The summer transfer window was unlike any other; see all the major deals and check out how we graded the biggest signings. And just because the window is shut until January, that doesn't mean the rumours won't keep coming. Here's the latest gossip and speculation.
TOP STORY: Man City to move for Benzema?
Manchester City are weighing up a move for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, reports El Nacional.
The report says that coach Pep Guardiola, whose team has been linked with Benzema in the past, is hoping to add the France international to fill a void in his formidable side after the summer exit of Sergio Aguero to Barcelona.
Any deal would be likely to happen next summer rather than the upcoming January transfer window though, with the 33-year-old's contract at the Bernabeu expiring in 2023.
However, Los Blancos president Florentino Perez has no plans to part with his star striker, meaning a high transfer fee would be needed, though that is not likely to be a problem for City despite his age.
Benzema been at Real Madrid for over 12 years, joining from Ligue 1 side Lyon in 2009. In that time, there is very little he hasn't done for the LaLiga club. He has made over 575 appearances, scoring 295 goals and assisting 181 times across all competitions.
The striker has also won four Champions League trophies, three LaLiga titles and two Spanish cups alongside a plethora of other awards.
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21.51 GMT: Atalanta and Juventus are both looking to sign Frosinone centre-back Federico Gatti, according to Tuttosport, with the 23-year-old only having made the step up to Serie B in the summer. The former would look to play him immediately, while the latter would loan him out to a Serie A club at first to help with the adaptation to the top flight, as they look to plan for a future generation of defenders. The two clubs are also set to compete to bring in Empoli's Mattia Viti.
21.08 GMT: Fiorentina are still considering a move for Borja Mayoral in January, with the striker not getting much game time on loan at Roma from Real Madrid, reports Calciomercato. While Los Blancos are willing to make the deal happen, they want to move Mayoral on permanently for €12m after bringing him back from Roma. However, La Viola are hoping to initially sign the Spaniard on loan with an option to make the deal permanent.
20.32 GMT: Boca Juniors are closely monitoring Palmeiras centre-back Gustavo Gomes, says Ekrem Konur, with the Argentine club potentially set to make a move. The Paraguayan played in all but one of Palmeiras' Copa Libertadores matches this campaign, helping them on their way to lifting the coveted trophy after beating Flamengo 2-1 in extra time in the final on Sunday.
19.49 GMT: According to Calciomercato, Fikayo Tomori's injury absence is forcing AC Milan to look into signing somebody in the summer who can act as a replacement. Torino's Bremer is top of the list, with his contract coming to an end in 2023. Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger is another name they would consider, but are unlikely to be able to afford, while Stade Rennes' Loic Bade, Eintracht Frankfurt's Evan N'Dicka and Lens' Facundo Medina are all seen as possible alternatives.
19.09 GMT: The LA Galaxy parted ways on Monday with midfielder and captain Jonathan dos Santos after five seasons. The 31-year-old Mexican international's contract is expired and will not be renewed for the 2022 campaign.
#ThankYouJona ✨
— LA Galaxy (@LAGalaxy) November 29, 2021
The greatest memories of @jona2santos. pic.twitter.com/EIKMoPLY5K
18.32 GMT: Barcelona are hoping to sign Basel attacker Arthur Cabral and are willing to pay €15m in three installments, according to Goal Brasil.
The Catalans had initially nott wanted to meet the Swiss club's demands, but have changed their minds due to interest from West Ham United. The Brazilian wants to play in one of Europe's top leagues, and Basel are digging in demanding the full amount they have feel the player is worth.
17.55 GMT: Diego Simeone wants Atletico Madrid to bring in River Plate de Montevideo's Matias Arezo to avoid the striker joining Real Madrid, reports El Nacional. The 19-year-old has recorded 11 goals and four assists in Uruguay's top-flight this term, also attracting interest from the likes of Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax.
Los Blancos' plan is to initially have the teenager in their Castilla side before moving him up to the first team if Atleti don't beat them to the punch on a move.
17.16 GMT: Internazionale are interested in signing Borussia Monchengladbach's Matthias Ginter as a free agent in the summer, according to journalist Nicolo Schira, who adds that they have opened talks with his agent regarding a four-year contract.
The defender's current deal with the Bundesliga club is set to end in June 2022 and he has rejected a proposal to extend it.
16.30 GMT: New Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was asked if he had been assured of backing from the club's new Saudi-backed owners in the January transfer window.
"I can't make any promises on that, but I can promise that the people above me, the owners, will support the team and support me in trying to achieve what we need," he said. "That's all I can say at this time. It would be foolish of me to make rash promises or statements. My priority at the moment is to get the best out of the players we have."
