Saturday's transfer news: Arsenal set for £100m ‘spree’, Chelsea want Declan Rice move to follow Kai Havertz deal, Man United face Sancho deadline
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United all linked with mega-money moves as Juventus look to appoint Andrea Pirlo
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Follow the latest updates live from the summer transfer window as Premier League clubs look for reinforcements ahead of the new season. Arsenal are being linked with four new players that could rejuvenate their squad, with the move for Chelsea’s Willian set to be followed up by a £100m ‘spree’ on Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhaes and Dani Ceballos.
Chelsea are also set for a big move with interest in West Ham’s Declan Rice, although the Hammers want as much as £65m for the England midfielder. That move will have to wait until Chelsea’s interest in Kai Havertz is resolved, with suggestions that he could secure a £71m move as early as next week.
Manchester United meanwhile have not reached any breakthrough yet with Borussia Dortmund in their pursuit of Jadon Sancho, with the German club identifying Sunday as a deadline for any move to be completed. With time running out, United may have to switch targets in the transfer window. Manchester City meanwhile are weighing up selling Eric Garcia after he revealed he will not sign a new contract at the club, though a £14m offer from Barcelona is half of what the club wants for the Spaniard. Follow the live updates below.
Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli meanwhile has denied that Cristiano Ronaldo is pursuing a move away from the club after their Champions League exit on Friday night, with Lyon knocking the Italian champions out of Europe.
Good morning and welcome back to The Independent's transfer news live blog!
With the longest ever Premier League season finally wrapped up and consigned to the history books, attentions once again turn to the summer transfer window, which opens nearly two months later than normal.
Clubs are set for a busy 10 weeks until the 5 October transfer deadline, with a number already confirmed to be in the market to reinforce their squads ahead of the 2020/21 season - which will begin on the weekend of 12 September in fewer than seven weeks' time.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the headlines this morning.
We start the morning off at Arsenal, where despite making 55 redundancies the club are looking to spend lavishly in the transfer market.
Mikel Arteta is determined to strengthen his squad this summer in order to close the gap that has emerged between Arsenal and the best clubs in the Premier League, and one of those names that refuses to go away is Atletico Madrid's Thomas Partey.
According to The Sun, Arsenal remain interested in the Ghanaian midfielder and are increasingly likely to pay his £45m release clause, and that could be followed with a move for Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes, with the report adding that the Brazilian has emerged as Arteta's top defensive target.
The club are also keen to re-sign Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid once again, with the Spaniard impressing during his 2019/20 loan spell.
Willian remains in talks with Arsenal and looks increasingly likely to leave Chelsea despite being offered a two-year deal to stay at Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian will not feature in tonight's Champions League clash with Bayern Munich as he is injured, but he is currently negotiating a move across London after being offered a three-year deal with a £10m signing-on fee from Arsenal.
Frank Lampard has discussed Willian's impending exit, and although he could not shed any light on the move, he did stress that Chelsea will not feel any disappointment if he goes.
"I haven't got an answer" about whether Willian will leave, "because Willian remains our player at the moment. It actually doesn't matter about disappointment from any party in this situation," Lampard told reporters.
"Certainly as a club we have done everything we can to explain to Willian, and mine and his relationship is close. I'd have no feeling of disappointment if he does move on.
"I've played with him, coached him, he's a fantastic man and a fantastic player. He'll feel like that about Chelsea... But I don't want anyone to try and find a negative attitude, because the club have acted very well in this as well."
Chelsea continue to keep a close eye on Declan Rice in their hunt for defensive reinforcements, although West Ham are determined not to sell the England international.
As a result, the Hammers have slapped a £65m asking price on the 21-year-old, which given Chelsea's already-lavish spending this summer would likely prove too much for the Blues to cough up. According to the Daily Star, Chelsea are looking at who they can sell to raise the funds, but it may prove a tough ask with few candidates in a position to leave who would generate that kind of money.
Manchester United are closing in on the deadline given by Borussia Dortmund to complete their signing of Jadon Sancho, with the Bundesliga club wanting talks wrapped up by Sunday or else they will shut down transfer talks and start preparing for next season with the Englishman in their squad.
However, German podcast Ruhr Nachrichten reports this morning that Dortmund are willing to extend that deadline by 10 days to 20 August to allow a deal to go through, with an agreement yet to be reached on a fee for what would be the most expensive British transfer in history.
Previously, the Manchester Evening News reported that Dortmund imposed a deadline of the 10 August to complete the move, although United officials took that with a pinch of salt in the knowledge that the transfer window doesn't close until 5 October.
Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli has taken the unusual decision to speak out over Cristiano Ronaldo's future in the wake of the club's Champions League exit last night.
Speaking to Sky Sport Italia, Agnelli has stressed that Ronaldo remains a key part of Juventus's future, and denied suggestions that he will pursue a move away from the club following their last-16 elimination.
Ronaldo scored twice on Friday night but it was not enough to save the Italian champions as Lyon secured a 2-2 aggregate draw that took them through to the quarter-finals on away goals, having beaten Juventus 1-0 in the home leg.
Thiago Alcantara has taken a step closer towards moving to the Premier League after Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick admitted he understands his reasoning for pursuing a move to England.
"I can understand when a player thinks about a move," Flick told Sport1.
"Thiago played in Spain for Barcelona and in the Bundesliga for Bayern. If maybe he wants to play in the Premier League now, I totally understand.
"That's why I would like to have him as a coach on the team for the next few years, but that's life. It would go on."
Liverpool are being strongly linked with a move for the former Barcelona midfielder, though at around £30m the club may have to sell in order to move for the midfielder as they are not looking to actively spend this summer on their Premier League-winning team.
Manchester City have set a £30m price tag on defender Eric Garcia, who has informed the club of his intention not to sign a contract extension that will leave him free to leave the club at the end of next season.
City are resigned to selling the Spaniard with Barcelona an interested party in re-signing the man who left Barca's academy in 2017, but Goal reports that their opening offer has fallen well short of City's valuation at just £14m.
Although City are not in a position of strength with just one year remaining on his contract, Barcelona will have to up their offer before they can open talks with the centre-back.
Liverpool have seen a £10m opening offer for Norwich City defender Jamal Lewis rejected, and the recently-relegated club are not impressed by the bid.
Lewis has been identified as potential cover for Andy Robertson, with the left-back targeted to keep the current incumbent on his toes as well as being able to cover centre-back if needed.
But after rejected the offer on Thursday, Norwich are said to be unimpressed by Liverpool's 'derisory' offer for the 22-year-old, and have stressed to the Premier League champions that they are not in a position where they will be forced to sell even though they have been relegated to the Championship.
If Arsenal are to fund their big recruitment plans, there will need to be outgoings in the coming weeks.
One of those who could be on the way out is midfielder Lucas Torreira, with the Uruguayan dropping down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta after suffering a serious injury earlier in the season.
The Telegraph reports that AC Milan are keen on the Uruguay international, and he could be used to generate funds that could help smooth over the planned moves for Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes.
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