Friday's transfer news: Everton rival Arsenal for Zaha, Spurs enter Fernandes race, Longstaff addresses Man Utd interest
Friday's transfer news, rumours and done deals
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Follow the latest updates live from the transfer window as we bring you the latest news, rumours and done deals throughout the summer ahead of the 8 August deadline. Arsenal are poised to announce their second signing of the summer in the form of St Etienne defender William Saliba, but they remain keen on Wilfried Zaha as well as moves for Kieran Tierney and Dani Ceballos.
The deal for Saliba will mean Tottenham have missed out on one of their targets, but the club are considering breaking their transfer record for the second time this month following the signing of Tangey Ndombele with a £70m offer for Real Betis’ Giovani Lo Celso. However, one name who could be leaving is Danny Rose, with Paris Saint-Germain and Schalke both interested in the available left-back.
Manchester United are ready to press on with their move for Bruno Fernandes by making an official bod for the Sporting midfielder, but Paul Pogba looks increasingly likely to stay at Old Trafford – largely because Real Madrid are going to give Gareth Bale one more chance at the Bernabeu, meaning they cannot afford their move for the United midfielder. Follow the latest news below.
The summer transfer window closes at 11pm on Thursday 8 August across the Premier League and Championship. The European transfer window remains open until Monday 2 September.
Welcome to The Independent's transfer live blog, where we'll bring you the latest news, rumours and done deals throughout the summer right up until the transfer window deadline.
We begin this morning at Tottenham where reports suggest a second record-breaking move of the summer is on the cards.
It's no secret that Spurs are keen on Real Betis midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, with the former Paris Saint-Germain star catching the eye once again in Spain and representing an enticing target at 23 years old.
According to The Mirror, Spurs are ready to press on with that interest and make a whopping £70m offer - which would smash the previous record set earlier this month in the £55m spent on Tanguy Ndombele.
But that's not the only move being discussed at Spurs.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Manchester United's move for Sporting midfielder Bruno Fernandes faces competition from Tottenham, who are said to be weighing up an offer if there is no progress in the hunt for Lo Celso.
United are expected to make an official bid for Fernandes in the coming days and believe they are leading the race for the 24-year-old, but the sudden interest from their Premier League rivals may just hasten up that move in order to avert any risk of him heading to north London.
Wrapping up the wave of Spurs news this morning, Mauricio Pochettino has spoken at length of his plan to leave the club at the end of last season if they had beaten Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The Argentine hinted at such a possibility before the match in Madrid, but after suffering a 2-0 defeat he has elected to continue with unfinished business to take care of.
"It was an amazing period," he said. "After five years in a difficult project at Tottenham we talk a lot about perception and reality, how we fight and all the energy we expend trying to get Tottenham fighting with the best teams in Europe and England.
"Of course it's always in your head, you never know. With the way I am, I am always going to prioritise the club over myself.
"Maybe if it was a different result after the final you can think, 'OK, maybe this is a moment to step out of the club, leave the club and give them the possibility of a really new chapter with a new coaching staff'.
"But after the final I felt this was not great to finish like this. I'm not a person that avoids facing problems or a difficult situation.
"I love a massive challenge, a difficult challenge and of course now to rebuild that mentality to make it possible to repeat a similar season, that is exciting and motivates me a lot."
Real Madrid are ready to give Gareth Bale one more chance - well, at least president Florentino Perez is.
Bale is not a part of manager Zinedine Zidane's future plans for Madrid, but the club are struggling to find anyone interested in signing the Wales international, who is also happy to see out his contract even if he is not selected.
The Independent can reveal that the situation is so desperate for Bale that Perez has spoken to Zidane in an effort to persuade him into playing Bale this season, and thus saving the club a fortune that they cannot afford in the proposed move for Paul Pogba.
Miguel Delaney has the details:
Arsenal are ready to announce the signing of young French defender William Saliba.
The 18-year-old will stay with St Etienne for the rest of the season on loan, but is set to complete a £27m move to the Premier League once a medical has been completed.
The central defender was also being targeted by Tottenham, but despite St Etienne's preference to accept Spurs' offer the player's personal desire to join Arsenal has seen them win the race.
Arsenal have also received a fresh boost in their pursuit of Wilfried Zaha.
The forward has reiterated his desire to leave Crystal Palace for Arsenal after holding talks with his current club, having returned from from Africa Cup of Nations duty to prepare for the new season.
According to Sky Sports, Zaha has told the club he would like to leave, but he will not hand in a transfer request and the prospect of Arsenal coughing up the right figure to meet Palace's demands remains highly unlikely unless they can offload some of the deadwood in the club.
Salomon Rondon has completed a move to Dalian Yifang from West Brom for an undisclosed fee, the Sky Bet Championship club announced on Friday.
The striker spent last season on loan at Newcastle and links up again with manager Rafael Benitez, who left St James' Park for the Chinese Super League club at the end of last month.
Rondon joined the Baggies in the summer of 2015, making 120 appearances for the club and scoring 28 goals before their relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
The Venezuela international made 33 appearances for Newcastle last season.
Rondon joins former Napoli captain Marek Hamsik and Belgium winger Yannick Carrasco on the books at Dalian Yifang.
"The club wishes Salomon and his family all the very best in the future," read a West Brom statement.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has left the door open to new additions in the summer transfer window, but admitted that the club may not sign a replacement for former captain Vincent Kompany.
He said: "We are so happy with the squad we have. I don't know what is going to happen until the end of the market.
"I don't know if players are going to leave or players are going to come."
When asked if he is in the market for a new centre-back to replace Vincent Kompany, who has joined Anderlecht as a player-coach, Guardiola added: "There is a chance but I don't know if it is possible. If not we have three incredible centre-backs."
Wolves are interested in signing AC Milan striker, Patrick Cutrone, according to reports.
Milan have made the 21-year-old available as they try and free up funds for Atletico Madrid forward, Angel Correa, and talks are in an advanced stage with Wolves confident the deal can be done.
Reports in Italy suggest the deal will be around £22 million.
Cutrone scored 9 goals for the Serie A giants last season and earned his international senior debut in March 2018 against Argentina.
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