LIVE Transfer Talk: Manchester United consider move for Real Madrid outcast Gareth Bale

The coronavirus pandemic has made the transfer market uncertain — and you can find out when the windows open and close here — but here are the rumours floating around Europe’s big leagues and beyond. Plus, check out all the latest major completed transfers across Europe.

TOP STORY: Man United set to move for Bale

Manchester United are considering switching their attention from Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho to Real Madrid outcast Gareth Bale, reports the Daily Star.

2 Related

United have been long-term admirers of Sancho, but have struggled to strike a deal with the German club to bring him in. Sources have told ESPN’s Rob Dawson that progress has been made on issues surrounding wages and agent fees, however Dortmund are still demanding £108 million for the England international, a fee the Red Devils are not willing to pay.

Therefore, the Star says they are now looking at other targets and Bale could be the man they bring in, with Real Madrid reportedly willing to pay half his reported £600,000-a-week wages to get him out on loan.

However, Mundo Deportivo says that United would only have to pay around £15m to sign him permanently.

– Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)

LIVE BLOG

22.06 BST: That will do it for another day of rumours and speculation; check in again soon for the morning newspaper headlines!

21.01 BST: Arturo Vidal’s move to Inter is edging closer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

20.12 BST: Could there be a new player in the battle to sign Real Madrid’s Sergio Reguilon?

Earlier, Transfer Talk brought you news that the 23-year-old was set to choose between Man United and Sevilla, but now the Mail reports that Tottenham are in the mix, with talks set to pick up this week. The report suggest that Reguilon could be available for £25million.

Jose Mourinho’s men got off to a poor start in the Premier League on Sunday; what better way to cheer up their fans than a brand new signing?

18.54 BST: Aston Villa have agreed a £17m deal for Bertrand Traore, according to Sky Sports.

Traore will be reunited with former Chelsea teammate John Terry at Villa once he completes a medical in the coming days.

Villa have been actively linked with signing a striker this summer and had to fight off competitions from RB Leipzig for the Kosovo international.

Arsenal keeper Emiliano Martinez is set to join the club with Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash already signing deals earlier in the transfer window.

17.49 BST: Nuno Espirito Santo has signed a new three-year deal with Wolves, the club announced on Sunday.

The head coach joined Wolves in May 2017 and helped them gain promotion to the Premier League straight away.

Wolves’ run in the 2018-19 Premier League season saw them return to European football for the first time in 39 years.

Nuno led the side to a seventh-place finish during 2019-20 as well as the Europa League quarterfinals where they lost to eventual winners Sevilla.

Wolves get their 2020-21 Premier League campaign underway on Monday against Sheffield United.

16.45 BST: Real Madrid forward Lucas Vazquez is considering leaving the club, reports Marca.

Vazquez, 29, started just eight matches in the league and doesn’t seem to have much of a future at the Bernabeu. As a result, one Qatari club has submitted an “important financial offer” to Real for the winger.

Arsenal, Tottenham and Napoli had been linked with Vazquez earlier this summer but no team has made a move yet.

15.55 BST: Chelsea are closing on a deal for Rennes goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

The Athletic reports that Mendy, 28, will move for €20m (plus €5m add-ons) to provide competition for Kepa Arrizabalaga.

The Blues have already spent well over €200m this summer to rebuild their squad.

15.20 BST: Liverpool looked so good last season. This season they already need some work.

play

1:36

Steve Nicol says Liverpool need to go back to basics in defence following their 4-3 opening win over Leeds.

14.32 BST: Turkish champions Istanbul Basaksehir have signed Celtic’s Boli Bolingoli on loan.

Bolingoli broke quarantine to travel to Spain on holiday, but failed to tell anyone when he returned and was selected to face Kilmarnock. As a result, he landed a fine and a three match ban from the SFA, while two Celtic games were cancelled in the aftermath.

At Basaksehir he will line up alongside former Manchester United right-back Rafael, ex-Newcastle star Demba Ba, former Tottenham winger Nacer Chadli and ex-Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.

14.21 BST: Goal reports that Juventus forward Douglas Costa has been made available for transfer by the club this summer.

Costa, 29, has struggled with injury since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2017 and has just 10 goals in 101 appearances for the Bianconeri.

Manchester United have been linked with the Brazilian, while clubs in China, Qatar and UAE have also shown interest.

Costa came on at half-time as Andrea Pirlo started his Juventus managerial career with a 5-0 win against Novara on Sunday in a club friendly.

