The transfer window may be closed around Europe, but teams are looking ahead to the summer and there's plenty of gossip swirling around. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals!
TOP STORY: PSG aim to beat Chelsea for Osimhen
Paris Saint-Germain are ready to offer €150 million to Napoli for Victor Osimhen's transfer in order to fend off interest from Chelsea, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich, according Football Insider.
PSG's bid is specifically geared toward beating the Blues, who are prepared to offer €100m for the Nigeria international's move.
Osimhen has recorded 26 goals and five assists in 31 games across all competitions, leading Napoli towards a long-awaited Serie A title and a run into the Champions League quarterfinals.
Osimhen's contrct at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona is set to run until 2025, although various clubs will be keen to sign him immediately. PSG are looking for a push to win their first ever Champions League while Chelsea have been searching for an answer to their lack of goals.
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LIVE BLOG
18.57 BST: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is reportedly ready to clear house, according to The Guardian. Per the report, Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, Scott McTominay and Fred all are included in a list of 15 players being considered as the club looks to the future.
Ten Hag is said to be looking for a way to free up the budget to pay for a squad rebuild that will raise the floor of talent on Man United. As such, Donny van de Beek, Anthony Elanga, Dean Henderson and Brandon Williams are also players that Ten Hag might opt to move on.
16.42 BST: Real Madrid have finally made the first move in agreeing a new contract with Dani Ceballos, according to Diario AS' front-page story ahead of Madrid's match against Celta Vigo on Saturday (stream LIVE on ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET in the U.S.).
The newspaper claims that the LaLiga giants have called the midfielder's agents to set a date for talks over a new deal -- but they won't take place until Madrid's Champions League and Copa del Rey campaigns are over.
Ceballos is prioritising his importance to the team over financial considerations, AS reports, with Bayern Munich the latest club to enquire about the player, whose current contract is due to expire in June.
15.58 BST: Marcos Alonso plans to stay at Barcelona despite interest from Italian side Inter Milan, according to Mundo Deportivo.
Representatives from Barca and Inter met recently to discuss various operations ahead of the summer, with Alonso reportedly one of the names discussed. However, Alonso, 32, has no intention of leaving Barca, who he joined from Chelsea on a free transfer last summer.
The left-back, who has also played at centre-back this season, signed a one-year contract extension at Spotify Camp Nou in January, tying him to the club until 2024. That contract, like the new deals penned by Gavi and Ronald Araujo, has not yet been registered with LaLiga, but Barca are confident they will all be inscribed in the summer.
Alonso has made 29 appearances in all competitions in his debut season with the Catalan club, scoring three goals.
- Barcelona vs. Atletico: Stream LIVE Sunday, 10.15 a.m. ET, ESPN+ (U.S.)
15.11 BST: Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Moises Caicedo has said he wants Arsenal win the Premier League title, just three months after his hopes of a January transfer to the Emriates were dashed.
Sources told ESPN's Leon Imber in January that the Gunners had made a £60m bid for Caicedo, who posted a message to Brighton fans on Instagram expressing his desire to leave. However, Brighton held firm and the Ecuador international signed a new contract with them, and he will be lining up against Manchester United on Sunday in an FA Cup semifinal (stream LIVE 11.30 a.m. ET on ESPN+ in the U.S..)
"I was really close to going," the 21-year-old told the Daily Telegraph.
He added: "I'm sure I'm going to have many more opportunities. That's why I continue to do things well. [But] it was tough. At the beginning when I didn't end up going, lots of people would make fun of me on Instagram. People treated me badly. I didn't check my social media because it would hurt me to see things." When asked if he hoped Arsenal would hold off Manchester City to win a first Premier League title in 19 years, he said: "Of course. I hope so but let's see."
- Hamilton: The remarkable rise of Brighton
14.24 BST: Antoine Griezmann has denied that Joao Felix's loan move to Chelsea has been the key to Atletico Madrid's improved form since January.
Atletico, who face Barcelona at Camp Nou on Sunday, are unbeaten in their last 13 league games -- with 10 wins and three draws in that time -- and are now just two points behind second-placed Real Madrid in the table.
Felix has scored two goals in 11 Premier League appearances for Chelsea so far, and was a substitute in their 2-0 home Champions League defeat to Madrid on Tuesday.
