The summer transfer window is approaching, and there’s plenty of gossip swirling about who’s moving where. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings and goings and, of course, done deals!
TOP STORY: Tug-of-war for Wolves’ Neves
Arsenal and Manchester United are interested in Ruben Neves, and could be set to battle it out in for his signature in the summer, according to the Mirror.
The Wolves midfielder has enjoyed yet another impressive campaign in the Premier League, where he has been a standout performer for Bruno Lage’s side.
But the latest indicates that he would be willing to leave Molineux in search of a new challenge and, having already been linked with Barcelona, it now looks as though he will also have the option to remain in England’s top flight.
Speaking after Wolves’ final game of the season against Liverpool on Sunday, the Portugal international said: “Our careers are really short, we need to take the opportunities we have.
“We need to live those dreams in a short space of time. Let’s see what happens. I cannot say too much about it.”
With Neves’ contract not set to expire until 2024, Wolves could demand a significant fee for his services, with previous reports suggesting that they were looking for around £70 million to part ways with the 25-year-old. He has made 33 league appearances this season.
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12.19 BST: Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has said that nay players who are not fully committed to the club should leave this summer.
United’s worst season in the Premier League era ended on Sunday with a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace, leaving them to finish sixth in the table and qualify for the Europa League.
Ahead of new manager Erik ten Hag’s unveiling, De Gea told MUTV: “The level we have shown in the last three or four months isn’t enough to win a Premier League match, we were sloppy, we lost some easy balls around our box, it’s impossible to win the games.
“I just want to be positive, to forget about this season. The new manager was in the stands, so that’s a good signal. I hope things will get better for next season — that’s the past already. We all know it’s been a bad season, for everyone.
“The people who don’t want to stay, just go, and the people who really want to stay at the club, who want to fight for the club, let’s have a good rest in the summer, prepare ourselves in the mind and in the body and be ready to fight again next season.”
11.36 BST: Red Bull Salzburg and United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson is on the cusp of moving to Premier League side Leeds United for a fee of $29.5m, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle.
Aaronson has been on Leeds’ radar since the winter transfer window, but a combination of Salzburg’s continued participation in the UEFA Champions League and Leeds’ potential relegation put the deal on hold.
However, Leeds’ Premier League survival was clinched on Sunday as they beat Brentford 2-1 while Burnley, who entered the day ahead of Leeds on goal differential, lost at home to Newcastle United. Now the deal can go ahead, with Aaronson poised to be reunited with manager Jesse Marsch after the two worked together at Salzburg.
The transfer will also amount to a windfall to Aaronson’s former club, the Philadelphia Union, with ESPN television analyst Taylor Twellman reporting that the Union will receive $5.3m courtesy of a sell-on fee.
10.57 BST: Lionel Messi has reflected on his first season at Paris Saint-Germain and expressed optimism about the future.
The Argentina captain, who scored six goals and set up 14 more in 26 league appearances to help PSG win the league title, wrote in a post on Instagram: “The season is over and I wanted to thank my teammates for how they treated me since I arrived and my family for always accompanying me and supporting me.
“It was a different year because of everything that happened, but at the end of it all, we achieved a league title that I was very excited to achieve because of what it means, to be the [my] first trophy here in Paris.
“We are left with the bitter taste of losing in the Champions League in a tie that we were being better at, and at the same time I want to be left with the joy of having added another title that was also one of the objectives.
“Surely good things are coming in 2022, it will be an important year and we are going to fight to be competing with ambition for everything.”
10.28 BST: Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of French midfielder Boubacar Kamara from Marseille on a five-year contract.
The 22-year-old, who can also play as a centre-back, joins on a free transfer at the end of June when his deal with Marseille expires.
Kamara, who had been strongly linked with Atletico Madrid, made 170 appearances for Marseille after coming through the club’s academy. He has also been called up by France for the first time for Nations League matches against Denmark, Austria and Croatia next month.
“I am delighted that we have been able to attract one of the most promising young talents in European football,” Gerrard told the club’s website.
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10.21 BST: Manchester United have confirmed the appointments of Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren as part of Erik ten Hag’s new-look backroom staff.
