the Daily Briefing: Monday 15th August - Ronaldo, Gordon, Gallagher, Kehrer, Dest, and more
My exclusive round-up of today's biggest transfer headlines, featuring the latest on Cristiano Ronaldo and Anthony Gordon.
Happy Monday folks and welcome to my latest Daily Briefing :)
Today’s top stories:
Ajax
Antony tells NOS: “Will Ten Hag call me? No idea.. he has to discuss this with my agents, I’m focused on here. What will come will come, we will see. I feel good at Ajax. I give everything for this club, every minute... so I am loving this city and this club.”
Arsenal
Edu was NOT travelling to Spain for talks over Yeremi Pino - his agents are based in the UK. At least three Premier League clubs have been monitoring him for some time, but he won’t be cheap.
📰 In other news, Leicester City could let Arsenal target Youri Tielemans leave on a free transfer when his contract expires next summer (Times)
Barcelona
Sergino Dest still wants to stay and fight for his place at Barcelona, but with Diogo Dalot of interest to the Catalan giants, could a swap deal with Manchester United be on the cards?
Brighton
Pervin Estupinan is a target for Brighton to replace Marc Cucurella at left-back. Talks are already in progress with Villarreal.
Chelsea
A first bid for Anthony Gordon has been turned down by Everton. Chelsea tried an offer of £40m, but Frank Lampard is keen to keep the player.
Chelsea are now holding internal talks over another bid, this time possibly including players in the package, with Everton holding an interest in Conor Gallagher.
Chelsea are in direct contact over signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Wesley Fofana. They also want to try a new bid for Inter Milan youngster Cesare Casadei.
📰 In other news, Barcelona could demand as much as £23m to sell Aubameyang to Chelsea (Gerard Romero)
Everton
Conor Gallagher is of interest to Everton as Chelsea prepare to try again for Anthony Gordon. Still, Frank Lampard is also keen to keep Gordon at Goodison Park.
Juventus
Juventus are ready to sell Adrien Rabiot and Arthur Melo, though there is currently no agreement with Valencia for the latter.
Lazio
Lazio have still not received any official offers for star player Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, despite recent links with Premier League clubs.
Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo remains part of Erik ten Hag’s plans, but the last two months have not been easy with all the speculation surrounding the Portuguese.
All parties are now really confident about Adrien Rabiot moving from Juventus to Manchester United. The clubs have already agreed a €17-18m fee, and now a fresh round of talks over personal terms with the player’s mother Veronique will take place.
After pulling out of the Marko Arnautovic deal, Man Utd are now being offered a host of big-name strikers, such as Mauro Icardi, but click here to find out who I think would be the best option for them.
Diogo Dalot is of interest to Barcelona, but a swap deal involving Sergino Dest could be complicated as he wants to stay at the Nou Camp. Ten Hag is also a fan of Dalot, with no discussions taking place as of now.
📰 In other news, Cristiano Ronaldo was offered to both AC Milan and Inter Milan, but the Serie A giants rejected the 37-year-old (Tancredi Palmeri)
Napoli
Giovani Simeone is set to be unveiled as a Napoli player in the coming hours. He’s completed his medical, with Napoli beating other top clubs to his signature.
Napoli have a verbal agreement to sign Tanguy Ndombele. The Tottenham midfielder could join on loan with a purchase option, with personal terms still being discussed.
There is optimism at Napoli about signing PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas. Recent talks with the French giants have progressed well.
Newcastle United
Newcastle have held an interest in Anthony Gordon this summer, but so far there’s new offer as Chelsea join the race for the Everton youngster’s signature.
Nottingham Forest
Done deal - Remo Freuler has joined Nottingham Forest from Atalanta. It’s a permanent deal worth €9m. He had been captain at Atalanta but wanted a new challenge in the Premier League.
Nottingham Forest are closing in on yet another signing - a deal is close for Neal Maupay to join for £15m package fee, with add-ons included.
PSG
Fabian Ruiz was left out of Napoli’s latest matchday squad as it’s only a matter of time before he makes the move to PSG. Talks are more than advanced and things could be done in the coming days.
Tottenham
Destiny Udogie landed in London last night and has medicals scheduled with Spurs for this week. The plan remains for him to sign a five-year deal, but to return to Udinese on loan this season and link up with Tottenham in 2023.
Official: Giovani Lo Celso has joined Villarreal on loan for another season, but still with no purchase option included in the deal.
Trabzonspor
Trabzonspor are now finally set to sign Marc Bartra from Real Betis. Documents are ready and will be signed soon. Betis boss Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed: “We had some discussions and now Marc has decided to leave the club.”
West Ham
It could be a busy few days ahead for West Ham, with PSG defender Thilo Kehrer one of their top targets. Negotiations are underway, while targets for 2023 are also being prepared.