Surely - and purely as a sign of intent - every major club in world football must express some sort of interest in signing Kylian Mbappé even if they do not want him or cannot afford him. Chelsea are, supposedly, the latest to claim they might want to bring him in from Paris Saint-Germain. The Blues are trying to put a cash-plus-player deal together to give them some vague hope of reuniting him with Mauricio Pochettino.
Speaking of Chelsea and young French talent, they want to sign Michael Olise. The London-born Crystal Palace winger represents France at international level because he is eligible through his mother. Anyway, Chelsea are keen on him too.
The Eagles might finally get involved in the transfer market themselves by acquiring Brazilian teenager Matheus França from Flamengo after negotiating a fee of €20m plus sundries.
The former Arsenal youngster Yunus Musah is set to depart Valencia to join Milan. He’s been in fine form for an underperforming Los che, so will be pretty happy to swap the Mestalla for San Siro, which will set Milan back €20m and some add ons.
Burnley still have some work to do in the market and one potential arrival is the Galatasaray full-back Sacha Boey. The Frenchman was key in last season’s Super Lig triumph but could be tempted by a move to the Premier League.
The latest, in a very long list, of players moving to Saudi Arabia is Bayern Munich forward Sadio Mané. The forward has agreed a contract that will see him earn £34m (€40m) per year until 2027 after the Al-Nassr settled on a £24m fee.
If Mbappé does leave the French capital, PSG are planning to soften the blow by bringing in Ousmane Dembélé from Barcelona. All it would take is activating his €50m release clause, which is relative peanuts in this day and age. The France forward has blown got and cold in Catalonia, so could be keen to head home.
Not to be put off by having two bids rejected by Bristol City for Alex Scott, Wolves will go back with a third and final offer for the midfielder. And if that’s rejected? They will probably reconsider and put more money on the table.
The Spurs full-back Sergio Reguilón is a target for Real Sociedad. Reguilón fell out of favour last season and was shipped out on loan to Atlético Madrid. It is unknown if Ange Postecoglu sees Reguilón as part of his plans so could allow him to depart for San Sebastián.
There is a little bit of goalkeeper jiggery pokery going on in the Premier League. Arsenal are keen on David Raya but Brentford want £40m for the Spaniard, and the Bees have already rejected a loan offer from Bayern Munich. If he does head to the Gunners, that would allow Matt Turner to head off to pastures new, with Nottingham Forest keen on the American. Another potential target for the Tricky Trees is New England Revolution stopper Djordie Petrovic. Where this leaves their move for Dean Henderson, who knows?
With Tino Livramento expected to leave Southampton for Newcastle, the Saints need a new right-back, and have identified Norwich’s Max Aarons as the man for the role.