13.46 BST: Fenerbahce striker Vedat Muriqi is evidently in Rome to complete his move to Lazio.

13.33 BST: Former Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has accused David Alaba’s agent of being “a money-grabbing piranha” amid negotiations over a new contract and claimed Manchester United and Liverpool are “trying to blackmail” Bayern over the transfer of Thiago Alcantara.

Hoeness, who stepped down at Bayern in November 2019 after more than 40 years at the forefront of the club, made the claims on Sunday during an interview on Sport1.

13.15 BST: Will Tottenham improve under Jose Mourinho? Or should they look for another coach?

play

1:22

Frank Leboeuf questions whether or not Jose Mourinho will last the entire season at Tottenham.

12.28 BST: Dijon midfielder Mounir Chouiar is of interest to Arsenal, Wolves and Leeds, says L’Equipe.

Chouiar, 21, has impressed in Ligue 1 and Dijon want €15m before they would consider letting the France U21 midfielder go.

11.56 BST: Mohamed Salah may have scored a hat trick for Liverpool on Saturday but he’s reportedly become the top target of Barcelona.

Salah, 28, has 97 goals in 154 appearances for the Reds and seems happy enough at Anfield — winning the Champions League and Premier League trophies in recent seasons. But with Barca undergoing a rebuild under new manager Ronald Koeman, the Egyptian is apparently top of the agenda now that Lionel Messi is likely to leave next summer.

Sjaak Swart, a former Netherlands international and Ajax’s record appearance holder, told voetbalzone.nl: “I know Koeman wants him — and I know Salah would like to go.”

11.11 BST: Manchester United are reportedly ready to pay €25m for Monaco defender Benoit Badiashile, says L’Equipe.

Badiashile, 19, is highly rated in France and RMC says that Monaco have told clubs he won’t be allowed to leave unless a massive offer comes in. United have reportedly already had one offer rejected but may go back.

10.58 BST: Willian had a pretty good debut for Arsenal vs. Fulham — in fact, he got 9/10 in our player ratings — but is he the player the Gunners need to turn them into top four contenders?

play

1:31

Steve Nicol praises the performance of Willian on his Arsenal debut in their 3-0 win over Fulham.

10.25 BST: Liverpool struggled in their opening 4-3 win over newly promoted Leeds. Are the players getting too comfortable without any new arrivals this summer?

There was a tangible sense of complacency at the back for Liverpool, something that had begun to creep in towards the end of last season. Teams now know that a fast counter-attack can catch Liverpool out, and Leeds did it time after time. Maybe a lack of new blood in key positions has contributed to that complacency, too. Dejan Lovren was sold to Zenit St. Petersburg this summer, but as yet he hasn’t been replaced. There’s little pressure on [Joe] Gomez or [Virgil] Van Dijk to perform, and even less on [Trent] Alexander-Arnold, who has no obvious challenger at right-back. Leeds picked holes in Liverpool’s defence all afternoon, so much so that the champions will need to be much sharper when they visit Chelsea on Sept. 20. — Mark Ogden

10.10 BST: Arsenal are reportedly trying to sign Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard.

Edouard, 22, scored 28 goals in 45 appearances in all competitions last season, having previously been a PSG player from 2011-2018.

“It’s our information that there is an interest from Arsenal in Odsonne Edouard, the France [U21] international striker currently at Celtic,” journalist Ian McGarry said on the Transfer Window podcast. “The initial offer from Arsenal was £15m, which was rejected by Celtic. That offer has since been increased to £20m with add-ons up to the value of another £2.5m.”

09.37 BST: Chelsea have spent over £200m on Leicester left-back Ben Chilwell, striker Timo Werner, Ajax’s Hakim Ziyech and Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz. But how did they do it?

“You understand when it is the competition with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City that you need to state your best case to the player,” manager Frank Lampard told Sky Sports. “I think having been that player at one point, the idea as a manager is to try and sell the club and how I want to move forward.

“Petr [Cech] in his role [technical and performance advisor] does the same and I do that to the best of my ability when I speak to players.

“With a player like Timo [Werner], we were very, very keen to bring him in. He needs to feel that from us, I loved everything he said to me in those kinds of conversations. And the same with all those kinds of players that I have spoken to.

“I think that the manager-player conversation is really important because our relationship needs to be good and positive going forward. All you can do is do your best as a club because you know the competition is doing their best, so I think we can be happy that we have brought in players of their level. That is just how we tried to work.”

