela to Porto? Arsenal in for Drax?
As always, Transfer Talk has its finger on the pulse when it comes to all the latest rumours and gossip. See all the latest deals here.
TOP STORY: Erik Lamela set for Porto move
A juicy rumour from Portuguese newspaper Record: Porto are close to signing Tottenham winger Erik Lamela on loan with an option to make the deal permanent for €7.5 million.
Spurs paid £25.7m (yes, pounds) to sign Lamela from Roma less than two years ago. The Argentine midfielder has not impressed at White Hart Lane and is now set for a massively cut-price move.
Meanwhile, we brought you the news that Schalke have rejected Juventus’ bid for Julian Draxler and said they have ended talks, but does that mean that Arsenal are going to move for him? Yes, say the Express. The Gunners are known admirers of the German and are in the market for a forward player. Now Juve are out, is Arsene Wenger in?
LIVE BLOG:
10.30 BST: Villarreal coach Marcelino has confirmed his interest in signing Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado.
Soldado, 30, has scored just seven times in 51 appearances since moving to north London from Valencia two years ago, and Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is thought to be willing to let him go.
The Spain international cost Spurs £26 million, and Marca has reported that they now want £12m for him.
10.20 BST: Another day, another development in the Kevin De Bruyne saga. This time, it’s his club Wolfsburg saying they’re not worried about his commitment despite ongoing links with Manchester City.
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also reported to be interested in the 24-year-old who, when asked where he would be playing next season, told kicker magazine: “I don’t know.”
However, Wolfsburg sporting director Klaus Allofs told Wolfsburg Allgemeine Zeitung: “Those who know Kevin know that this is a confession. We don’t want any declarations [of loyalty] that are of no value the next day.”
10.00 BST: Valencia striker Paco Alcacer has said he hopes Nicolas Otamendi, who reportedly wants to leave the club, will change his mind and stay. Superdeporte reported him as saying: “Of course we are all hoping he will stay. All the team-mates wants him to stay with us and continue in the team. However, it’s his decision and we must respect it.”
09.43 BST: Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman has told the BBC that he is under no pressure to sell midfielders Henri Lansbury and Michail Antonio, who have been linked with Burnley and West Brom respectively.
An irritated-sounding Freedman said: “Burnley talk a very good game and try to throw their weight around. But Henri is my captain; he is a great guy to work with and has fantastic quality. That bid is not even worth a comment.”
09.43 BST: 10 Sport, in a report cited by mercato365.com claims that Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour is in advanced talks with Barcelona over a potential €25 million move. The 25-year-old is also wanted by Juventus and AC Milan.
09.37 BST: Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta has not ruled out making an improved bid for Julian Draxler, despite Schalke having said they will not hold any further discussions over the player.
Juve had been given permission to talk to Draxler before submitting a bid to his club, and the 21-year-old’s agent had indicated that the player had agreed to move to Turin.
However, Juve’s opening bid for the Germany international — reported in Bild to have been worth just €15m up front — appears to have been considered derisory, and sporting director Horst Heldt told SchalkeTV: “I took a look at it and then decided we would reject it and we have informed Juventus that we are not open to any further talks.”
#Heldt: “This afternoon we received and rejected a bid for Julian #Draxler from @juventusfcen.” #s04 pic.twitter.com/HVgrzHQyct
– FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) July 27, 2015
09.30 BST: Teenage Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong is set to become a Coventry City player — but only for one season. The Coventry Evening Telegraph reports that the 18-year-old, who has played in the Premier League for the Magpies, is on the brink of completing a loan move to the L:eague One Sky Blues.
09.20 BST: Spurs have been linked with a move for West Brom striker Saido Berahino throughout the summer — but Berahino’s former Hawthorns boss Alan Irvine has told the BBC he doesn’t believe the forward is ready for that particular switch.
Irvine said: “Is he ready to play a huge part at a club like Tottenham who want to be challenging for the top four? Probably not yet. I always said to Saido that as long as he kept focus and did the right thing, he would continue to develop.”
09.15 BST: Everton forward Chris Long, who impressed on loan to Championship Brentford last season, is on his way to Burnley, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph reports. The Clarets are thought to have agreed terms with Long, who had been offered a new Goodison Park contract but wanted first-team football.
08.55 BST: Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has told media he is “rather positive” Angel Di Maria will soon join the Ligue 1 champions from Manchester United. “The matter is close to being finished,” the PSG boss said.
08.24 BST: Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero has said he is open to signing Mario Balotelli, but not for €10m.
“They told me that Mario was yesterday in Genoa,” he said on Monday. “He costs €10m, but with discount you look with open arms.”
08.16 BST: Valencia news outlet Superdeporte is confident that Nicolas Otamendi is not going to leave the club. The defender has been at training, and Valencia are not keen to sell unless a €50m bid comes in.
08.00 BST: Atletico Madrid unveiled Stefan Savic as their new signing on Monday evening. The 24-year-old said: “To work under [Diego] Simeone has been a factor in my decision to arrive here. This is going to be an important year, full of success.”
07.44 BST: A juicy rumour from Portuguese newspaper Record: Porto are close to signing Tottenham winger Erik Lamela on loan with an option to make the deal permanent for €7.5m. Spurs paid £25.7m (yes, pounds) to sign Lamela from Roma less than two years ago.