The pair will join as assistant coaches to the Dutchman, who officially takes the reins at Old Trafford on Monday.
Ten Hag watched United’s defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday from the stands alongside Van der Gaag and McClaren.
Van der Gaag, who had a spell as a player at Motherwell, worked alongside Ten Hag at Ajax. His appointment is subject to approval from the FA and receiving a U.K. visa.
McClaren, meanwhile, is back at the club having previously served as Sir Alex Ferguson’s No. 2 between 1999 and 2001.
He left to take the manager’s job at Middlesbrough and also had spells in charge of England and FC Twente, where Ten Hag was part of his staff. This season the 61-year-old had been working as an advisor to Wayne Rooney at Derby County.
10.17 BST: Borussia Dortmund have signed midfielder Salih Ozcan from Cologne.
The 24-year-old has signed a four-year contract with last season’s Bundesliga runners-up. Cologne confirmed that Dortmund triggered a release clause to sign the Turkey international, although they did not specify the fee.
“Cologne are my hometown club and I owe them a great deal,” Ozcan said. “There are very few clubs I would’ve left my town for.
“Borussia Dortmund’s energy, which one can literally feel, plus the opportunity to play regularly in the Champions League, ultimately led me to my decision. I’m very happy to be able to continue my development at BVB in front of more than 81,000 spectators and to help the team in the Bundesliga and the Champions League with my style of football. I’m very ambitious and willing to give everything to this end.”
– Bundesliga on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S.)
10.10 BST: Liverpool have announced the signing of England U21 international Fabio Carvalho from Fulham, with the player set to join on July 1.
Carvalho, 19, will join Liverpool for a reported fee of £5 million when his contract with Fulham ends in June. The winger is not available on a free due to his age, so the two clubs have reached a compromise to the prevent the deal from going to a transfer tribunal.
Liverpool almost signed him in the January transfer window but were unable to complete the deal before the deadline. Carvalho had already agreed personal terms and passed a medical.
– Ogden: Liverpool left to look back on ‘what-ifs’ in title race
09.58 BST: Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has signed a one-year contract extension, the Bundesliga champions have announced.
Neuer, 36, committed himself to the club 2024 after captaining them to a 10th consecutive league title in 2021-22.
The Germany No. 1 has also won two Champions Leagues among the 25 club trophies he has claimed over the course of his 472 appearances.
“Manuel Neuer is the best goalkeeper in the world and has been setting the standard around the world for years,” Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn said in a club statement. “It’s a huge achievement to be so consistently world class for such a long time. We’re very happy to have extended his contract. Manuel is a defining figure in the history of FC Bayern.”
✍️ @Manuel_Neuer is staying at #FCBayern until 2024! 🔴⚪
Full details: https://t.co/Z8bSEP5hQb#MiaSanMia #NeuerTheWall
— FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) May 23, 2022
09.35 BST: Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski and Ousmane Dembele could all be “market opportunities” for Real Madrid after missing out on Kylian Mbappe, Diario AS reports, while also naming Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Benfica’s Darwin Nunez and AC Milan’s Rafael Leao as potential targets.
According to the newspaper, Madrid’s performance in the Champions League final on Saturday could determine whether the LaLiga club look to sign a “big name” in the summer window. AS says the “beneficial contractual situations” of Salah and Mane could make a move possible, although their ages (30 and 29 respectively) count against them.
Lewandowski has been a Madrid target in the past, Nunez is expected to leave Benfica this summer, and Leao could be available for a fee of €100m after winning Serie A with Milan this weekend.
Meanwhile, Madrid are in the running to sign Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, according to France’s RMC Sport. The radio station reports that terms have been agreed with both Madrid and Liverpool, and the player is now “giving himself a few days” to choose between the clubs.
ESPN reported in January that Madrid were keen on Tchouameni, 22, to freshen up their midfield.
08.47 BST: Kylian Mbappe has thanked Real Madrid for their interest in him after he rejected the chance to move to the Bernabeu and instead signed a new deal at Paris Saint-Germain.