09.02 BST: Houssem Aouar remains Arsenal’s No.1 target for the rest of the transfer window, with first-team manager Mikel Arteta eager to build his side around the Lyon midfielder, sources told ESPN’s Julien Laurens.

Arteta views the France Under-21 international as a pillar of the 4-3-3 formation he eventually wants to employ. Sources said Arsenal remain front-runners for Aouar’s signature, but they do not have the €60m required to land him and would have to fund that through sales.

Arsenal are the only club so far to show a strong interest in Aouar, with Manchester City and Juventus focusing on other areas of their respective squad rebuilds. Matteo Guendouzi came up as a prospective makeweight in a deal when the pair discussed Aouar earlier this summer but Lyon dismissed the option.

Aouar, 22, is eager to leave Lyon and sources told ESPN the next two weeks will be decisive to his future.

08.30 BST: The future of PSG superstar Kylian Mbappe is on the agenda again, with The Times claiming that he has told the club he wants to leave in 2021.

Mbappe, 21, is one of the best players in the world and Real Madrid have been following him with a view to signing the forward next summer.

The report states: “Mbappe has informed Paris Saint-Germain that he intends to leave at the end of this season to further his career elsewhere. A vocal admirer of Liverpool’s play under Jurgen Klopp, the 21-year-old France international is understood to have targeted a move to either La Liga or the Premier League.”

The Frenchman’s contract expires in 2022, though he would still command a fee that could rival Neymar’s €222m world record.

play

0:59

Sid Lowe says that Barcelona have much more pressing needs in their defence than in midfield.

PAPER TALK (by Danny Lewis) Martinez pushes for Barcelona move

Internazionale striker Lautaro Martinez has his heart set on moving to Barcelona, both for the pride of playing for the club and to line up alongside Lionel Messi now that he’s staying, according to Corriere Dello Sport.

• How the summer transfer market works• Kuper: Coronavirus’ impact on transfers• Barnwell’s best moves: 100-51 | 50-1• Best statement signings ever• Summer transfer grades• Latest completed major transfers

Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu is determined to bring in the Argentine, as well as Lyon’s Memphis Depay, who has been requested by new boss Ronald Koeman.

Barca believe that by signing these two players they could help to ease relations with Messi, after his public request to leave. The Barca talisman played 45 minutes in a friendly win on Saturday.

Martinez’s representatives have been open to Inter, declaring that their client wishes to leave for Catalonia.

Reguilon to choose between Sevilla and Man United

Real Madrid left-back Sergio Reguilon has a dilemma on his hands as he chooses whether to rejoin Sevilla FC or move to Manchester United, as reported by AS.

• Neymar red, PSG-Marseille ends in brawl• Solskjaer praises Van de Beek after loss• Robben’s comeback match cut short• Alaba agent a ‘money-grabbing piranha’• Greenwood apologises for laughing gas• Ronaldo scores on Pirlo debut

It is reported that the Spain international is making his mind up about who to join as he looks to leave Real again.

The dilemma comes after he won the Europa League with Sevilla last term, while he also reportedly likes the idea of signing for a club as big as United.

AS says his preference is another loan to Sevilla, as joining United would involve giving up on his dream of being a regular at the Bernabeu.

Conte ready to offload Eriksen

He only signed for Inter in January, but manager Antonio Conte is already looking to move on Christian Eriksen, reports Calciomercato.

Conte has decided that the former Tottenham man doesn’t fit in with what he is looking to achieve with Inter. This is partly down to his longing to sign N’Golo Kante and Arturo Vidal, from Chelsea and Barcelona, respectively, as he is also willing to allow Marcelo Brozovic to depart in order to make the move happen.

Suitors could be in short supply for Denmark international Eriksen, with Inter looking to make a profit on the €20m they paid at the beginning of the year.

Tap-ins

– Arsenal want to sign Brentford goalkeeper David Raya for £10m, reports The Sun. This comes as the Gunners look to replace Emiliano Martinez, who is set to join Aston Villa. Raya is reportedly keen on joining a Premier League club, while the Bees will look to Charlton Athletic’s Dillon Phillips as a replacement if the Spaniard does eventually leave.

— Another from The Sun, which reports Bournemouth have told Leicester City that they must pay £50m if they are to sign David Brooks. The Championship side, who have already lost Callum Wilson and Ryan Fraser to Newcastle United, have set their price and are adamant they won’t deal the Wales international for anything less. Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers is a keen admirer of Brooks, and the Foxes are front-runners to sign him, despite Manchester United and Spurs also being interested in him.