On a day Sky Sports News reporters are sent to man the car parks of Premier League stadiums and training grounds, where they will be studiously ignored by managers and young footballers toting designer wash bags, the Guardian will do its bit to bring you all the transfer news that’s fit to print and much that might not be. While plenty of big-name clubs have got their summer business done commendably early, there are several more hoping to get last-minute deals “over the line” before the window shuts at 11pm and we can all get on with our lives.
Chelsea’s policy of offloading homegrown academy graduates in the interests of trimming their squad and balancing the books shows no sign of abating, with Callum Hudson-Odoi being shipped out to Nottingham Forest. Once valued at £50m, the injury-prone winger is rumoured to be going for a cut-price £8m. Trevoh Chalobah is also expected to leave Stamford Bridge, for Bayern Munich, even if the German champions’ insistence on a loan deal is not entirely to Chelsea’s liking. Bayern also remain interested in taking Conor Gallagher off the Chelsea payroll, but any move they make could be hijacked by Tottenham.
With Spurs looking increasingly unlikely to lure Brennan Johnson away from Nottingham Forest, expect them to ramp up their efforts to sign Eberechi Eze from Crystal Palace instead. After their pursuit of the Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella came to naught, Manchester United will announce the signing of the Tottenham full-back Sergio Reguilón. The 26-year-old Spaniard spent a couple of hours on Thursday night being poked by the Old Trafford medics before a season-long loan. United remain hell-bent on signing Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina and both clubs and the player himself all seem amenable to a deal being concluded as long as the price is right.
Philippe Coutinho’s less-than-stellar spell as an Aston Villa player is about to end, with the Brazilian playmaker on the verge of heading to the Qatari side Al-Duhail for £20m. Despite conducting most of their transfer business early in the window, Villa remain hopeful of signing Clément Lenglet from Barcelona to provide defensive cover. Elsewhere in the Midlands, having trousered £43m for Matheus Nunes, Wolves could spend some of the proceeds on Fulham’s Harrison Reed. In fairly dire need of a striker, the Molineux outfit are also being linked with Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho and Southampton’s Che Adams.
An eye-catching member of the PSV Eindhoven side who eviscerated Rangers on Wednesday night, Johan Bakayoko, could be on his way to Brentford for a club record £34m despite interest from Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham. After impressing on loan at Sheffield United last season, Manchester City midfielder James McAtee could be re-sign for the Blades but is also wanted by Leicester. McAtee’s fellow City whelp Taylor Harwood-Bellis is expected to join Southampton on loan, with the Saints also on the verge of announcing the purchase of the Sunderland striker Ross Stewart for £10m.
The Guardian has already reported that Liverpool are signing Bayern Munich’s Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in a deal worth almost £40m including add-ons, while the Saudi club Al-Ittihad remain intent on taking Mo Salah for up to £150m despite Jürgen Klopp’s repeated insistence that the Egyptian is not for sale. With the Saudi window not due to close for another week, the Liverpool manager may be left sweating for longer than he would like. You can stay across any potential bids for Mo and all the day’s last-ditch horse-trading and wheeler-dealing in our comprehensive live Deadline Day blog.
