Football transfer news

Real Madrid have informed Paris Saint-Germain that they are prepared to pay up to €160m to sign Kylian Mbappe this summer and have now entered talks over a deal for the forward.

Mbappe has entered the final season of his PSG contract and is currently on course to become a free agent next summer. But Real are determined to try to sign the 22-year-old now rather than risk the uncertainty of waiting another nine months.

There has long been a mutual admiration between Real and Mbappe and 90min understands that PSG informed Los Blancos earlier this week of their willingness to talk.

That marked a significant step forward as PSG had previously rebuffed contact from Real. Things changed after the Spanish side made it clear that they are willing to pay up to €160m.

PSG, who have been unable to convince Mbappe to sign a new contract and therefore otherwise face losing him as a free agent next year, are happy to start negotiating a transfer.

One issue, however, centres on paying up the final season of his PSG contract, as the French giants are keen not to hand over any money for him to leave the club.

Should Mbappe move on, 90min understands PSG will not look to Cristiano Ronaldo as his replacement and will instead target a deal for Everton attacker Richarlison.

The Parisians made contact with the Brazilian’s representatives earlier this week, and the Toffees are willing to sell should an appropriate bid arrive.

It was reported on Tuesday evening that Ronaldo is pushing for a transfer to Manchester City, but like PSG they are not interested in bringing in the 36-year-old superstar.

PSG made Mbappe the second most expensive player in history in 2018 when he completed a €180m transfer from Monaco, having already spent a season on loan in Paris.

The player was still only 19 at the time, 18 when the initial loan was agreed, but had already established himself as one of the most exciting talents in the world.

Mbappe scored 26 goals in 44 appearances in his only full season in Monaco’s first team, helping the club win Ligue 1 ahead of PSG and reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in 19 years. He has since scored 133 goals in 174 games for PSG, winning three domestic doubles, two domestic trebles and playing in the 2020 Champions League final.

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Manchester United’s need for a central midfielder was underlined by the weekend’s lacklustre 1-1 draw against Southampton, where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s failed to exert any control in the middle of the pitch and put in a frustratingly disjointed performance as a result.

Other key areas have been strengthened, with Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane coming in. However, midfield looked as though it could be left for another year,

The ideal might be someone like Declan Rice, but with a £100m price tag on his head and a week of the transfer window left in which to do business, that kind of deal simply isn’t viable.

However, there are other, cheaper options, several of which may still require United to offload some deadwood to create space and raise funds, for whom deals would be significantly more feasible.

Having arrived at Brighton from Lille in 2018, Yves Bissouma really established himself in the Premier League towards the end of the 2019/20 campaign and missed only two games last season.

He has often been linked with Arsenal and Liverpool in recent months and is noted for his stamina, ball-winning skills and an ability to turn defence into attack.

At 24, Bissouma is still several years shy of his peak, which means he still has the potential to develop and improve. The figure that has been thrown about so far is £40m, which would be a significant outlay, but arguably well worth the investment in the long-term.

Ruben Neves has made himself a cult hero at Wolves over the years, trading Porto and Champions League football for Molineux and the Championship in 2017 at the age of just 20.

But nothing lasts forever and if Neves wants to return to the Champions League before he hits his peak, he will have to move on because it won’t happen at Wolves.

The Portugal international is particularly known for his positioning and passing ability, which are both qualities that would drastically improve United’s midfield. What’s more, Wolves’ financial position means they are open to selling if offers meet their valuation in excess of £30m.

The capture of Saul Niguez from Atletico Madrid would be a moment of opportunism. The Spaniard, although rumoured to be dissatisfied at Wanda Metropolitano since last season, has only seriously come on the market for a potential Premier League move very recently.

He was earlier linked with a switch to Barcelona that has since collapsed and Atletico are prepared to allow the 26-year-old leave on loan, as well as letting him choose his destination.

A loan requires no long-term commitment for United and Saul could provide the chance to land a proven name while the situation is assessed more thoroughly ahead of next season.

Rennes prodigy Eduardo Camavinga is perhaps the ultimate double-edged investment, who could both immediately improve United’s midfield but also comes with major long-term upside.

He already has two full seasons of first-team football under his belt in a strong Rennes side, has played Champions League football during that time and still won’t even turn 19 until November.

Despite having a player of such potential on their books, Rennes are aware that he already has his eye on the next step and isn’t prepared to sign a new contract with the club beyond next summer. As a result, they are ready to cash in this month and value him at £30m.

