Amid all the action at Euro 2020 and the Copa America, the summer transfer window has opened, with Europe's biggest clubs looking to make a splash in the transfer market. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here.
TOP STORY: PSG project catching Ronaldo's eye
Paris Saint-Germain have been hard at work this transfer window, having brought in former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, ex-Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum (both on free transfers) and Inter Milan full-back Achraf Hakimi for €70m.
In addition, it is expected that AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma will complete his own free transfer to Parc des Princes after he plays for Italy in Sunday's Euro 2020 final against England (LIVE on ESPN/ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET in the U.S.).
This has caught the attention of fans and journalists across the world, as well as -- according to Foot Mercato -- Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo.
There have been various reports about the future of the Juventus man, who is currently the joint-top scorer at Euro 2020 with five goals. With just one year remaining on his contract, it seems as though the 36-year-old's future could lie away from Juventus -- especially as the club won't stand in the forward's way if he wants to leave. It is the presence of Ramos and fellow former Madridistas, Keylor Navas and Angel Di Maria, that is also making him lean towards a move to PSG.
This could be one that plays out for some time though, as Ronaldo is on holiday and in no rush to sort out his future at this stage. Instead, he wants to wait to see what new Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has to say about him, as there have not yet been any concrete contract negotiations -- though Ronaldo's agent Jorge Mendes could meet with them in the coming days.
Meanwhile, it is suggested there have already been some discussions between Mendes and PSG with an eye to bringing one of the world's greatest players to Paris.
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LIVE BLOG
22.30 BST: That will do it for the latest edition of our LIVE Transfer Talk blog. We hoped you enjoyed following along with us and remind you to check back shortly for the latest transfer rumours, reports and completed deals. Goodnight!
22.00 BST: Liverpool to move for Juventus and Italy star Federico Chiesa?
Calciomercato claims that Jurgen Klopp is an admirer of the 23-year-old winger, and that Liverpool have expressed interest in the Fiorentina product. The report adds that Chiesa would likely cost around €90 million, the same amount Manchester United paid for Jadon Sancho.
Chiesa is set to begin his second season of a two-year loan at Juventus that turns into an obligation to buy for €40 after next season. It doesn't sound if the Italian will be turning up an Anfield any time soon...
21.26 BST: Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma could elect to move on this summer, according to reports.
Telefoot journalist Julien Maynard claims that the French centre-back's days at Stamford Bridge are numbered, and that Zouma previously rejected a move to Wolves.
Zouma could be expendable for Chelsea, as the club currently have Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen at centre-back, and have also been linked with elite CBs like Real Madrid's Raphael Varane and Sevilla's Jules Kounde.
20.49 BST: Could Jose Mourinho reunite with ex-charge Eric Bailly at Roma?
Il Tempo suggests that the new Roma boss has identified his former Man United player as a target this summer. Bailly, 27, has played mostly in a reserve role in recent years for United behind Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, but was brought to United from Villarreal by Mourinho in 2016.
20.03 BST: Wolves have announced they have signed promising left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Anger on a permanent basis.
The 20-year-old impressed at the English club last season on loan, and Wolves have chosen to trigger the £9.5 million purchase clause. The France Under-21 international made 24 appearances last season at Molineux and becomes the club's third signing following the arrivals of Trincao and Yerson Mosquera.
19.10 BST: West Ham are in talks with PSG over goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, the Daily Mail understands.
The 28-year-old was one of the few bright spots last season for relegated Fulham, impressing while on loan in London. The France international likely is nearing the end of the road in Paris one way or another, as PSG currently have Keylor Navas and are soon expected to sign ex-Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
West Ham currently have Lukasz Fabianski, Darren Randolph and David Martin as goalkeepers on the books.
18.28 BST: Sampdoria winger Mikkel Damsgaard is a wanted man following his breakout Euro 2020 with Denmark but he won't come cheap.
Samp are reportedly looking for £34 million for the 21-year-old, who scored two goals and assisted another for Denmark this summer at the European Championships, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. Damsgaard, who scored two goals and added four assists last season in his maiden voyage in Serie A, has been linked with the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Liverpool, and Tottenham.
