The summer transfer window is into its final month for the major European leagues, which means the biggest clubs are looking to make a splash in the market before the new season begins. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here.
TOP STORY: Man City still £50m short for Kane
It's always seemed like a transfer saga that would go right down to the wire and the Aug. 31 deadline, and the Daily Mirror reports that Manchester City are no closer to agreeing terms with Tottenham Hotspur for Harry Kane.
Kane, 28, has made it clear he wants to leave Spurs this summer, but chairman Daniel Levy insists he will stay unless City meet the £150 million transfer valuation.
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Mirror Sport says that City have not improved on their opening offer of £100m, while Spurs will not accept any players as a makeweight in the deal.
With nine days now remaining in the transfer window it's a question of who will blink first, though the power is with Spurs as Kane still has three years remaining on his contract.
City are reported to be ready to offer £120m, with further incentives to boost the fee. But even that may not be enough to get the England captain in this window.
LIVE BLOG
23.00 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!
22.10 BST: West Ham had a bid for Marseille defender Duje Caleta-Car rejected earlier this summer, Sky Sports has learned.
The outlet writes that West Ham offered €17.5 million for the Croatian, who took part at Euro 2020 this summer. The Hammers have been looking to add a centre-back to partner with Issa Diop, despite having recently signed veteran Craig Dawson on a permanent basis.
21.38 BST: Inter Milan CEO Beppe Marotta has confirmed that forward Lautaro Martinez turned down lucrative offers to stay at the club.
"Lautaro is a player who explicitly asked to stay at Inter, despite receiving other lucrative offers,' Marotta told DAZN.
"We are proud of that, he wants to prove himself a champion here and we are very happy that he can continue his growth process at this club."
The 24-year-old racked up 19 goals and 11 assists last season as Inter won the Scudetto, and had been linked with the likes of Atletico Madrid and Tottenham this summer.
20.45 BST: Liverpool and Lyon have agreed to a deal for midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, the Times' Paul Joyce reports.
The French club will pay Liverpool £9.5 million for the Switzerland international, who has been on the fringes at Anfield for the majority of the past two seasons. Shaqiri, 29, will leave Anfield after making 63 appearances in three seasons with the Reds.
19.53 BST: Leeds have joined the race to sign Cagliari star Nahitan Nandez, Fabrizio Romano claims.
The energetic midfielder has been linked with Inter and Atalanta but Leeds are also now reportedly an option. The Uruguayan, 25, would seem to be a perfect midfielder partner for Kalvin Phillips under Marcelo Bielsa.
19.02 BST: Hearts are poised to sign Liverpool and Wales striker Ben Woodburn on a season-long loan, the Independent understands.
The 21-year-old has made just 11 career appearances for the senior Reds side, and has spent time on loan in recent years at Sheffield United, Oxford and Blackpool. Woodburn has appeared 10 times for Wales, scoring twice for the Dragons.
18.19 BST: Wolfsburg have announced they have signed German forward Luca Waldschmidt from Benfica.
The highly-rated 25-year-old returns to Germany after one season in Portugal in which he scored 12 goals. Waldschmidt, who previously played in the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Freiburg, will sign a four-year contract with the club.
Wolfsburg sporting director Marcel Schäfer had the following to say about his new striker:
"Luca has already demonstrated in the Bundesliga, and elsewhere, that he's a very dangerous forward who can play anywhere in attack, so he's very flexible. He's perfectly suited to our team, not just in terms of his footballing ability but also his personality. He's far from the end of his development and so we're looking forward to pursuing our objectives with him."
17.40 BST: First there was Martin Braithwaite, and now there's talk that Barcelona could sign Luuk de Jong from Sevilla. The former Borussia Monchengladbach, Newcastle and PSV Eindhoven forward has been in Seville for two seasons, helping the club to win the Europa League in 2019-20.
Sport reports that Barca have been offered the chance to sign the Netherlands international, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Friday. He is available after Wolves striker Rafa Mir moved to Sevilla for an undisclosed fee.
De Jong could come with a transfer fee of €10m -- but even that might be too rich for Barca with their financial troubles.
16.53 BST: Calciomercato reports that AC Milan are lining up a move for Chelsea misfit Tiemoue Bakayoko. The midfielder has no future at Stamford Bridge, spending the last three seasons out on loan at Milan, AS Monaco and Napoli.
