Football transfer news

Usually when you leave a job you send a quick email round the office after being handed a tin of Celebrations and card signed by a load of people you’ve not spoken to for three years.

However, most ‘normal’ jobs don’t see you leave with three Spanish titles and four Champions League crowns – so we’ll forgive Raphael Varane for going all soppy on us.

The Frenchman was recently announced as Manchester United’s latest recruit, subsequently drawing the curtain on an illustrious decade at Real Madrid.

Varane wasn’t quite offered the goodbye ceremony his partner in crime Sergio Ramos was recently, but that’s done little to quell his affection for Real and he’s now said his goodbyes while thanking everyone at the club for their help and support over the past ten years.

“These last few days have been charged with many emotions, feelings that I now want to share with all of you,” he wrote on his official Instagram page. “After ten incredible and wonderful years at Real Madrid, a club that I will always carry in my heart, the day has come to say goodbye.

“Since I arrived in 2011, together we have exceeded all expectations and achieved things that I could never have dreamed of. I would like to thank all the coaches and all the people who work or have worked at the club for everything they have done for me.

“Many thanks also to all the Madridistas who always gave me a lot of affection and with their great demand they pushed me to give my best and fight for every success. I have had the honour of sharing a dressing room with the best players in the world.

“Countless victories that I will never forget, especially La Decima. I realise that it has been a great privilege to have been able to experience such special moments. Finally, I want to thank all Spaniards and especially to the city of Madrid, where my two children were born.

“This country will always be special to me. It has been an incredible journey in every way. I leave with the feeling of having given everything and I will not change a single thing in this story of ours. A new chapter begins.”

We’re not crying – you’re crying.

Manchester City’s summer long pursuit of Jack Grealish appears to have intensified amid reports that a £100m offer has been tabled for the Aston Villa captain.

Pep Guardiola is a known admirer of Grealish and has pinpointed the England international and Tottenham’s Harry Kane as his main transfer targets this summer.

City’s pursuit has been well documented, with 90min confirming on Thursday that talks were progressing between with Villa – with a confidence that an agreement would be reached. Things may have now escalated further, with the Telegraph reporting that a bid of £100m – which would be a British transfer record – has been lodged.

Should the bid prove to be successful it would surpass Manchester United’s £89m capture of Paul Pogba back in 2016.

Unsurprisingly, Villa boss Dean Smith is desperate to keep hold of his talisman as he looks to build a side capable of bettering their 11th-placed finish last season. The club have already attempted to secure Grealish’s long-term future by offering him a lucrative £125,000-a-week deal.

Despite Smith’s desire to retain the services of Grealish, 90min recently revealed that Villa owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris are in no mood to force the 25-year-old to stay at Villa Park if his heart lies elsewhere – though as of yet it’s unclear what their exact valuation of Grealish is.

City have grown increasingly frustrated in recent weeks at Spurs’ reluctance to engage in negotiations over a deal for their other main target Kane, with 90min revealing Daniel Levy isn’t interested in entertaining offers for his prized possession.

Given City’s talks with the north London club appear to have reached an impasse, they now seem focused on thrashing out a deal for Grealish for the time being.

Villa’s hierarchy have already sanctioned the signing of creative midfielder Emi Buendia this summer and the club are continuing to monitor Bayer Leverkusen’s Leon Bailey – moves which could be seen as a contingency plan should Grealish’s exit be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Whether £100m is enough to tempt the Villans into parting ways with their captain remains to be seen, but City’s bid certainly suggests they’re determined to get their man.

Liverpool’s pre-season is well underway as they prepare to bounce back from their miserable title defence in 2021/22.

It’s certainly been a disjointed one – strewn with half-time substitutes and 30-minute mini-friendlies – and the chaos continued on Thursday with a hammer-and-tong 4-3 defeat to Bundesliga side Hertha BSC.

But what did we learn from their latest outing? And is their season over before a competitive ball has been kicked?

We’ve broken it down for everything you need to know.

After months of hard work together, back on the pitch together ?