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Premier League clubs have ‘reluctantly’ agreed not to release players for international duty next month for matches that would be played in countries on the UK’s coronavirus ‘red list’.

There have been concerns over mandatory quarantines for players travelling to and from red-list countries during the international break, which could threaten health and safety and have a serious knock-on effect for clubs in terms of training and the resumption of domestic games.

The only way around the travel restrictions to and from countries currently deemed generally unsafe because of the ongoing COVID-19 situation would have been isolation exemptions.

However, a meeting between the Premier League clubs has instead yielded a ‘unanimous’ agreement not to release players who would be affected by red list travel.

A Premier League statement explains: “The clubs’ decision, which is strongly supported by the Premier League, will apply to nearly 60 players from 19 Premier League clubs who are due to travel to 26 red-list countries in the September international window.

“This follows FIFA’s current position not to extend its temporary release exception for players required to quarantine on their return from international duty.

“Extensive discussions have taken place with both The FA and the Government to find a solution, but due to ongoing public health concerns relating to incoming travellers from red-list countries, no exemption has been granted.”

Countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa, Turkey and Uruguay are currently on the red list, which would affect players including Mohamed Salah, Richarlison, Fabinho, Miguel Almiron, Mohamed Salah, Cristian Romero, Edinson Cavani and more.

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Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is pushing for a move to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Rumours have been swirling over the Portugal captain’s future this summer and came to a head when he reportedly asked to be benched for Juve’s Serie A opener against Udinese on Sunday – a claim Bianconeri boss Massimiliano Allegri denied.

However, L’Equipe report that Ronaldo has his sights set on a return to Manchester and even believes a deal could be done ‘by the weekend’. The decision is motivated by his pursuit of more Ballons d’Or to add to the five in his collection, and his agent Jorge Mendes is confident he can make it happen.

The French outlet claim the 36-year-old has gone to the extent of contacting his compatriots in the City squad – namely Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo – to engineer a move, while there are a number of players who could be used as makeweights, including Silva and Aymeric Laporte.

Much will depend on Man City’s protracted pursuit of Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

To this point the club had been solely focused on a blockbuster deal for the Spurs talisman, but with Daniel Levy not even entertaining any bids below £150m, the Citizens may be forced to look elsewhere.

City are one of few clubs who could afford Ronaldo at such a late stage of the transfer window, but negotiations would still likely be very complex. They are said to be willing to meet his €31m-per-year salary, but do not want to pay a fee over the odds for a player who has entered the final 12 months of his contract in Turin.

That is where the possibility of a part-exchange comes into play, with super-agent Mendes working on an agreement that would see Silva – another of his clients – move the other way. Laporte could also be included, with his attitude becoming something of an issue at the Etihad.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that a U-turn from Real Madrid allowed the Gunners to sign attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard on a permanent transfer.

Odegaard was a prime target for Arsenal this summer following his successful loan during the second half of last season, with Arteta keen to add some much-needed creativity to his squad for 2021/22.

The Norwegian eventually returned to the Emirates Stadium last week on a permanent basis, despite it seeming unlikely a deal would happen earlier in the window. The player himself believed he would feature in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans at the Bernabeu back in June, and the north Londoners were persistently linked with a move for Leicester’s James Maddison in the meantime.

However, they eventually got their man.

Speaking to Arsenal’s official website, Arteta revealed a sudden, unexplained change in Real Madrid’s stance facilitated the transfer, while the player had remained keen.

“I was really happy [to sign Odegaard] because at one stage we thought it wouldn’t be possible,” he said. “Madrid wasn’t very keen on selling the player. Martin always expressed his desire to come, but it wasn’t looking very possible and then the door opened.”

“Straight away the club was really supportive and Edu did a great job to manage the situation and we got the player that we wanted and we know because we have experience already with him for six months.”

The Arsenal head coach went on to explain just why the Gunners had decided to bring the Norway captain back to the club.

“I think he makes the rest of the players around him better,” he added. “His work ethic is phenomenal, the way he goes about his job, his professionalism, his character, he’s a very likeable person.

Martin Odegaard ? The Arsenal

Mikel Arteta explains how we signed our new no. 8 this summer ?

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 24, 2021

“I think he has fitted really well into the culture and then for the way we want to play he’s a player with exceptional qualities to add to them.”

Arsenal will hope the 22-year-old will hit the ground running. The north London club have made one of their worst ever starts to a season with consecutive 2-0 defeats to Brentford and Chelsea respectively.

It has been reported that Arteta has been given just five more games to guarantee his future, otherwise the club’s hierarchy may be forced to take drastic action.