Harry Maguire may not have experienced much love last season but he’s certainly felt it over the past couple of days. Having tied the knot in a lavish wedding ceremony with long-time partner Fern in a French chateau this weekend, he has jetted off on his honeymoon amid a swirl of rumours that Barcelona want a piece of him.
Yes, according to hot air blowing over from Spain to England, the Catalan club want the big centre-back as part of any deal for Frenkie de Jong … but Manchester United love their error-prone meme so much they have told Barça manager Xavi to keep his hands off their man. All this means that Barça’s midfield’s metronome De Jong will cost United the full price of £69m, with the club still in the driving seat to sign him. Reports that Phil Jones is next on Xavi’s wishlist are so far not forthcoming.
Thomas Tuchel really needs to fill the huge void in the centre of his Chelsea defence after the departures of Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively. He hopes to do so by sending Timo Werner and £38m to Juventus in exchange for Matthijs de Ligt. They may even try to throw in Christian Pulisic, too. The Dutchman has a £103m release clause in his contract and it is thought the Serie A club would prefer a cash-only transfer. It’s the kind of pricey deal Chelsea technical director Petr Cech would probably advise against, but he’s leaving Stamford Bridge so new owner Todd Boehly will have the final say.
West Ham are all over this summer’s transfer window like a bad rash. Not content with signing Nayef Aguerd in defence, they still hope to add speedy Villarreal winger Arnaut Danjuma and Proper No 9 Armando Broja from Chelsea for around £30m apiece. They have also made a contract offer to free agent and top, top celebrator of goals, Jesse Lingard, who had a happy time on loan at the London Stadium last year. And David Moyes will spend around £10m on goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, who they borrowed off PSG last season.
Jürgen Klopp is happy to wait a season to bolster Liverpool’s midfield ranks but when he does he will use his contacts at Borussia Dortmund to thrash out a deal for Jude Bellingham. The club believe the Germans will be more amenable to a transfer next summer than this one.
Bayern Munich have told Barcelona that they will have to stump up £52m for Robert Lewandowski, which seems a fair old chunk of cash for a 33-year-old striker, but we’d back him to score at least 52 goals in La Liga next season so maybe it is good value after all.
Patrick Vieira knows what Crystal Palace need to improve further next season, a player just like him, which is why he’s keen to cut a deal with Lens for box-to-box Mali midfielder Cheick Doucouré, who will cost them somewhere between £15m to £20m.
Nottingham Forest are hoping to lure Liverpool right-back Neco Williams to the club with a £15m bid. Arsenal will step up their attempts to sign Raphinha from Leeds now they’ve finally bagged Gabriel Jesus. Centre-back Sven Botman is on his way to Newcastle, where he will sign on the dotted line to complete a £35m move from Lille. And Middlesbrough full-back Djed Spence has asked to leave the club, with Tottenham favourites to sign the England Under-21 international.