The club may have lots of money to spend now, but are bottom of the table with only six points from 13 games. In fact, they have yet to win a game and have accumulated those points from six draws so far, so they will need some help to stay up.
15.58 GMT: RB Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara could be Ralf Rangnick's first signing at Man United, says the Manchester Evening News.
Haidara, 23, played under Rangnick at the Bundesliga side and would cost around €40m. The Mali international is reportedly keen to make the move to Old Trafford.
15.22 GMT: Borussia Monchengladbach's Florian Neuhaus is on the radar of Napoli, according to Tuttomercatoweb.
Neuhaus, 24, has attracted interest from Liverpool and Bayern Munich in the past but has been valued at around €40m.
The Germany international has struggled this season and has made a few errors which have cost his side dearly. However, if Napoli move on any midfielders in January then they will reportedly consider a transfer for Neuhaus.
14.37 GMT: Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric could join Manchester City, says SuperDeporte.
Modric, 36, signed a new one-year contract earlier this year but it expires in 2022 and he could be keen for a new challenge.
City aren't short of quality midfielders but may be ready to offer the Croatia international a two-year deal while Madrid are only going to offer him fresh terms for one more year.
14.31 GMT: Real Madrid announced on Monday they have dismissed women's first team coach David Aznar and appointed Alberto Toril as his replacement.
Madrid have fallen short of expectations after collecting just 14 of a possible 33 points in the Spanish league. They are 10th in the standings, 19 points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
14.00 GMT: Want to know more about new Man United boss Ralf Rangnick and how he became the godfather of gegenpressing? Tom Hamilton explains.
Ralf Rangnick has been called a lot of things during his career in football -- Yussuf Poulsen, the RB Leipzig striker, says he's a "perfectionist," while his teammate Kevin Kampl says Rangnick is "in love with football." There were others who poked fun at him back in 1998 when he explained his then new-age tactical system gegenpressing. But when Jurgen Klopp calls Rangnick "one of the best, if not the best German coach," you listen.
But in 2020, German coaches are the sought-after coaching commodity: take Thomas Tuchel at PSG, Klopp at Liverpool and Julian Nagelsmann at RB Leipzig. All of them were influenced or taught by Rangnick. At the start of this season, seven of the 18 Bundesliga clubs were managed by coaches who had spent time with Rangnick. His influence also spread to key personnel currently in the Premier League, Ligue 1 and Eredivisie.
When Rangnick started out in the 1970s, managers tended to have impressive playing careers and then went right into coaching. It was unfashionable to have a manager who was in the shadows of the German second tier. It was also seen as insulting to champion theories of gegenpressing -- a philosophy built on pressing and counter-pressing the opponent, with an emphasis on attacking with positional fluidity -- in an age where German football was rigidly 3-5-2, reliant on tried-and-true methods like man-marking that had made Germany a superpower: three World Cups and three runners-up prior to 1990, three Euro titles and two more second-place finishes prior to 1996 spoke to their success. But Rangnick, who had a mediocre, semi-pro playing career, never gave up.
He is living proof of what Italian manager Arrigo Sacchi -- one of Rangnick's heroes, along with Valeriy Lobanovskyi and Ernst Happel -- meant when he shot back at a reporter who'd questioned his managerial credentials due to the lack of a polished pro career. "I never realised that in order to become a jockey you have to have been a horse first," Sacchi said.
13.16 GMT: Malang Sarr only joined Chelsea on a free transfer from Nice in 2020 but he's already looking for an exit.
Sarr, 22, spent last season on loan with FC Porto but hasn't been able to get himself into the Chelsea first-team with regularity since his return.
Sportmediaset reports that the defender is negotiating a January loan move to Inter Milan, which could contain a €15m option to sign permanently.
12.27 GMT: ICYMI - Juventus are hoping Jurgen Klopp's admiration for Aaron Ramsey will lead to a bid from Liverpool for the midfielder in January, sources told ESPN's James Olley.
The 30-year-old is under contract until 2023 but Ramsey could be made available for transfer after struggling to break into the first-team since his arrival.
Sources told ESPN that Klopp has long held Ramsey in high regard and considered formalising that interest when the Wales international left Arsenal for Juventus in 2019. Liverpool have been short of numbers in midfield after injuries compounded the departure of Georginio Wijnaldum to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.
Several Premier League clubs have been linked with Ramsey including West Ham, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Leicester City and Juventus hope Liverpool will add themselves to that list in the coming weeks.
