LIVE Transfer Talk: Chelsea’s Werner a target for Juventus
Shaka Hislop is concerned about Chelsea’s lack of significant signings in the summer transfer window in comparison to Arsenal and Tottenham. (1:55)
The summer transfer window is here, 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!
Timo Werner‘s departure from Chelsea looks possible this summer, with Juventus emerging as a potential suitor for the 26-year-old striker, according to Sky Sport Italy.
Juventus manager Max Allegri has put the Germany international on his transfer shortlist, but the priority is still to secure a permanent deal for Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid. The report also mentions Manchester United‘s Anthony Martial, although sources told ESPN last week that the player will remain at Old Trafford.
Werner hinted at a move away from Stamford Bridge in order to secure more game time ahead of the World Cup in November following the arrival of Raheem Sterling, with manager Thomas Tuchel criticising his player’s response.
Werner has already been offered to his old side RB Leipzig as part of a player exchange for defender Nordi Mukiele, as Chelsea looked to derail Mukiele’s pending transfer to PSG. However, Sky Sport Germany reports that the Bundesliga side are interested bringing him back on a season-long loan.
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13.30 BST: Why did Matthijs de Ligt leave Juventus?
New Bayern Munich signing Matthijs de Ligt says he learned a lot at Juventus but feels the system potentially made it difficult for him to express himself.
12.44 BST: Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at Manchester United’s training ground on Tuesday to hold talks over his future at the club.
Ronaldo, 37, has not yet trained under new manager Erik ten Hag after being given permission to miss the tour of Thailand and Australia due to personal reasons.
The Portugal international made an official request to leave United this summer so he can continue to play Champions League football next season, sources confirmed to ESPN. He returned to United a year ago for a second stint at Old Trafford and scored 18 goals in 30 league appearances, but the team finished sixth in the Premier League and did not qualify for next season’s elite European club competition.
Ronaldo has a contract with the club until June 2023, with an option to extend it for a further year, but has asked for a transfer.
12.17 BST: Bayern Munich have signed Rennes striker Mathys Tel for a reported fee of €28.5m.
Tel, 17, made 10 appearances for the Ligue 1 side last season and became the youngest player in the history of Rennes.
With 10 goals in 15 appearances for the France U17 and U18 national teams, Tel is considered a top young prospect.
He told the club’s website: “FC Bayern are one of the best teams in the world. I’m very much looking forward to this great challenge and I will give my all for this club. I’ve been very impressed with the discussions with Hasan Salihamidzic and the FC Bayern management, and I quickly realized I definitely wanted to come to Munich.”
12.02 BST: Manchester City have announced the signing of Netherlands international defender Kerstin Casparij.
Casparij, 21, moves from Eredivisie outfit FC Twente and has signed a three-year deal which will see her wear the No. 2 shirt.
“I’m overjoyed — I have no words to describe how happy I am to be a Manchester City player and I can’t wait to play for this beautiful Club,” she said. “I felt like the whole club is a family and the perfect fit for me — I immediately got such a good feeling about the place and it was a no brainer for me.
“Having players feeling at home at a club is a huge strength for a team and if you want to be competing and winning titles, you have to have that unity, so that was very important to me. I’m a modern right wing-back and I feel as though I’ll fit into the Manchester City style very well, which makes this move the perfect one.”
12.00 BST: New Man City striker Erling Haaland looks ready for the Premier League.
Shaka Hislop feels Manchester City have no reason to worry that pressure will get to Erling Haaland in his first season in the Premier League.
11.11 BST: Sport says that Xavi Hernandez wants Barcelona to re-sign Lionel Messi.
Messi, 35, left Camp Nou on a free transfer for PSG last summer, due to Barca’s financial issues meaning they were unable to register his new contract.
Xavi said on Tuesday that Messi returning to Barcelona is “impossible” at the moment but has not definitively closed the door on bringing the Argentine back to the club in the future.
Barca president Joan Laporta told ESPN last week that he considers it his responsibility to ensure Messi has a “more beautiful ending” at Camp Nou following his painful exit last summer.
“Leo has a contract, so it’s impossible, impossible,” Xavi told a news conference in Dallas ahead of Tuesday’s friendly against Juventus at the Cotton Bowl. “It doesn’t make sense to speak about Messi. He is the best player in the world and the best ever. The president has already said that he hopes Messi’s story has not finished with Barcelona. We will see in the future, but it’s not the moment to speak about Leo, it’s the moment to talk about the exciting players we have here.”
10.45 BST: Atletico Madrid’s finances have improved this summer with their new sponsorship deals, Cadena COPE reports, but players such as Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata would still have to leave the club to make room for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The club announced last week that Civitas would be replacing Wanda as the naming rights holder to the Metropolitano stadium, while the crypto app WhaleFin is their new shirt sponsor.
That means they have more room to manoeuvre with their LaLiga salary cap, according to the radio station, but a move for Ronaldo would still be complicated unless high earners Griezmann and Morata depart.
Cadena SER claims that Atletico would be Ronaldo’s “third choice” as a potential escape route from Manchester United — behind Chelsea and Bayern Munich — but despite concerns over the possible reaction from fans, he “wouldn’t mind” playing there because “his obsession is [winning] the Champions League.”
10.11 BST: Saul Niguez‘s entourage say that right now there’s “no chance of him leaving Atletico Madrid this summer,” Cadena SER reports, with no talks currently open with other clubs.
Saul, 27, spent last season on loan at Chelsea but failed to make an impact, making just 10 appearances — five of them as a substitute — in the Premier League.