Chelsea will trigger the one-year extension in his contract, keeping him tied to the club until 2023, which will protect his transfer value.
The 27-year-old could then be headed back to the San Siro on loan, this time with the option of making the move a permanent one. The report states there will be a loan fee of €1.5m, with a further €7-8m to take the player outright next summer.
16.08 BST: Ajax are on the verge of signing Mohamed Daramy from FC Copenhagen. BT in Denmark reports that Ajax will pay €12-14m for the 19-year-old winger, which will be a club record for Copenhagen.
Daramy will play for Copenhagen in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League playoff against Sivasspor this week before completing his move to the Eredivisie.
The Denmark under-21 international will hope to become the latest in a long line of young players to move to Ajax as a stepping stone in his career.
15.26 BST: Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino has refused to rule out the possibility of Paul Pogba moving to the French capital this month -- though was playing his cards close to his chest. Pogba, 28, is in the final year of his contract at Manchester United, though coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the player will be at the club this season.
"The arrival of a midfielder like Pogba? We know that in football things can happen, situations turnaround," Pochettino told a news conference. "A club like PSG is always open to improving its workforce. A sector where we must strengthen as a priority for me? I won't say it publicly. Never.
"I will tell [sporting director] Leonardo first, who will tell our president. If I say so, there will be an earthquake and problems."
14.44 BST: Ilaix Moriba appears to have few bridges left to burn at Barcelona, the only question seems to be how and when he will leave the Camp Nou. Mundo Deportivo reports that Manchester City are only interested in signing the midfielder on a free transfer next summer, after his contract expires. Chelsea, RB Leipzig and Tottenham are among the other clubs said to be monitoring his situation.
Barca vice-president Rafa Yuste said on Saturday that the 18-year-old will not play for the club again if he doesn't lower his demands and sign a new contract.
"If he does not change his position, he has no future at the club," Yuste told Movistar+. "It's very important this message reaches all the youngsters, at this difficult moment for the club.
"They must realise money is not everything, and they must be excited to play for FC Barcelona."
Sport, meanwhile, reports that the player has changed his international allegiance to his birth country of Guinea, and he will be eligible to play in the Africa Cup of Nations in January. He has only played for Spain up to under-23 level.
13.59 BST: Everton have made a £5m offer to sign Rangers right-back Nathan Patterson, reports the Sunday Mirror.
Patterson, 19, is seen as one of the hottest prospects in Scottish football, and was included in their squad for Euro 2020 despite only playing a handful of first-team matches for his club.
Everton see the defender as a long-term replacement for Seamus Coleman, who will turn 33 in October.
13.17 BST: Tanguy Ndombele is being linked with several clubs in this window, with the 24-year-old midfielder essentially surplus to requirements at Tottenham Hotspur having not played a single minute of any game since the start of preseason.
The latest rumour concerns Bayern Munich, with Sky in Germany reporting that Spurs have rejected an offer to swap Ndombele for fellow France international Corentin Tolisso, 27.
12.30 BST: The Sunday Telegraph reports that Declan Rice is unhappy that West Ham United are looking for a transfer fee of £100m. The report says that the midfielder now has no plans to sign a new contract, but West Ham are in a strong position with his current deal having three years to run.
Chelsea and Manchester United are both interested in Rice, but not at £100m -- though both clubs had other transfer priorities this summer. Manchester City may also view Rice as a successor to Fernandinho in the centre of the park.
Rice, 22, is likely to be in demand next summer, and West Ham may need to agree to a transfer in 2022 if they are to get full value -- unless they persuade the England international to extend. However, the Telegraph says he has already turned down two bumper contract offers, and isn't likely to re-sign.
11.42 BST: Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic will be staying put this summer despite interest from Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, according to the Italian journalist Gianluca di Marzio.
Niente da fare per l'@Atleti: #Vlahovic resta alla @acffiorentina https://t.co/1v5DOHat9G
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) August 21, 2021
Vlahovic, 21, was the preferred choice in Diego Simeone's search for a centre-forward to provide competition for the veteran Luis Suarez as Atletico look to retain the LaLiga title.
