With most of the major European seasons now complete, the rumour mill has been sent into overdrive as clubs ponder their moves ahead of what will be a busy transfer window. Check out the latest gossip below, and see all official deals here.
TOP STORY: Juve, AC Milan, Man Utd eye PSG goalkeeper Navas
Amid speculation that Gianluigi Donnarumma will join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer this summer, PSG stopper Keylor Navas is garnering interest from Juventus and Manchester United, as well as Donnarumma’s former club AC Milan.
The pending arrival of 22-year-old Donnarumma to PSG has put Navas in a difficult situation. Marca has suggested that several clubs are interested in taking the Costa Rica international away from Parc des Princes, despite having signed a deal earlier in 2021 that extended his stay until 2024.
Navas’ predicament may be harsh, similarly to his Real Madrid departure in 2019 after Thibaut Courtois took over as No. 1, but the 34-year-old does have some highly reputable options to choose from when deciding his next move.
Juventus are likely in need of another experienced keeper with Gianluigi Buffon set to join boyhood club Parma this summer, while Milan will be looking for Donnarumma’s replacement — although they have already signed French keeper Mike Maignan from Lille.
As for the links with United, there have been questions over David de Gea and Dean Henderson at Old Trafford, so it appears the club could be looking to shore up their options between the sticks.
Navas seems to not be taking another potential exit too lightly, posting a thinly-veiled swipe at PSG on Instagram: “Gift your absence to those who do not value your presence.”
– Euro 2020 on ESPN: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)
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12.27 BST: Barcelona are looking into a “complicated” swap deal that could see Manchester City duo Bernarado Silva and Joao Cancelo make the move to Camp Nou this summer, according to Mundo Deportivo. Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembele are the Barca players that could move in the other direction.
A report in the Catalan newspaper says the two clubs are exploring various player exchanges that would allow them to fix their accounts and avoid further losses on the back of the coronavirus pandemic.
Silva and Cancelo both have contracts at City until 2025 but The Athletic says Silva wants to leave, while Mundo Deportivo claims they would both be open to swapping Manchester for Barcelona. Roberto and Dembele, meanwhile, are both out of contract next summer.
Barca have already signed two players from City this summer, with Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia arriving on free transfers.
President Joan Laporta, meanwhile, was with City coach Pep Guardiola at a golf tournament in Mallorca last week. Laporta, along with Barca’s director of football Mateu Alemany, are said to have held informal talks with the ex-Barca boss about possible deals.
12.06 BST: Barcelona’s summer shake-up is set to continue this week with the signing of Memphis Depay and the departures of several squad players, sources have told ESPN’s Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens.
Depay, 27, is out of contract with French side Lyon at the end of June and has been a Barca target since Ronald Koeman was appointed last August.
Sources told ESPN on Tuesday that Barca are putting the finishing touches on a deal to make the former Manchester United forward the club’s fourth signing of the summer.
The Catalan side have already brought in duo Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia from Manchester City on free transfers. They also paid €9m to exercise a clause to recall right-back Emerson back from Real Betis.
Depay first agreed on personal terms with Barca last summer and a fee of around €25m was set with Lyon, but the club were unable to accommodate him within their La Liga imposed wage cap.
11.23 BST: Barcelona look set to move United States youngster Konrad de la Fuente on to Marseille.
10.30 BST: Arsenal have had a £12.9m bid rejected by Anderlecht for midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga, sources have told ESPN’s James Olley.
The Gunners have been told a fee of £17.2m will be enough to land the 21-year-old and talks are ongoing as they consider an improved second offer.
Manager Mikel Arteta is keen on strengthening his midfield options this summer with Dani Ceballos now back at Real Madrid, Granit Xhaka in negotiations to join Roma and several others including Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira available for transfer.
Sambi Lokonga, who has two years remaining on his contract, is expected to leave Anderlecht this summer with other clubs also rivalling Arsenal for his signature.