Sampdoria chief Massimo Ferrero hinted at Damsgaard's rising price ahead of Denmark's semifinal with England by saying the following to Il Secolo XIX:
"I'll tell you it's a fair price, today at least €30m (£27million). But if he scores again he will reach €40m (£34million)."
17.43 BST: Staying with Man United for a moment... the club has confirmed that talented youngster Tahith Chong will join Birmingham City on a season-long loan.
👋🔵 Welkom, @TahithC!
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) July 9, 2021
The attacker has joined #BCFC on a season-long loan from Manchester United. Powered by @_FarleyandJones.
The 21-year-old, who gained popularity for his magnificent hair, will hope for better results than his previous loan spells at Werder Bremen and Club Brugge. A Netherlands Under-21 international, Chong, has made 16 appearances to date with the Red Devils.
17.00 BST: Man United could close a deal for Rennes starlet Eduardo Camavinga this window.
16.22 BST: PSG goalkeeper Keylor Navas is likely to stay at the club when Italy No. 1 Gianluigi Donnarumma joins as a free agent, sources have told ESPN's Julien Laurens.
Italy international Donnarumma, 22, will join after turning down a new contract at AC Milan, where he made 251 senior appearances.
PSG had not planned to recruit a goalkeeper this summer, preferring to remain with Navas, but the opportunity to sign Donnarumma on a free agent deal was considered too good to turn down. However, Navas is expected to start the campaign as the first-choice goalkeeper.
French newspaper L'Equipe reported on Friday that Navas, who signed a new contract last month, was furious upon hearing that the club were set sign to Donnarumma this summer but has since been persuaded to fight for the No. 1 spot.
The Costa Rica international conceded just 18 goals in 29 Ligue 1 games last season and has a close relationship with manager Mauricio Pochettino, who was hired in January.
There is a small chance that Donnarumma will go back to the Serie A on loan, but Pochettino is preparing to keep two senior goalkeepers in his squad this season.
16.01 BST: The Athletic says that Man United ejected the chance to sign Eduardo Camavinga in 2019 in favour of signing Hannibal Mejbri.
Camavinga, 18, is one of the top young players in Europe now and Rennes are reportedly ready to let him leave this summer for €60m as he won't sign a new contract to extend his terms beyond 2022. They are reportedly looking at FC Midtjylland's Jens Cajuste as as a replacement.
Europe's elite clubs all want to sign Camavinga but United could have snapped him up for virtually nothing when he was in Rennes' youth ranks.
Instead they spent €10m to bring in Mejbri from Monaco, though the midfielder has only made one senior appearance for the club: eight minutes against Wolves at the end of last season.
15.36 BST: AS reports that Chelsea are watching Sevilla star Jules Kounde.
The 22-year-old centre-back has been linked with every big club in Europe and has a €80m release clause. The Blues are reportedly keen to get a transfer sorted as Real Madrid's Raphael Varane is also on the move this summer and could complicate things if Madrid need to seek a replacement.
15.04 BST: Tottenham Hotspur are keen to sign Borussia Monchengladbach winger Marcus Thuram, says Footmercato.
Thuram, 23, had 11 goals in 40 games for Gladbach last season and is rated at around €30m.
The France international has a fan in new Tottenham managing director Fabio Paratici, though RB Leipzig are also reported to be following him.
14.45 BST: Arsenal are confident that attacking midfielder Emile Smith Rowe will sign a new five-year contract at the club, says CBS.
Smith Rowe, 20, has been the subject of two offers from Aston Villa but the Gunners don't want to let him go.
14.07 BST: Zinedine Zidane will reject the opportunity to return to club management in order to take over from Didier Deschamps as coach of the France national team, sources have told ESPN's Julien Laurens.
As reported in L'Equipe on Friday, sources said the former Real Madrid manager is ready to wait for Deschamps' tenure to end, whether after the 2022 World Cup or 2024 European Championship.
Sources have told ESPN that Zidane is next in line to be France's head coach. It is his priority and ambition, while he is also the outstanding candidate once the vacancy is open.
13.30 BST: Roma have a new boss. You might know him.
13.20 BST: Harvey Elliott has signed a new contract at Liverpool.
Elliott, 18, made 41 appearances in the Championship for Blackburn on loan last season, providing seven goals and 11 assists, and was nominated for the EFL's Young Player of the Season award.