"It isn't Joao. It's the team, the group," Griezmann told Movistar. "After the World Cup we made a change, maybe mentally, I don't know... Joao brought a lot of good things to Atletico Madrid. He was a league champion in his first year [2020-21]. I've been in Spain for nine years and I haven't won the league."
13.35 BST: Julian Nagelsmann pulled out of the running to be Chelsea's next head coach on a dramatic day of developments which included Mauricio Pochettino and Vincent Kompany making the club's four-man shortlist, sources have told ESPN's James Olley.
Former Bayern Munich coach Nagelsmann met with Chelsea executives in recent days for a series of talks which initially progressed well. But with Chelsea adamant they want to conclude a lengthy and exhaustive process to find the right man, the 35-year-old became frustrated and chose to withdraw on Friday.
Sources close to Chelsea have repeatedly insisted that there is not -- and has never been -- a clear first-choice candidate and it has also been suggested that the club's due diligence on Nagelsmann produced mixed results, casting doubt internally over his suitability for the role.
Earlier on Friday, sources confirmed to ESPN that Chelsea had discussed the position with Pochettino, who has been heavily linked with a return to former club Tottenham Hotspur after they sacked Antonio Conte last month. Talks are said by one source to have been "positive and constructive."
Having dispensed with Graham Potter on April 3 after less than seven months in charge, Chelsea originally identified up to seven potential candidates and sources told ESPN on Friday that search had narrowed to a four-man shortlist which comprised Nagelsmann, Pochettino, Kompany and one other unnamed individual.
As ESPN reported on April 7, Luis Enrique held talks over the position and indicated he would be willing to take the job immediately but Chelsea's subsequent decision to appoint Lampard suggested they preferred other candidates.
12.49 BST: How special is Gabriel Veiga? Just ask anyone who's spent any time watching LaLiga this season. The Celta Vigo midfielder, 20, has been Spanish football's breakout young star, his performances leading to the avalanche of hype and headlines that only the emergence of a top new talent can trigger.
From his first goal against Atletico Madrid in September, to his first brace against Real Betis in February, the milestones have kept coming. It's now nine goals and four assists in 29 LaLiga games. Not bad for a central midfielder.
Word soon spread, with Celta president Carlos Mourino saying in March that "four of the Premier League's top 10" had called to ask about Veiga's release clause. ESPN reported that Manchester United, Liverpool and more recently Manchester City were all keen, with Real Madrid paying close attention.
Celta's youth academy, A Madroa, is just outside Vigo -- a port city in Galicia, Spain's wild northwest -- and people have been excited about "Gabri" for a little longer. But the speed and extent of his breakthrough has caught everyone by surprise.
Ahead of Celta's trip to Real Madrid on Saturday (stream LIVE on ESPN+, 3 p.m. ET in the U.S.), ESPN takes a look at the story of LaLiga's most in-demand young player, and what his future might hold.
- Kirkland, Faez: How Veiga went from kicking pumpkins to verge of Premier League move
12.03 BST: Premier League European hopefuls Newcastle United and Aston Villa are both interested in signing Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse, the Daily Mail reports.
Ward-Prowse is reportedly considering his future at St Mary's where he is club captain, with Saints still bottom of the table with six games to go despite Friday's 3-3 draw at Arsenal.
The England international is one of the Premier League's best dead-ball specialists, but at 28 years old his age has led the division's top clubs to look at younger targets.
But with fourth-placed Newcastle looking to take a big step toward securing Champions League football next season if they can beat fifth-placed Tottenham on Sunday, and in-form Aston Villa suddenly in the hunt having rocketed up to sixth, Ward-Prowse still has the chance of playing in Europe's top club competition next season.
- Olley: Arsenal's title hopes hit after losing focus -- again
11.18 BST: James Rodriguez is training alone in Madrid as he ponders his next move, Marca reports, after his contract at Greek giants Olympiakos was terminated earlier this week.
The Colombia international, 31, has been spotted working out in Madrid park Casa de Campo in recent days.
Rodriguez was a Real Madrid player from 2014 -- after he starred for his country at the World Cup -- until 2020, when he was allowed to join Everton for free.
The playmaker made 20 league appearances for Olympiakos this season, scoring five goals.
10.33 BST: Barcelona have monitored as many as 13 players as they look for a new right-back, according to various reports in Spain.