09.24 BST: Edinson Cavani has hinted he will retire from the Uruguay national team after the 2022 World Cup.
Cavani, 34, who is competing at the Copa America said: “The life of every human being is based on objectives, on desires that one has to achieve and reach certain places, goals, aims. I think that in football my goal at the national team level is to be able to achieve that other dream of reaching the World Cup in Qatar and from then on, able to step aside and dedicate myself to my family, my people, my things. It’s been many years that one is away and I think we are in that last dance too.”
Cavani, who recently signed a contract extension with Manchester United, was linked to Boca Juniors and has not ruled out ending his professional career in South America. “At some point I will come to South America and compete here but right now, no,” he added.
08.47 BST: Cristiano Ronaldo has refused to commit his future to Juventus ahead of Portugal’s start to Euro 2020.
Ronaldo, 36, has a year left on his contract with the Italian giants, but that has not stopped intermediaries from assessing whether leading European clubs want to make a move for the Portugal captain.
Ronaldo is expected to decide his future after the European Championship. Speaking ahead of Portugal’s opener against Hungary on Budapest on Tuesday (LIVE on ESPN and ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET in the U.S.), Ronaldo was asked about his club future and he said: “I’ve been playing at a high level for 18 years, it doesn’t even tickle me. If I were starting now, being 18 or 19 maybe, I wouldn’t sleep thinking about my future.
“But as you can calculate by now, at 36-years-old… whatever comes will be for the good, regardless of whether one stays or leaves, that’s not the most important thing now. The focus is on the national team. A competition of this magnitude you don’t play every day.”
– Hamilton: Can Ronaldo break men’s international goal record at Euro 2020?
08.00 BST: Joel Glazer has defended Manchester United‘s debt levels and the dividend payments his family have issued to themselves and says it will not stop the club from competing at the top of the transfer market.
The Glazer family have taken heavy criticism from supporters during their 16-year ownership after paying out more than £1 billion to finance the debt created by their leveraged buy-out in 2005. The American owners have also taken out more than £100m in dividend payments, but during a fan forum event held earlier this month Joel Glazer defended their model.
“We think that Manchester United is a very well run club, and we think clubs throughout football could take a look at us, and there’s a lot of good to be seen when it comes to some of these things that are controversial,” Glazer, who was quoted from the minutes from the forum that were released on Monday, said. “We’re able to spend with the top clubs throughout Europe, whether it’s wages or transfer fees, we’ve been able to keep our ticket prices low, we’ve not increased them in over 10 years.
“We’re able to pay a dividend but it’s a modest proportion of our five to six hundred million pounds of revenue; it’s less than three percent of that. We have debt, but a lot of other clubs do have debt as well. We pay a very low interest rate, mostly fixed interest debt. So, if interest rates went up it would not affect us, but we had made progress in reducing our debt over the last several years. The net debt was meaningfully reduced a couple years ago.”
PAPER GOSSIP (by Danny Lewis)
– Calciomercato have suggested that Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey could be set to make his Premier League return. The 30-year-old, who played in Wales’ 1-1 draw against Switzerland, has been linked with Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Everton — though the latter are currently not pursuing a deal as they look for Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement as manager. There have also been reports around a possible return to Arsenal for Ramsey, and it is suggested here that there is constant contact between the two clubs, with Juventus hopeful that an agreement can be reached.
– Atalanta are looking at centre-back options and Calciomercato reports Juventus’ Merih Demiral is their main target, while Lille’s Sven Botman and Torino’s Lyanco are also players of interest for the Serie A outfit.
– Nice are progressing in their talks to sign Barcelona centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, as has been reported by Fabrizio Romano. It is suggested that the deal will be for €8.5m plus add-ons with no clause to sign him permanently. There are just the final details on payment terms to be agreed before it is completed.
– Romano has also suggested that Tom Heaton is set to complete his Manchester United medical this week before signing a deal at Old Trafford until 2023, with the option for another season. The 35-year-old goalkeeper will be a free agent when his Aston Villa contract comes to its culmination at the end of June.
– San Marino-based side Tre Penne have announced that former Internazionale, Manchester City and AS Roma right-back Maicon has joined them. The Brazilian has won the Champions League, two Copa Americas and four Serie A titles, but the 39-year-old will now play in San Marino’s top tier of football, having spent last term in Italy’s Serie D.