"It's always going to be there throughout the years I'm here. Hopefully it's going to be a long time," he said. "There's always going to be those butterflies whenever you put on the shirt, whenever you go out to train and play, whenever you're involved in the club there's always that feeling.
"Especially for me, being a Red, as well as my family -- it's nice to make them proud and make myself proud. But the hard work carries on. It's always a nice feeling when you sign a new contract -- especially for your boyhood club. It's all done and dusted now so I've just got to focus on pre-season, get my work in and make sure I'm ready for the season."
12.48 BST: Luis Filipe Vieira has suspended his duties as president of Portuguese football club Benfica, his lawyer said on Friday, after he was detained two days ago as part of an investigation into alleged tax fraud and money laundering.
Vieira, re-elected in October last year as head of the country's most popular football club, was taken into custody on Wednesday for questioning over deals worth more than €100m that may have caused large losses to the state and several companies.
The suspension of his role as president of the club and of Benfica SAD, which manages the professional football business, will come into force "with immediate effect," his lawyer Manuel Magalhaes e Silva told reporters.
12.18 BST: Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman played golf at a charity day with club president Joan Laporta and was asked about the future of... guess who... Lionel Messi.
"It is very important for the club, but also for La Liga that the best player in the world stays here and we all must make that effort so that he continues with us," he said. "When everything is not going well, you have to be worried, but I am confident that the president will find a solution to this issue."
Barcelona begin training on Monday, although they will be without players competing in the Copa America, Euro 2020 and Olympics.
"It is important to know which players you have," he added. "We know that there is a [salary] cap, we are in the preseason and that is being worked on. Leo is the future of the club because he brings results and because he has always given his best."
The exits of Carles Alena, Junior Firpo, Trincao, Matheus Fernandes, Jean-Clair Todibo, Sergio Akieme and Konrad de la Fuente will help the club get under the salary cap. But Koeman stressed that others will need to take a pay cut and "make an effort for the good of Barcelona." He added: "Everyone has to understand the place we are in our lives right now. If they truly are 'Barcelona people' then they have to make this great effort to help the club. I will have all the players that we have and if there are changes, I will have to accept them."
Antoine Griezmann has also been linked with a move amid the controversial video which emerged of him on Barcelona's tour of Japan, but Koeman said: "He has shown his level of quality and he is very important for the club."
12.07 BST: Barcelona have signed attacking midfielder Yusuf Demir on loan from Rapid Vienna.
The club will pay €500,000 for the loan and have an option to sign the 18-year-old Austrian permanently for €10m next year.
ESPN reported in March that Barcelona were battling with a number of Europe's biggest clubs to sign Demir. Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were also tracking Demir, who has a contract in Vienna until 2022.
11.55 BST: Barcelona forward Philippe Coutinho is attracting attention from Leicester, AC Milan and Inter Milan, says Sport.
Coutinho, 29, joined Barca from Liverpool in 2018 for €160m but has flopped at Camp Nou and the debt-ridden club need to move his salary off the wage bill.
The Brazilian was sent on loan to Bayern in 2019-20 and no clubs have been willing to match Barca's €60m asking price for a permanent deal. But, with his contract expiring in 2023, the club are open to offers in a bid to move him on for good.
11.08 BST: AS says that Liverpool are preparing a €35m bid for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez.
Saul, 26, signed a NINE-YEAR contract back in 2017 but now seemingly wants to move on in search of a new challenge.
Liverpool need a replacement for Georginio Wijnaldum, after the Dutch midfielder left for PSG on a free transfer, so this could work out.
10.41 BST: Can Sergio Ramos help PSG win the Champions League?
09.58 BST: ESPN Argentina reports that Carlos Tevez will not retire from football and that the veteran striker is looking to continue his career in MLS.
Tevez, 37, announced he was leaving Boca Juniors last month. The former Man United, Man City and Juve star is now on holiday in Miami with his family and has received three offers from MLS clubs.
According to ESPN F12, Atlanta United and Inter Miami are leading the race to sign Tevez, while Minnesota United are also keen on the experienced Argentine striker but have less of a chance due to the financial aspect.