Manchester United's Diogo Dalot, Manchester City's Joao Cancelo and Villarreal's Juan Foyth feature on the long list of possible targets published in Catalan newspapers Diario Sport and Mundo Deportivo on Saturday.
Arnau Martinez (Girona), Alexander Bah (Benfica), Amar Dedic (Red Bull Salzburg), Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Stephane Singo (Torino), Thomas Meunier (Borussia Dortmund), Josip Juranovic (Union Berlin), Benjamin Pavard (Bayern Munich), Vanderson (Monaco) and Malo Gusto (Chelsea) are all linked as well.
Barca have been without a recognised right-back since Hector Bellerin joined Portuguese side Sporting Club in January. Centre-back Jules Kounde has often filled in on the right of the back four this season, with Ronald Araujo and Sergi Roberto other options.
However, the Blaugrana's plan is to bring in a natural right-back this summer to help strengthen a backline that has only conceded nine goals in 29 LaLiga games -- although the defence proved more fallible as Barca exited the Champions League, Europa League and the Copa del Rey.
Barca do have two right-backs on the books in the form of United States and Mexico internationals Sergino Dest and Julian Araujo. Dest, on loan at AC Milan, is expected to be allowed to leave in the summer, while Araujo -- a January signing from LA Galaxy who arrived after the registration window had closed so can't play -- may go out on loan.
09.46 BST: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has defended captain Harry Maguire as an "example" for the rest of his squad, after the defender's latest high-profile error in Thursday's Europa League exit at the hands of Sevilla.
Maguire's error led to an early goal for Sevilla and his performance came under the microscope again as United lost 3-0 on the night in Spain to go out 5-2 on aggregate.
The England international's future at the club beyond the summer has been subject to much speculation, but Ten Hag said the 30-year-old England defender remained a key member of his squad.
"He has an important role, he is the captain, he leads, he communicates with the manager, motivates the team, he's the example in the training space," Ten Hag said on Friday.
- Brighton vs. Man United: Stream LIVE Sunday, 11.30 a.m. ET, ESPN+ (U.S.)
09.00 BST: Chelsea will receive £1m in compensation after allowing highly rated coach Anthony Barry to join Bayern Munich, sources have told ESPN's James Olley.
The two clubs have been locked in talks ever since Thomas Tuchel took up his position as Bayern head coach last month but a package has now been agreed.
Tuchel inherited Barry as part of his backroom staff when becoming Chelsea boss in January 2021 and together the pair won the Champions League within four months.
Barry was appointed by Frank Lampard in 2020 before working under subsequent Chelsea bosses Tuchel and Graham Potter, in addition to linking up with the Republic of Ireland and then Belgium at the World Cup in Qatar last year.
The 36-year-old then moved with Roberto Martinez when he became Portugal head coach. Barry has stayed away from Chelsea's Cobham training base while the club and Bayern negotiated an agreement, meaning he has not worked with Lampard since he returned in a caretaker manager capacity earlier this month.
PAPER GOSSIP
- Manchester United are interested in Benfica centre-back Antonio Silva, according to Ekrem Konur, with the 19-year-old catching the eye in his breakthrough season at first-team level. It is expected that the Red Devils will face competition for Silva from Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Juventus and Napoli.
- Barcelona have made a huge contract offer to Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino in an attempt to sign the 31-year-old as a free agent in the summer, reports Football Insider. The Brazilian's contract expirse at the end of the season and has yet to decide on the next club he will join, but it is suggested that he has also received offers from Real Madrid and an unnamed Saudi Arabian club.
- Following months of negotiations, Udinese are set to sign FC Cincinnati striker Brenner, according to Calciomercato. The Serie A club has been working hard to bring in the 23-year-old Brazilian, who scored 18 MLS goals last season.
- Corinthians striker Yuri Alberto is on the shortlists of Everton and West Ham United, according to Ekrem Konur, but adds that the 22-year-old is not a priority for either club. Alberto has recorded four goals and four assists in 14 matches across all competitions this season.
- Sky Sports Italia have reported that Amir Rrahmani has agreed a new contract that will keep the centre-back with Napoli until the summer of 2027, with the option of another year. The 24-year-old's current deal is set to expire in 2024, although his impressive defensive partnership with Kim Min-Jae has proven that he should stay with Gli Azzurri past that.