🚨 Coutinho completes loan move to Qatar, Sancho set for talks with Ten Hag, Newcastle close to agreeing new deal for Bruno Guimarães, and more

Today's transfer round-up, featuring Al Duhail, Manchester United, Newcastle and more!

Good morning everyone and welcome to another Daily Briefing - thanks for reading, and enjoy!

Today’s top stories:

• Philippe Coutinho joins Al Duhail on loan

• Newcastle make significant progress in negotiations to extend Bruno Guimarães’ contract

• Villarreal closing in on appointment of new manager as Pacheta is now set to replace Quique Setién

Al Duhail

• Al Duhail have completed a loan deal to sign Philippe Coutinho from Aston Villa, with 100% of his salary to be covered by the Qatari club.

(Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Arsenal

• Nicolas Pépé was due to complete medical tests on Friday ahead of a permanent transfer to Trabzonspor. It will not be a loan move, but a permanent deal valid until 2024.

• Arsenal never wanted to sell Gabriel Magalhaes this summer. It was never a concrete option despite interest from Saudi Arabia. There was not even a negotiation between clubs. In replying to the player’s links with the Saudi Pro League, sources close to the negotiations said: “Not even for €200m!”.

• 📰 Arsenal are set to vie with Liverpool for the signing of Norwegian winger Antonio Nusa in the coming months (90min).

Aston Villa

• Youri Tielemans has spoken to Unai Emery about his lack of starts for Aston Villa so far since joining Leicester in the summer, although the manager has promised the midfielder more game-time soon. Tielemans told DH: "I told Emery that I came to Villa to play. He understands me, but at the moment, he prefers to play with the two midfielders from last season. He told me that soon, there will be a succession of games and I’ll get more playing time."

Barcelona

• Barcelona have already agreed a new deal until June 2026 with Lamine Yamal last July before their pre-season tour.

• The club have also agreed a new five-year deal with Alejandro Balde, for whom an excellent relationship with his agent Jorge Mendes will help the club regarding future extensions too.

Brentford

• Find out everything Fabrizio has said on Ivan Toney’s future here.

Chelsea

• 📰 According to journalist Simon Phillips, Chelsea are interested in signing Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins in January (via CaughtOffside).

• John Terry has issued a strong defence of Mason Mount following the 24-year-old’s exit from Stamford Bridge to Manchester United in the summer, saying: "Mase is proper Chels through and though. There always two sides to a story, I know the other side to it. I’m not going to air that now but there’s another side to the story. Let’s not be too harsh on Mason when he comes back." (via Simon Phillips)

🤔 Do you think Watkins is what Chelsea need in their squad? Let us know your views in the comments below.

Eintracht Frankfurt

• Eintracht Frankfurt are convinced they pulled off a top deal by signing Hungarian talent Krisztián Lisztes. The 2005-born gem joined from Ferencváros for a fee in excess of €4.5m plus add-ons taking the cost up to a potential €10m. Five top European clubs wanted Lisztes but he wanted the Eintracht project.

Ipswich Town

• Axel Tuanzebe has joined Ipswich Town on a free deal after leaving Manchester United this summer. The defender has signed a one-year contract with an option of a further year.

Juventus

• Juventus are planning to hold discussions with Adrien Rabiot on a new contract in the next few months. His current deal expires in June 2024. Rabiot decided to stay in Turin despite many proposals from elsewhere but Juventus plan to discuss a new contract as soon as possible.

• Could Juventus be willing to part with Paul Pogba amid Saudi interest? Read more here.

(Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images)

Liverpool

• 📰 Virgil Van Dijk has been handed an extended one-match ban as well as a £100,000 fine after his outburst following his recent red card against Newcastle. You can read more on the FA’s decision here.

🤔 Do you think Van Dijk has been hard done by with the extended ban and six-figure fine or is it a fair punishment? Let us know your views in the comments below.

Manchester City

• Manchester City were reportedly interested in THIS player from PSG over the summer!

Manchester United

• Victor Lindelof has insisted that he ‘wasn’t close at all’ to leaving Old Trafford during the summer. He said: "I love Manchester Utd and I still have a contract. So I can say that my exit this summer wasn't close at all."

• The Swedish defender has also dismissed speculation about the future of Jadon Sancho, saying: "Sancho? Many things are written about United and it will always be like that. We are a united group. I don't think about it."

• Scott McTominay, now the joint top-scorer in Euro 2024 qualifying along with clubmate Rasmus Højlund and ex-United striker Romelu Lukaku, rejected a move to Fulham on Deadline Day. He was their top target to replace Joao Palhinha but no deal could be struck.

• Jadon Sancho is expected to have direct contact with Erik ten Hag and the United coaching staff soon to discuss his situation. Read more on this story - and other news from Old Trafford - here.

Newcastle United

• Newcastle have made significant progress in negotiations to extend Bruno Guimarães’ contract, with an agreement now on the verge of being completed. Positive secret talks took place over the last 10 days; there are still final details to iron out before the time comes to sign. Bruno’s new deal is close.

• 📰 Newcastle were initially keen on signing Nicolo Barella from Inter Milan during the summer before deciding to move for Sandro Tonali (Corriere Dello Sport).

Nottingham Forest

• Could there be clubs eyeing up a prospective move for Taiwo Awoniyi? Find out more here.

Paris Saint-Germain

• Kylian Mbappe in ‘open dialogue’ with PSG but there’s been no breakthrough in talks yet - read more here.

(Photo by Jeff Pachoud / AFP)

RB Leipzig

• Benjamin Šeško has been fantastic for Slovenia, with two assists and one goal against Northern Ireland on Thursday. It happened in front of scouts from five top European clubs. Šeško also scored his first two goals as an RB Leipzig player last week.

Tottenham Hotspur

• James Maddison has been speaking about his quick adaptation to life at Tottenham. He said: "It’s been easy for me to join Spurs and be myself. It’s a brilliant club, the supporters have made me feel so welcome and loved already. I still feel like they’ve got so much more to see of me. It’s quite exciting times for us."

🤔 Has James Maddison looked the best summer signing of any Premier League club so far? Let us know your views in the comments below.

Villarreal

• Villarreal are closing in on the appointment of a new manager as Pacheta is now set to replace Quique Setién. Raúl is expected to stay at Real Madrid if all goes to plan on Saturday.

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For all the very latest transfer news, read caughtoffside.com