Reports had suggested they were preferred to offer as much as €50m, but Fiorentina president Rocco Commisso has said it would take twice that amount to make him consider a deal.
The leading alternative is said to be Brazil forward Matheus Cunha, who was left out by Hertha Berlin for their Bundesliga defeat to Wolfsburg on Saturday.
10.59 BST: The Sunday Mirror reports that David Beckham has already been in contact with Lionel Messi, in the hope he will finish his career in Major League Soccer with Inter Miami.
Messi, 34, joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer this month after his contract at Barcelona expired. He signed a two-year deal at PSG, with the option for an extra year.
The report says that Messi has bought six luxury penthouse apartments in Miami, which could be a hint that he plans to play in the United States.
Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas said earlier in the summer that he's "optimistic" Messi will finish his career at the club.
10.14 BST: Real Madrid see it as "almost impossible" to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain this summer, Cadena COPE has reported.
💥INFORMA Paco González:
— Tiempo de Juego (@tjcope) August 21, 2021
🎙"El Madrid ve CASI IMPOSIBLE fichar a MBAPPE este verano y no se plantea intentarlo con Haaland por las comisiones que pediría Raiola".
🎙"El club cree que Mbappe solo vendría si el jeque se cansa de él. Ni con ofertas ni con cabreaos del francés". pic.twitter.com/ceK3ZzXnUr
According to the Spanish radio station, "neither offers, nor tantrums from [Mbappe]" will convince PSG to part with the star forward in this transfer window.
There's no prospect of a late move for Erling Haaland either, COPE claims, "because of the commission [agent Mino] Raiola would ask for," which has priced Madrid out of a deal for now.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti insisted on Saturday that he was happy with his squad, describing it as being "full of stars" even though the only arrival at the Bernabeu this summer has been David Alaba on a free transfer.
09.30 BST: After a stalemate in another round of contract talks between Lorenzo Insigne and Napoli, it looks as though the winger could move to Milan. Both AC Milan and Inter Milan are interested in the 30-year-old, according to Calciomercato. Insigne, who has one year left on his contract, is tempted to leave his boyhood club for a different challenge.
It is reported that the Rossoneri are more likely to wait for the Italy international to become a free agent at the end of the season, while Inter are looking at a move in this window but only have a budget of €20 million due to their financial situation.
The winger has spent his whole career at Napoli, coming through the ranks at the academy and earning the captaincy. However, there has been no movement on a new contract and Napoli are believed to have offered a salary of €4.5m-a-year to the player, as the player and his representatives hold out for upwards of €6m.
Insigne made six appearances and scored twice as Italy won Euro 2020 last month.
PAPER GOSSIP
- Burnley and Crystal Palace are set to battle it out for Watford midfielder Will Hughes, according to the Daily Mail. The report claims the 26-year-old could be available for £5m due to his contract expiring at the end of the season. The midfielder has reportedly rejected a new two-year deal at Vicarage Road, with a view to a potential move away.
- Bologna are in talks with Chelsea over a move for defender Malang Sarr, but they could face competition from Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt. That is according to Sky in Italy, which reports that the Serie A club are set to have a meeting with the Blues on Monday to discuss a move. The 22-year-old joined Chelsea from Nice last summer on a free before joining Porto on loan.
- Southampton are lining up a move for Celtic's Ryan Christie, according to The Sun. The 26-year-old attacking midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and could be available for a lower fee as the Hoops look to avoid losing him on a free. The Saints could face competition for Christie though, with Burnley and Sheffield United also said to be interested in the attacker.
- Tottenham Hotspur have held talks with agents over the possibility of a move for Barcelona youngster Ilaix Moriba. That's according to the Daily Mail, which reports that Spurs are interested in the 18-year-old. It comes as the player rejected new contract offers. Nuno Espirito Santo will face competition for the midfielder, with reports of Real Madrid, Manchester City, Chelsea and RB Leipzig also following the youngster.
- PSV Eindhoven have told Tottenham that they would only accept an offer of £40m to sign wonderkid Noni Madueke, according to The Mirror. The 19-year-old left Spurs for free just two years ago to join the Dutch side and has impressed. Tottenham aren't the only club interested in the England youth international, with reports claiming 10 clubs have enquired. Along with Tottenham, Leicester City and Wolves are believed to be another two clubs interested in the youngster.