Nottingham Forest’s prize for being promoted is to become the 14th Premier League club linked with a move for William Carvalho. The Real Betis midfielder seems to have been associated with a move to be England every summer for the last decade. A quick search suggests previous interest has come from Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City and Fulham, to name a few. Could this be his year?
The brain drain at Burnley continues with Dwight McNeil the latest name about to leave Turf Moor. The winger is in advanced discussions with Everton over a deal worth around £19m.
Following the departure of Sadio Mané, Liverpool could lose another of their forward line. Roberto Firmino is catching the eye of Juventus, who are keen to add the Brazilian to their stable in exchange for £20m.
Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira is wanted by Valencia but the La Liga side are only willing to sign him gratis. The midfielder, from Fray Bentos, has spent the last two seasons out on loan at Atlético Madrid and Fiorentina. The Gunners spent £26m on him in 2018 so to let him go for nothing would leave them with pie on their face.
If a deal for Brighton’s Marc Cucurella proves a touch tricky and expensive then Manchester City have a contingency plan in the form of Benfica left-back Álex Grimaldo who at the very least will be a lot cheaper at €20m, if not as good.
Cristiano Ronaldo popped along to Carrington this week in order to indulge in some karaoke. He belted out the Engelbert Humperdinck classic Please Release Me in the hope Manchester United would let him walk out the door for free. To where? Nobody knows. Atlético were the latest club to be linked with the Portuguese forward but from fans to boardroom they have really come out against the idea. Jorge Mendes has a tough month on his hands.
United will be keen to keep hold of Ronaldo after Ajax upped their asking price for Brazilian winger Antony. Instead of costing a relatively acceptable £68m, he is now valued at £84m. Oh, and Frenkie de Jong still is not a Manchester United player but those plucky Red Devils still think there is a deal to be done with Barcelona.
It was looking like being a quiet summer at newly-promoted Bournemouth but they have finally located a chequebook and pen. Supposedly they have agreed a £15m deal to sign Middlesbrough’s Marcus Tavernier – I hope he is not commuting from there. Boro will actually be replacing one Marcus with another, because Brentford’s Forss is set to sign.