According to the radio station, the midfielder would have no issues with staying at Atletico this year and trying to force his way into coach Diego Simeone’s starting XI, having previously grown disillusioned with being played out of position.
Meanwhile, Yannick Carrasco will be the next Atletico player to agree a contract extension, Marca reports, after new deals were all but wrapped up for Jan Oblak and Thomas Lemar.
Atletico are keen to raise the Belgium international’s release clause above its current level of €60m, which has made him a feasible target for Premier League clubs such as Newcastle.
Carrasco’s agent Pini Zahavi is working on an agreement, according to Marca, with the player considered an “untouchable” core member of the Atletico team.
09.24 BST: Manchester United midfielder James Garner says he is prepared to go on loan for a third successive season if he does not feel he will get a chance in the first team at Old Trafford this season.
Garner, 21, started 44 games last term as he helped Nottingham Forest gain promotion to the Premier League via the playoffs, having also has spells on loan at the City Ground and at Watford in 2020-21.
The England U21 is hoping he can impress new United boss Erik ten hag, but is ready to go elsewhere in search of more regular game time if he has to.
“I had a really good season last season — full of confidence, full of experience,” he said. “The experience I didn’t have, I feel that now I do have.
“I played in some big pressure games, and I just think it’s a new and improved me. It was almost as perfect a loan experience that I could possibly have had. I played pretty much every single game, played well and ended up winning promotion. For me, it’s probably the perfect loan.
“However, for me now because I’ve played two seasons back-to-back, where I’ve been playing games non-stop, I don’t really want to stop that. I want to play week in, week out. That is of course what I want to do. I’m not too sure but preseason has been good so far and, like I said, hopefully in the next two, three weeks — we’ve still got games left — I can show what I can do.”
08.39 BST: AC Milan are prepared to increase their bid for Belgium international midfielder Charles De Ketelaere, Calciomercato reports.
Club Brugge have so far held firm in their resistance to Milan’s interest in the 21-year-old, who scored 14 goals for the Jupiler League champions last season.
De Ketelaere has become Milan’s priority in this window, and so they are preparing a package of a €32m offer and a substantial percentage of any future transfer fee for Brugge.
08.00 BST: Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos is feeling is feeling “very positive” about signing a new contract, coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst has said.
Morelos, 26, is in the last year of his contract at Ibrox, where he has scored 112 goals in 224 games since arriving in 2017.
The Colombian has been linked with clubs in Europe and MLS, but Van Bronckhorst is optimistic he will stay in Glasgow.
“Alfredo is very positive about a new contract,” Van Bronckhorst told Sky. “We are doing our very best to get a new deal agreed with Morelos and we hope to have that sorted out in the coming weeks.
“He’s sharper and sharper. We’re monitoring his development over the next couple of weeks. When he’s fit, he is one option for me. Up front as well we all know his qualities. I’d rather have him back. He has been working very hard.”
Craig Burley and Jan Age Fjortoft debate if Chelsea or Barcelona is the better option for Sevilla’s Jules Kounde.
– Cristiano Ronaldo is travelling back to England to discuss his future at Manchester United with manager Erik ten Hag, reveals The Athletic. The 37-year-old is understood to have informed the Red Devils of his desire to leave this summer if a reasonable offer arrives, but the Premier League side continue to maintain that he will not be transferred. It is reported that the Portugal international is more likely to stay at Old Trafford and fight for his place next season.
– Newcastle United are in talks with PSG for Julian Draxler, as per Le10 Sport. The 28-year-old midfielder is on a list of players that Luis Campos intends to move on this summer, alongside Layvin Kurzawa, Mauro Icardi, Ander Herrera and Leandro Paredes. The Magpies are looking to bring in attacking options and, although they couldn’t secure a deal for Bayer Leverkusen‘s Moussa Diaby, Draxler could be available for a fee of around €25m.
– Japhet Tanganga wants to leave Tottenham Hotspur for AC Milan this summer, according to Calciomercato. The 23-year-old is waiting to move to San Siro on a season-long loan, with Spurs reportedly insisting on the inclusion of a clause to re-sign him for a set fee as part of the deal. The Tottenham academy graduate has a greater chance of first-team football with the Rossoneri, having made just 11 Premier League appearances for Antonio Conte’s side last season.
– West Ham United have rejected Fulham‘s €17.5m bid for Issa Diop, reports L’Equipe. The Hammers are understood to be negotiating a deal closer to €15m plus €6m in add-ons to allow the 25-year-old to leave this summer. David Moyes was initially reported to have blocked a move away, but the centre-back is now allowed to leave West Ham if his valuation is met.
– Bayern Munich are not interested in Espanyol‘s Raul de Tomas as a replacement for Robert Lewandowski. Bild has denied rumours that the Bundesliga champions are preparing to make a formal offer for the 27-year-old striker, with 17-year-old Mathys Tel already bound for the Allianz Arena. De Tomas impressed in LaLiga last season, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances, and he also has greater experience than the teenager from Rennes, who is yet to register a goal or assist at a senior level.
– Marseille president Pablo Longoria has met with William Saliba‘s agent in London, according to Fabrizio Romano. The 21-year-old Arsenal defender spent the last year on loan at the Ligue 1 side, where he was named Young Player of the Year. Following his return to the Emirates, the French side have been looking to sign the defender on a permanent basis. However, Mikel Arteta has recently expressed that he was impressed with Saliba’s preseason performance and will likely offer him regular game time next season.