Monday's transfer news: Manchester United turn their attentions to Swansea's Daniel James
All the news, gossip, rumours and done deals as the summer transfer window opened
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and more are open for business with the summer transfer window now officially open.
A new centre-back is high on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's priority list at United with Napoli's Kalidou Koulibaly and Leicester's Harry Maguire both options. It won't just be incomings at Old Trafford, however, with Paul Pogba a high-profile target for Real Madrid and Alexis Sanchez on his way out with Inter Milan and Juventus fighting it out for his signature - if he drops his wage demands. Liverpool could be active too as they look to go one better after failing to win the Premier League title by just a single point. Champions Manchester City are always big players in the market and could go big with the prospect of a potential transfer ban looming.
Take a look through the day's transfer news below:
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's transfer news live blog, where we'll keep you up-to-date with all the goings on in the summer transfer window with the latest rumours, done deals and gossip ahead of the new season.
With plenty of moves in the pipeline and the weekend appearing to kick off the summer market, let's crack on this morning with the latest transfer rumours.
We start the day in France where a shock development could see Kylian Mbappe look for the Paris Saint-Germain exit after just two years at the club.
Mbappe was signed on loan by PSG for the 2017/18 season before joining permanently for this season, yet the World Cup winner has left fans shocked overnight by using his acceptance speech in collecting the Ligue 1 player of the season award to admit he could leave the club this summer.
Describing this summer as 'a turning point in my career', Mbappe believes he must start to take on more responsibility be it at PSG or 'maybe elsewhere with a new project', with Real Madrid very interested in his services and holding the financial fire power to match his ambitions.
Manchester United's hopes of signing England winger Jadon Sancho this summer have collapsed.
Sancho was United’s number one target for a summer rebuild, and they were willing to pay Borussia Dortmund up to £100million for the 19-year-old.
But United’s recent performances, ending up sixth in the Premier League table, have ended any prospect of a deal. United will be playing Europa League football again next season, entering at the second qualifying round in late July. There are now major reservations on the side of the player whether Old Trafford would be the right environment for his development.
Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain are still interested in signing Sancho, who has been instrumental in taking Dortmund to second place in the Bundesliga this year. They are now weighing up whether to offer the £100m that he would cost.
But the news is a setback for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s hopes to add more young, fast players to United’s squad for next season. They have now turned their attention to Swansea City’s Daniel James.
The big news on Sunday saw Vincent Kompany announce that not only will he leave Manchester City after 11 years with the club, but he will be returning to childhood club Anderlecht to take up the role of player-manager on a three-year deal.
Fresh from lifting the FA Cup on Saturday evening, Kompany deemed the time right to post a lengthy statement on Facebook to confirm his Etihad Stadium departure and announce the return to Belgium, ending what has been one of the Premier League's most successful relationships after 360 games with City, four Premier League titles and two FA Cups.
That means City are on the hunt for a replacement, and the Daily Mail reports that Pep Guardiola's No 1 preference is England defender Harry Maguire.
The Leicester City centre-back has been the long-term interest of Manchester United, who missed out on his signature last summer as he stayed with the Foxes, but it now looks as though they could be trumped by their Manchester rivals in the race to sign the 26-year-old.
It looks as though Alexis Sanchez will be leaving Manchester United sooner rather than later, and it appears the Chile international is ready to everything within his power to make sure it's the former of those.
The Sun reports that Sanchez is prepared to cut short his summer holiday and return to United in an effort to get fit and secure a move away from the club.
Talks have already taken place with Inter Milan, with the Serie A club currently the frontrunners to sign the former Arsenal forward, and it looks as though his ill-fated time at Old Trafford does not have long left to run.
↵Zinedine Zidane left it in little doubt on Sunday where Gareth Bale lies in his future plans at Real Madrid, with the Welsh international remaining an unused substitute in their final game of the season as they suffered a 2-0 defeat against Real Betis.
Speaking after the match, Zidane dropped the biggest hint yet that Bale will be sold in the summer - or at least leave the club on loan if a new permanent home cannot be found - as he confirmed that he is currently preferring other players to Bale.
Real Madrid are set to test Liverpool's resolve over Mohamed Salah this summer.
That's according to the Daily Mail.
Zinedine Zidane is planning a comprehensive overhaul of his squad and that could include the Egyptian.
He's unlikely to come cheap though, even if the Reds were willing to part with their star man.
Barcelona's move for Antoine Griezmann is set to ramp up this week now that the Frenchman has fulfilled his duties with Atletico Madrid.
The 2018 World Cup-winner has already confirmed he will leave the club this summer and Barca look to be the leading candidates for his signature by a country mile, with manager Ernesto Valverde confirming this week that talks have already taken place.
“It is true we have already made contact,” Valverde said. “It is true that contacts are ongoing, but the season isn't over yet. We have the Copa Del Rey final still to play. We have the chance of winning two titles and we must try to focus on this issue.
“Afterwards we will have time for everything else - we won't say anything new when we are talking about players from other teams. We will see (what happens). He (Griezmann) is a great player. We've always said so.”
After winning the domestic treble, Manchester City appear ready to hand boss Pep Guardiola a bumper deal to keep him at the club for at least the next five years.
According to the Sun, the 48-year-old - who still has two years remaining on his current contract - could see his annual salary rise from £15million to £20million.
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