ESPN reported last year that PSG rejected a series of bids from Madrid for Mbappe, the last of which was up to €200 million, and the Spanish giants had been confident that they would finally land their long-desired target on a free transfer this summer, with his deal due to expire on June 30.
However, a last-ditch effort from PSG to persuade Mbappe to stay proved successful on Saturday, with the forward pledging his future to the Ligue 1 club until 2025.
“I’m convinced that I can continue to grow here, at a club which is giving itself every means to reach the top,” Mbappe said in a statement posted on social media on Sunday.
“I would also like to sincerely thank Real Madrid and their president Florentino Perez. I am aware of the chance and privilege I had at being coveted by such an institution.”
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) May 22, 2022
08.00 BST: Antonio Conte has refused to confirm he will stay on as Tottenham head coach despite securing Champions League football next season, citing a need for talks with the club’s hierarchy over their summer plans.
Spurs sealed fourth spot with a 5-0 win at relegated Norwich City on the Premier League’s final day that ensured they finished in fourth place, above north London rivals Arsenal.
Earlier in the season, Conte had openly questioned his suitability for the job as Tottenham’s top-four hopes appeared to be fading but Spurs won eight of their last 11 matches to overhaul Arsenal and reach Europe’s premier club competition.
Sources have told ESPN’s James Olley that Conte is seeking as many as six summer signings in an ambitious overhaul aiming to turn Tottenham into Premier League title contenders and will sit down with chairman Daniel Levy and managing director Fabio Paratici in a few days to discuss their transfer strategy.
“I am under contract until next summer you know very well I signed for one year and seven months. I enjoyed a lot, my time in Tottenham, because for me it was a big challenge to come in during the season,” he said. “For a coach like me, it is not simple. It is a big challenge in a club with a fantastic stadium and a training ground and I knew the situation I could find — to give me the opportunity to work in the way I want.
“On the other hand, you know very well that I am a person who has ambition. I like to fight for something important, I like to fight to lift a trophy. For me, this is a trophy and I am very happy. And then we will see.
“I always said to you at the end of the season, we speak with the club and find the best solution for me and for the club. Now I think for me, the club, the players it is good to have three, four, five days’ rest and then the mind will be very clear. You can consider the whole season.
“You have to be very calm before speaking because now [there are] a lot of emotions in my mind, my heart. For this reason it would be very good to rest and then have a good meeting with the club to find the best possible solution.”
– Olley: Conte must give Conte whatever he asks for
PAPER GOSSIP (Adam Brown)
– Juventus are weighing up the possibility of signing Kalidou Koulibaly, reveals Tuttosport. The 30-year-old centre-back will enter the final year of his contract in June and, despite Napoli looking to keep him at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, Massimiliano Allegri looks to have identified him as a possible reinforcement at the heart of Juve’s defence.
– Aston Villa are prioritising a move for Kalvin Phillips in the summer, according to the Telegraph. Steven Gerrard has placed the 26-year-old Leeds United midfielder at the top of his shortlist, as he prepares for his first summer transfer window in charge of the Villains. The Premier League side have also been rumoured to have agreed personal terms with Marseille midfielder Boubacar Kamara.
– Barcelona remain keen to sign Raphinha, but could now find it more difficult to agree a fee with Leeds after Jesse Marsch’s side avoided relegation on the last day of the Premier League season, writes Sport. The Blaugrana and the 25-year-old winger’s representatives have already agreed on personal terms, but the deal is now expected to take longer to complete, with fresh talks required over a fee.
– Real Betis are interested in signing Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar, according to Foot Mercato. The 23-year-old is set to enter the final year of his contract in June, and that will make things more difficult for the Ligue 1 side to negotiate an increased fee to part ways with him. It is reported that the LaLiga club are keen to sign him, so that they can pair him together with France teammate, Nabil Fekir.
– Samir Handanovic is set to extend his contract with Internazionale by one year. The 37-year-old goalkeeper has been linked with an exit from the San Siro throughout the season, but it now looks as though he wants to continue in Serie A. Speaking to Dazn, as quoted by Nicolo Schira, he said: “I will stay here for another year.”