11.45 GMT: Liverpool defender Nat Phillips is being scouted by West Ham with a view to a January move, says Football Insider.
Phillips, 24, impressed at Anfield when covering for the club's injury crisis but has since slipped back down the pecking order.
West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury so they need to replace him and Phillips could be the perfect fit.
11.30 GMT: Manchester United have appointed Ralf Rangnick as the club's interim manager until the end of the season, it has been announced.
Rangnick, 63, has left his role as head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow and signed a six-month contract at Old Trafford.
Sources told ESPN that the German was in advanced negotiations with United and a breakthrough was reached when a consultancy role was offered as part of Rangnick's move to the club. Rangnick takes charge of his first game when United host rivals Arsenal on Dec. 2 in the Premier League. He has previously managed Hannover, Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.
United have been searching for an interim manager since the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the dismal 4-1 defeat at Watford on Nov. 20.
11.17 GMT: Are Arsenal on the rise under Mikel Arteta?
10.32 GMT: Barcelona have been keen to do a deal for Manchester City winger Ferran Torres, but City want a lot of cash.
Marca says that Torres could move, but the 21-year-old would cost around €70m -- money which Barca currently don't have.
El Nacional then claims that RB Leipzig midfielder Dani Olmo could move to City to replace Torres. Though Olmo, 23, has also been consistently linked with a return to Camp Nou.
10.01 GMT: Juventus and Italy winger Federico Chiesa is being tracked by Bayern Munich and Chelsea, says journalist Nicolo Schira.
Chiesa, 24, signed for Juve from Fiorentina in October 2020 on a two-year loan worth €10m, with the obligation to make the deal permanent for €40m.
The winger, whose father Enrico was also an Italy international who played for Fiorentina, has become a key player for Juve and Italy, The Turin club want to keep hold of him and reportedly rejected a bid of around €100m after he helped his country to win Euro 2020 last summer.
09.09 GMT: PSG defender Sergio Ramos spoke of his relief at finally being able to make his debut for the club.
Ramos, 35, had struggled with injury since joining PSG as a free agent from Real Madrid in the summer and started in Sunday's 3-1 win at Saint-Etienne.
Ramos wrote on social media: "A win and a return to the pitch. You have no idea how I have longed for this! It has been a difficult few months. Lots of uncertainty, lots of changes and, worst of all, the pain of not being able to do what I love most: play football. But that's all behind me now. Another learning experience. It's time now to look forward with optimism and ambition. Thank you to everyone who has been there with kind words and encouragement, especially my family whose support has always been unconditional. On we go, there's more to come!"
08.30 GMT: The Sun reports that Newcastle United are set to battle with Jose Mourinho's AS Roma to land Florian Grillitsch.
Grillitsch, 26, has been watched by most of Europe's bigger clubs after putting in some stellar performances in Hoffenheim's midfield in recent seasons.
The Austria international is primarily a defensive midfielder, and new Newcastle boss Eddie Howe wants to add some bite to his team.
He is out of contract at the end of the season with his Bundesliga club, meaning he could be available for a cut-priced transfer fee in January.
But the uncertainty over Newcastle's Premier League future could put Roma in pole position.
Janusz Michallik praises Mikel Arteta and Arsenal for turning their season around after a very poor start.
PAPER GOSSIP (By Luke Thrower)
- Jose Mourinho is looking to sign Barcelona forward Memphis Depay for Roma, according to El Nacional. Given their financial issues, the report states that the LaLiga club are willing to listen to transfer offers in the region of €40m.
- Barcelona are interested in Manchester United forward Anthony Martial, says Sport. The Catalan club have been on the lookout for more firepower in their attack, with Sergio Aguero's future uncertain after his heart issues. The report claims that the LaLiga side are now interested in Martial, who has struggled for game time at United this season.
- AS Roma have joined Lyon in eyeing a move for Rangers winger Ianis Hagi, son of Romania legend Gheorghe, reports journalist Ekrem Konur. The 23-year-old has impressed with the Scottish club, becoming an important part of the side. His current deal runs until 2024 and he could be set for a move away.
- Lille winger Jonathan Ikone has a verbal agreement with Serie A side Fiorentina, according to Calciomercato. The France international's deal expires in 2023 and he has started the majority of his side's games in both Ligue 1 and the Champions League.
- Calciomercato has revealed that Newcastle United have made an offer to sign Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, however the Croatia international is moving towards a renewal of his contract at the club. The 29-year-old is out of contract in the summer and there has been progress over a new deal, with the Milan side willing to do everything possible to meet the €7m-a-year salary that the midfielder is looking for.