Having already welcomed Youri Tielemans and Pau Torres on board the good ship Aston Villa this summer, Unai Emery may be about to shiver the timbers of Holte End denizens by press-ganging Moussa Diaby into service. The Bayer Leverkusen and France winger has snubbed a big-money offer from Saudi outfit Al-Nassr and is ready to move to Villa Park in a deal worth £50m.
Harry Kane has made it clear he will not be signing a new deal with Tottenham Hotspur but will not try to force a summer exit from the club either. The England striker remains keen on a move to Bayern Munich, who have already had £68.5m bid rejected. With his contract due to expire next summer, Spurs must decide whether or not to accept any significantly improved offer or wring another season’s worth of goals out of their star player before losing him on a free transfer.
Currently getting to know his new charges on a pre-season tour in Australia, Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou continues to show beatific patience in the face of relentless questioning about Kane’s future and says he is working on the assumption he’ll have the player at his disposal until he is told otherwise.
“The most important thing for me right now is to build a team that is going to be successful in the Premier League,” he said. “If I wait to see what an outcome is before I start that process I’m going to lose valuable time.”
Not for the first time this year, Arnaut Danjuma is about to join Everton in a loan move that may be greeted with cynicism by fans of the Merseyside club. The 26-year-old Villarreal winger had a pen poised over a contract to join the Toffees last January, only to have his head turned by Tottenham at the last minute. He is set to rock up at Goodison Park for a medical imminently, with club doctors expected to carry out a procedure to remove the presumably sheepish Dutch international’s tail from between his legs.
Signed by the Manchester City academy from Sporting at the age of 10, left-winger Carlos Borges is on the verge of joining West Ham in a deal worth £14m, including the usual buy-back clause. Meanwhile in Suffolk, Ipswich have announced the arrival of Chelsea tyro Omari Hutchinson on a season-long loan. A Jamaica international with two caps to his name, the 19-year-old becomes the club’s fourth signing of the summer, joining Cieran Slicker, Jack Taylor and George Hirst in the Portman Road arrivals hall in time for Town’s return to the Championship.
The arrival of André Onana at Manchester United could herald a game of musical chairs involving a number of luridly clad tall men wearing big foam gloves. Having spent the second half of last season on loan at Nottingham Forest, Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas is being tipped as a potential replacement for Onana at Inter, while confirmation of the Cameroon goalkeeper’s move to United has freed the way for Forest to sign Dean Henderson on a permanent basis. Steve Cooper is believed to be in the market for two goalkeepers and is also hitching his skirts in the direction of Getafe goalkeeper David Soria, 30, who will cost around £5m.
Finally, Burnley want teenage Espanyol winger Luca Koleosho, while Leeds, West Ham and Crystal Palace are all courting Milan’s Divock Origi. Plus, Charlie Savage is about to leave Manchester United for Reading.