07.34 BST: Marca reports that Barcelona and Manchester United are already negotiating for the transfer of Pedro, but the European champions will not budge on the Spain international’s €30m price tag — the amount stipulated in his buyout clause. The Madrid paper says Pedro wants to leave, and a deal is likely to be done once Angel Di Maria seals his move to PSG.
07.18 BST: Bayer Leverkusen are continuing to work on the Charles Aranguiz deal. The 26-year-old Chile international has yet to agree personal terms and they also need to negotiate with his current club Internacional.
Express had earlier reported that the deal was all but done but, according to kicker, it is still a long way until the midfielder’s arrival by the river Rhine. Reports in Brazil, though, suggest otherwise, and say only details need to be sorted out.
07.11 BST: If you missed it, Schalke have rejected Juventus’ bid for Julian Draxler and said they have ended talks. Story here.
PAPER ROUND:
Manchester United holding out for more money from PSG in Di Maria talks
Another day and yet another development in the lengthy Angel Di Maria talks between Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain.
Two days after L’Equipe reported that the two teams finalised an agreement to send the 27-year-old Argentine to Paris, the Guardian is now reporting that Manchester United received only a £28.5 million bid, less than half of his £59.7 million transfer fee from just a year ago. The outlet claims that United’s executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward is holding out for more before agreeing to a deal but it is still likely that Di Maria will not be a member of the team for the upcoming Premier League season.
The report says that United’s manager Louis Van Gaal wanted to keep Di Maria for this season but with the player wanting out, both parties are determined to move on.
Soldado could move to Sevilla, Villarreal or Dortmund
Tottenham’s Roberto Soldado may finally be on his way out of White Hart Lane after two very disappointing seasons with the club. Sevilla, Villarreal and even Borussia Dortmund are reported to be inquiring about his status, with Spurs said to have a £11 million pricetag on the striker.
That fee is a long way off from his fee of £26 million when he moved to England from his hometown club in Valencia in the 2013-14 season.
Villarreal are said to be interested in bringing Soldado back to Spain as part of their efforts to rebuild their frontline after losing Giovani dos Santos, Luciano Vietto and Ikechukwu Uche in separate tranfers but have stated that Tottenham have been difficult to negotiate with.
“It is very difficult [to sign Soldado],” Villarreal’s manager Garcia Toral told Marca. “He is currently in a great team and just two seasons ago they paid a high fee to sign him. It is a difficult situation.”
Dortmund’s interest stems from their desire to give star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang some help on attack. As soon as they heard of Sevilla’s interest, a bid was made in an attempt to hijack the deal.
Still, with Soldado only managing seven league goals in 52 Premier League appearances for Tottenham after scoring 59 goals in 101 appearances for Valencia, £11 million may be generous for the Spaniard.
Juventus interested in Cuadrado but Chelsea won’t agree to loan deal
Sticking with Premier League transfer flops, Juan Cuadrado has been largely disappointing since moving to Chelsea during the January transfer window in a £23 million move from Fiorentina. While manager Jose Mourinho has insisted that he’d like to give the Colombian international another chance, the Blues haven’t denied being open to offloading the 27-year-old. Serie A champions Juventus have inquired about bringing him back to Italy on a loan deal but Chelsea aren’t interested in that move, reports the Independent.
According to another outlet in the Sun, Chelsea are willing to take a £5 million loss in selling Cuadrado but want a full transfer or will stick with the winger for at least another season.
Have Chelsea found their replacement for Luis in Telles?
Although Filipe Luis remains a member of Chelsea as they continue to wait for Atletico Madrid to up their offer for the left-back who only joined the London side from Los Colchoneros in a £15.8-million deal a year ago, it appears as if the Blues are close to recruiting his replacement. No, not Augsburg’s Baba Rahman, who continues to be linked with the Premier League champions. Galatasaray’s 22-year-old full-back Alex Telles is reportedly close to sealing his move to Stamford Bridge, according to David Amoyal from gianlucadimarzio.com.
While no transfer fees were mentioned in the report, Amoyal states that Chelsea and Galatasaray are in the final stages of negotiations, beating Juventus and Inter for the promising young Brazilian.
Tap ins
– Remember Alberto Aquilani, one of Liverpool’s many transfer flops under former manager Rafa Benitez? The midfielder, once heralded to be a better version of Xabi Alonso after the latter departed to Real Madrid in 2009, is without a club after being released by Fiorentina earlier this summer after three seasons with La Viola. Still, he may not be without a job for too long as Sky Italia is reporting that Ligue 1 runner-ups Lyon are interested in bringing the 31-year-old to France. Stay tuned.
– Sampordia’s Stefano Okaka, once a promising young prospect in Italian football, appears set to join Anderlecht after rejecting Bologna and Watford after comments he gave to Het Laaste Nieuws.
“I have chosen Anderlecht because I am here to win,” he told the Belgian outlet. “Tomorrow I will have the medical and I’ll explain the rest after I’ve signed the contract.” The deal is reportedly for €3 million.
– On the incoming front in Serie A, former Brazil defensive midfield stalwart Felipe Melo appears to have a new home after reportedly being transferred on a €3 million deal to Inter from Galatasaray, reports Sport Mediaset. Melo had reportedly asked for a new challenge and is expected to complete his medical in the next 48 hours.
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