09.25 BST: Real Madrid winger Marco Asensio says he is looking forward to working under new coach Carlo Ancelotti as he is preparing for the Olympics with Spain.
"I'm looking forward to everything that is coming in the next few weeks," Asensio told Marca. "I had a chat with Carlo and he transmitted many positive things. I know I can learn a lot from what he can teach me. He has a lot of experience in football. I'm sure he will be watching our [Spain] games.
"We have to give our best for the national team above all, as we want to achieve great things and then because we know our performances have repercussions in our clubs."
08.57 BST: AC Milan have reached an agreement with Chelsea to sign striker Olivier Giroud, says Di Marzio.
Giroud, 34, will move for €1m, plus another €1m in add-ons, as he has slipped down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge.
08.38 BST: La Liga president Javier Tebas has said only "financial doping" would enable Paris Saint-Germain or Manchester City to sign Lionel Messi on terms similar to his previous Barcelona deal.
Messi, 34, is a free agent after his contract with Barca expired on June 30. The Catalan club are hopeful of signing him to a new deal but first must make cutbacks to reregister him for next season due to La Liga's Financial Fair Play rules. The Argentina international's last contract was worth more than €500m over four years, including signing-on fees, bonuses and his weekly salary. Tebas says Messi must take a hit to remain at Camp Nou.
"Exactly," he said in a call with the UK media when asked if Messi would have to take a big pay cut this summer. "He won't be able to sign on the previous conditions, that's impossible. But I don't think any European club would be able to pay that amount."
He added: "City have lost €270m [during the pandemic] so obviously they wouldn't even consider signing Messi [on his previous salary]. PSG have had losses, too, so they can't even consider signing Messi [for that much]. If they do, it will be financial doping. It would be incredible if it happened. We need to establish limits. Financial doping is damaging football.
"It's not real money because it's not generated by the clubs. Money not from football causes bad inflation and ruins football because clubs must put in all this effort [to compete], which takes them above their financial capacity. We have to fight against this. This is one of the pending issues in European football. If it's not solved, the game will find itself in a very complicated situation."
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08.00 BST: Paris Saint-Germain are considering a move for Manchester United's Paul Pogba as they look to bring in a new midfielder this summer, sources have told ESPN's Julien Laurens.
Pogba's future at Old Trafford is far from certain as he enters the final 12 months of his contract and, speaking in December, his agent Mino Raiola said it was "over" and that the former Juventus midfielder needed "a new scenery."
The 28-year-old enjoyed a strong end to the 2020-21 campaign as he helped United finish second in the Premier League and reach the Europa League final; and he continued that form into Euro 2020 with some impressive displays despite France's shock round-of-16 exit to Switzerland.
PSG sporting directo and Raiola discussed Pogba over the phone, having addressed the subject in June when they met in Monaco. A move for Pogba was also discussed when PSG agreed a deal for Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is a free agent after his AC Milan contract expired.
Sources have told ESPN that Pogba has yet to discuss a new deal at United formally and is interested in the project on offer at PSG.
PAPER GOSSIP (by Danny Lewis)
- Barcelona are looking to offload midfielder Miralem Pjanic, and Diario Sport is suggesting that a loan move is likely for the Bosnia & Herzegovina international. This comes with the suggestion that Juventus, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are all showing an interest in the 31-year-old despite his struggles at Camp Nou.
- There have been various clubs across Europe linked with VfL Wolfsburg centre-back Maxence Lacroix, but, according to Kicker, the Frenchman wants to join RB Leipzig. Wolfsburg have so far rejected two offers from them that reportedly go up to €20m.
- Niklas Sule leaving Bayern Munich this summer cannot yet be ruled out, reports Kicker. It is suggested that discussions can lead "in one direction or the other" with just one year remaining on the centre-back's contract.
- AS Monaco's Keita Balde could re-join Inter, having represented them on loan in the 2018-19 campaign, as has been reported by Calciomercato. The forward only has one year left on his deal, so he could prove to be a cost-effective addition to the attacking line, where he would play as a second striker.
- Lyon are set to replace Memphis Depay with Genk striker Paul Onuachu, according to Le Progres. The 27-year-old was the top scorer in the Belgium Jupiler Pro League last term with 29 goals and has also been linked with a move to the Premier League.