A fitting moment ?? pic.twitter.com/l6WleegrRQ

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 29, 2021

Guess who just got back today?
Them wild-eyed boys that’d been away
Haven’t changed, had much to say
But man, I still think them cats are crazy

Oh yeah, it’s been a long nine months or so since Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were last on the pitch together. But here they emerged for the final 20 minutes, reunited at last and ready to take charge.

…and then Stefan Jovetic made a complete mockery of the pair of them to slot in Hertha’s fourth goal.

Okay, maybe they’ll take some time to get back up to speed. But it’s still very, very good to have them back.

?? “There’s some good stuff to take – we’re still building up – but we need to be more consistent during the games and more resilient as we get closer to the season”

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 29, 2021

One thing we weren’t expecting to see in pre-season was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain being deployed as a central striker. But in the absence of any real alternative to Roberto Firmino, that’s the role he has played for the most part.

The Ox replaced Takumi Minamino at half-time and mostly played at the centre of the front three, and popped up with a proper striker’s finish late on when he hammered in a half-volley.

Could this be something we see more of when the competitive action kicks off?

Naby ??? pic.twitter.com/BpHkUXjqaj

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 30, 2021

We’re all used to seeing Naby Keita turn up in pre-season and this year it’s been no different.

The diminutive Guinean was one of the best players on the park here, and his hand in Liverpool’s second goal – winning the ball back with a crunching challenge before feeding in Mohamed Salah – was straight out of the top drawer.

The move was finished off by Takumi Minamino, another player who will be hoping to make his mark this season.

Harvey Elliott is brimming with confidence and enthusiasm wherever he is deployed on the pitch by Jürgen Klopp this pre-season ?

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 30, 2021

Much has been made of where Harvey Elliott fits into Liverpool’s future, with the consensus being that the 18-year-old will eventually replace either Salah or Sadio Mane.

That may not be the future Klopp sees for the immensely talented youngster, however. Here, he started him in the midfield three alongside Keita and James Milner, and he gave as good as he got.

He may be a little on the slight side to fit in there long-term, but he has plenty of time to develop in front of him. If he is adapted to playing in two positions, it bodes well for the role he could play in the season ahead.

Morning, Reds! ? pic.twitter.com/aGNThu61bE

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 30, 2021

Okay, final note. Please don’t freak out about the final result.

Pre-season friendlies are all about getting minutes on the pitch and building fitness. Here, Klopp fielded six different centre-backs and used 23 players in total – despite a number of his key stars, such as Alisson, Thiago and Jordan Henderson, still being on holiday.

That was always going to lead to a messy, disjointed performance, and while Klopp does want to win these games – of course he does – it doesn’t really matter which way the result swings.

Team GB were dumped out of the Olympics at the quarter-final stage after a pulsating 4-3 extra-time defeat against old foes Australia on Friday.

Hege Riise’s side twice hit the woodwork early on as Keira Walsh struck the post before Rachel Daly’s cross floated over Australia goalkeeper Teagan Micah and skimmed off the crossbar, but they fell behind as Alanna Kennedy powered a thumping header beyond the reach of Ellie Roebuck.

The @TeamGB team to start against Australia in the quarter-finals! ?#TeamGB | #Tokyo2020 | #NationalLottery pic.twitter.com/V68h9Cqfsd

— 90min (@90min_Football) July 30, 2021

Team GB continued to press for an equaliser and they were rewarded as Ellen White produced an even better header than Kennedy’s opener to loop the ball over Micah and into the back of the net, but they almost immediately fell behind as Steph Houghton fired the ball against her own crossbar.

White was once again the hero with just 25 minutes to play as she battled for the ball in the area before reacting to her own knockdown and smashing the ball home to make it 2-1 to Team GB.

Australia threw everything they had at their opponents as they went in search of an equaliser and Sam Kerr’s 89th-minute strike levelled the scores to send the game into extra time.

Caroline Weir was handed the chance to restore her side’s lead in extra time but she was denied from the spot, and just minutes later Mary Fowler’s deflected effort found its way past Roebuck as Australia edged ahead before Kerr’s second of the game seemed to put the result beyond doubt.

