Transfer news LIVE! Kane latest; Tottenham eye Vlahovic; Lingard update; Arsenal, Chelsea FC, Man Utd rumours

Transfer news LIVE!

The Harry Kane saga rumbles on with the striker not involved in Tottenham’s Premier League opener against Manchester City... the very club he is trying to join. However, The Times reports that Spurs are set to keep Kane for another season with Daniel Levy intent on resisting City’s £100million-plus bids.

In one of the biggest stories of the summer transfer window - and any transfer window, come to think of it - Lionel Messi been officially unveiled as a PSG player after Barcelona were unable to afford a new contract.

In another huge deal, Chelsea have re-signed Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan for £97.5m and want to add Sevilla defender Jules Kounde to their ranks. As for Manchester United, they unveiled Raphael Varane before Saturday’s 5-1 rout of Leeds, while £73m Jadon Sancho made his debut off the bench. Next on their list could be Erling Haaland, but they may have to wait until next summer to sign the Dortmund sensation.

Arsenal have made one big move in £50m Ben White, and want another in the former of Martin Odegaard, with the Gunners now having entered into early talks with Real Madrid. They continue to be linked with Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale as well as Inter Milan frontman Lautaro Martinez, but it seems that Manuel Locatelli is on his way to Juventus.

Liverpool, meanwhile, want to sign Belgian forward Jeremy Doku from Rennes as they also eye Atletico Madrid stalwart Saul Niguez, while Tottenham are being linked with a double swoop for Villarreal’s Pau Torres and Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic, as well as Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic.

West Ham still hopeful over ‘special’ Lingard

In case you missed it earlier, West Ham assistant Stuart Pearce appeared on talkSPORT reiterating the club’s desire to seal a return to east London for Jesse Lingard.

The Manchester United and England midfielder rejuvenated his career with a wonderful loan spell with the Hammers in the second half of last term, helping to seal a top-six finish and place in the Europa League.

He has since returned to parent club Manchester United, where he is out of contract next summer and did not make the matchday squad on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side thrashed rivals Leeds 5-1 at Old Trafford.

“We would like him to come and join us,” Pearce said of Lingard on Monday. “That has been an open secret. He was wonderful last year.

“The ball is in Manchester United’s court. He is contracted to them. We would like him with us, there is no doubt about that.

“He’s a special lad and was very good around the players – the players really like him.

“His ability shone out last year and gave us a great option in our squad. You never know, but at this moment in time it looks like he is fighting for a place in the United line-up.”

Done deal! Blades loan Liverpool’s Davies

Promotion-chasing Sheffield United have clinched the signing of Ben Davies from Liverpool.

The former Preston defender will return to the Championship on a season-long loan deal, becoming manager Slavisa Jokanovic’s first signing at Bramall Lane.

Davies joined Liverpool in a shock £1.6m deal in January as Liverpool battled a defensive injury crisis, but has yet to make a senior appearance under Jurgen Klopp, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez all now back fit.

Bayern struggling to find new players, says Nagelsmann

Much has been made recently in Germany of Bayern Munich’s inability to conduct major transfer business this summer, with new boss Julian Nagelsmann admitting that the reigning Bundesliga champions are struggling to sign players in such a tough, slow-moving market heavily impacted by Covid-19.

Only Dayot Upamecano, Omar Richards and Sven Ulreich have joined Bayern so far in this current window, with the latter two deals free transfers.

The Bavarians were held to a 1-1 draw by Borussia Monchengladbach in their 2021/22 Bundesliga opener on Friday night and next face Borussia Dortmund - who thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-2 - in the German Supercup tomorrow evening.

“We could not spend all the money we would like to spend. In the end, we have a good squad, but it’s always about injuries,” Nagelsmann said ahead of that eagerly-anticipated clash.

He added: “If you see the last two seasons, we lose a lot of players. It’s not that easy to try to find, always try to find good players.

“The transfer market is hard. We could not spend a lot of money.”

Batshuayi to seal latest Chelsea exit

Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi is closing in on a move to Besiktas, reports claim.

According to Italian transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, the Belgian international is due in Istanbul this evening to wrap up his season-long loan switch to the Turkish capital and undergo a medical.

Batshuayi has long seemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea, being dispatched for loan spells at Crystal Palace, Valencia and Borussia Dortmund over recent seasons.

We are still waiting for official confirmation of Tammy Abraham’s £34m switch to Roma, while Romano also reports that a third Chelsea forward, Ike Ugbo, will leave Stamford Bridge for Belgian side Genk on a permanent transfer this week.

Lukaku on Drogba role in Chelsea return

Circling back to Lukaku, he has also revealed the role close friend and Chelsea legend Didier Drogba played in his return to Stamford Bridge.

“Our relationship means the world to me,” he said. “It’s not like we talk once a month, I talk to the guy every few days!

“We have a group chat so we’re constantly communicating and I’ve been on the phone with him a bit more in the past two weeks.

“I had a lot of questions to ask and he still knows a lot of people here so he really prepared me well with the last details.

“Now I just need to get to know the players and the manager a bit better and just be available as quickly as possible for the team.”

Tottenham await Vlahovic decision

Tottenham are reportedly awaiting Fiorentina’s decision on the future of striker Dusan Vlahovic.

The Serbian international has been strongly linked with Spurs, who are said to have entered into a bidding war with LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid amid the ongoing Harry Kane saga.

Now Alfredo Pedulla reports that a bid of between €60m-€65m could be enough to land Vlahovic, with seemingly no progress regarding contract talks between the forward and Fiorentina.

Tottenham are also claimed to be trying to seal the signing of Vlahovic’s team-mate and compatriot Nikola Milenkovic, a defender also wanted by London rivals West Ham.

(Courtesy: The Evening Standard)