Team GB weren’t finished yet as White completed a brilliant hat-trick with five minutes to play, but her efforts were to be in vain as Australia progressed to the semi-final with a 4-3 win.

And breathe. That’s the match highlights out of the way, now to those Team GB player ratings…

Ellie Roebuck (GK) – 6/10 – Precious little she could do about any of the four Australia strikes. Communicated well with her backline throughout the contest.

Lucy Bronze (RB) – 6/10 – Picked up a needless first-half booking after she lunged in to try and recover her loose touch. Hugely unlucky to see her attempted block only divert the ball past Roebuck as Australia grabbed a 3-2 extra-time lead.

Steph Houghton (CB) – 7/10 – Very luck to escape without punishment as she needlessly lashed at the ball and struck her own crossbar. Put the near miss behind her and performed well on the whole.

Leah Williamson (CB) – 6/10 – Some poor defending from the Arsenal centre-back in the build-up to Australia’s opener. Looked to atone for her error by stepping out of defence and opening up the play with some decent passing.

Demi Stokes (LB) – 7/10 – Some great defending in the wide areas as she used her pace to full effect. Did her best to deny Australia the chance to swing crosses into the box.

Kim Little (CM) – 7/10 – Swung a brilliant cross into the box shortly after her side had conceded the opener but White was unable to get on the end of it. Went under the radar a little with some tireless work in the middle of the pitch.

Caroline Weir (CM) – 5/10 – The Manchester City midfielder looked a class above with the ball at her feet but she was crowded out all too often. Poor penalty in extra time which was comfortably saved.

Keira Walsh (CM) – 7/10 – Unfortunate not to open the scoring with an early strike which struck the post. Displayed some lovely touches in the midfield and was a menace all game.

Rachel Daly (RW) – 6/10 – Almost got very luck as her cross looped on to the top of the crossbar. Replaced in the second half as her influence on the game started to wane.

Ellen White (ST) – 9/10 – Started to grow frustrated as the game wore on and was guilty of dropping too deep at times. Pushed much further forward in the second half and was rewarded with a brilliant hat-trick. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.

Lauren Hemp (LW) – 8/10 – The livewire in the Team GB frontline. Always looked dangerous whenever she got the ball onto her cultured left foot and her brilliant assist saw Team GB draw level.

Millie Bright (CB) – 7/10

Fran Kirby (RW) – 6/10

Jill Scott (CM) – 6/10

Nikita Parris (ST) – 7/10

Sophie Ingle (CM) – 6/10

Georgia Stanway (ST) – N/A

Exclusive – Real Madrid will open talks with Paris Saint-Germain in the coming weeks over a deal for Kylian Mbappe.

Real are keen on brokering a deal this summer after managing to free up finances to make him the highest paid player in world football.

The Spanish giants have long planned on landing Mbappe and they had hoped this summer would see him make the switch, although they realise they may have to wait until 2022.

PSG do not want to sell Mbappe or lose him on a free transfer next summer – but unfortunately for Les Parisiens, that decision is not in their hands.

Mbappe’s current contract is due to expire in 2022 and PSG would be powerless to stop him leaving on a free if they cannot extend his deal at Parc des Princes.

90min understands that Mbappe has informed PSG that he does not intend on signing a new deal, and now it is up to Real to present a deal that they would accept this summer.

PSG have been asking over £150m for Mbappe – an incredibly steep figure for someone with under a year remaining on his contract. However, Real are looking into brokering a deal this summer as they can now afford his wage demands of around £1m-a-week, and will open negotiations with PSG soon.

The losses of Sergio Ramos to PSG and Raphael Varane to Manchester United have freed up room on Real’s wage bill in order to make a run at Mbappe this window.

Sources close to Real have told 90min that they expect talks to take place in the coming weeks, but are far from confident that PSG will agree to his move regardless of Mbappe’s desire to head to Spain.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has planned to bring in Mbappe for years, and remains keen on bringing Paul Pogba to the club. 90min revealed earlier this week that Pogba – who also has one year remaining on his current deal – is considering his options, which includes a potential move to the Spanish capital.