Transfer news: Man Utd to spoil Arsenal and Tottenham plans as Liverpool eye £54m wonderkid
Review the day's transfer stories with Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea all facing a busy month in the hunt for reinforcements
Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
Review all of Friday's transfer news, rumours, done deals and collapsed moves from around the world.
Manchester United and Arsenal were both in the headlines as they consider moves for Paris Saint-Germain's soon-to-be departed striker Edinson Cavani. The Uruguayan is out of contract at the end of the season and available on a free transfer, and reports in his homeland suggest that offers have already been made from the two Premier League clubs along with Atletico Madrid. Chelsea meanwhile are on the hunt for a defender, with eyes on Issa Diop of West Ham and their former centre-back Nathan Ake at Bournemouth, with £40m bids prepared for both depending on who the club decide to focus on.
Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile are looking at Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti despite long-term interest from Arsenal and United, with the France international facing a somewhat uncertain future as Barca are keen to move him on this season, while another star defender who appears to be on the market is Juventus's Matthijs de Ligt, who despite only arriving in Italy at the start of the season is already being linked with a loan move back to Ajax after failing to settle in Turin. Review all of the stories below.
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load.
United and Chelsea have both been linked with Dinamo and Spain star Dani Olmo. There could also be some big moves across Europe. Real Madrid have been linked with a £68m move for Timo Werner, as well as Flamengo wonder kid Reinier, while Arsenal have turned their eyes to RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano as a long-term target.
In his press conference Roy Hodgson just provided transfer updates on the following players:
Kyle Walker-Peters: “I know talks are taking place. I am very hopeful of getting Kyle here. I think he is a very talented young player and we would benefit from his services."
Wilfried Zaha: “His agent is of no interest to me. I am still very confident Wilf will stay with us and help us reach our goals."
Connor Wickham: “What Connor needs is regular football. He knows we can’t guarantee him that here. The club is aware of that situation, but I have no interest in pushing Connor out the door because he is a very useful man to have."
West Ham have been in talks with Benfica this week over midfielder Gedson Fernandes, but The Guardian are reporting the Hammers fear losing out on the 21-year-old to rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham had hoped to sign Fernandes on an 18-month loan deal, but it is claimed that the player's agent, Jorge Mendes, has offered him to Tottenham at a very late stage in the negotiations.
The Bristol Post are reporting that Norwich City have moved ahead of Bristol City in the race to snap up Arsenal's Eddie Nketiah on loan.
The paper claims that Bristol City had been confident of completing a deal only for Norwich to emerge as the late favourites to take Nketiah on loan for the rest of the season.
Kilmarnock have loaned Dom Thomas to Dunfermline 24 hours after recalling Greg Kiltie from the Pars.
Thomas signed a new Rugby Park contract in September and made 24 appearances in the first half of the season but will spend the rest of the campaign in the Ladbrokes Championship.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed loan spells with Queen of the South and Dumbarton since moving from Motherwell to Killie in the summer of 2017.
Pep Guardiola has been answering questions about Leroy Sane at his weekly press conference.
The German international has been heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich.
"It's a question for Leroy, his agents and the club. I'm not involved but he knows what we believe," he said.
"I want him to come back fit. His knee looks really good. After that it's not my business."
Cardiff City defender Greg Cunningham is expected to return to Wales after suffering a crucial ligament injury.
The defender was on loan at Blackburn but will return to Cardiff so that the former Premier League winners can loan another player.
Jose Mourinho has implied that summer spending is more likely than Spurs making a signing in the January window, saying: "If the boss [Chairman Daniel Levy] arrives with a solution for these difficult months then so be it.
"But if we don't find the right opportunity or the right solution we are going to wait until summer to make a decision for the evolution of the team."
Frank Lampard has given the clearest indication yet that Olivier Giroud could leave Chelsea this month.
Asked if Chelsea need to recruit a replacement before Giroud can leave, Lampard said: "Not necessarily. With Ollie the situation is, if it's right for everybody, and first and foremost that's us as the club, then we'll look at whether he can leave the club.
"He's been a great professional here, who has continued to train professionally without many opportunities. But I still have to make a decision for the football club, and nothing's done yet.
"Everyone's talking about it so I'm not going to beat around the bush. I think his agent has spoken to the club, but until anything's done he's a Chelsea player."
Some good news for Everton where midfielder Andre Gomes is due back at the club next week to begin individual sessions as he steps up his recovery from a serious ankle injury.
Gomes suffered a dislocation fracture to his right ankle in the draw against Tottenham in November, an injury that had been expected to sideline him for the rest of the season.
But manager Carlo Ancelotti has given a positive update on the 26-year-old's recovery.
"Andre Gomes can come back next week, and start to train individually here," he said. "It is good news. He is doing well in his recovery. It is going fast so I hope as soon as possible he can be with us, because he's a fantastic player."
Norwich manager Daniel Farke has warned rival Premier League clubs to keep their hands off Max Aarons.
“I wouldn’t spend too much energy listening to all these rumours. Max is a young guy and he still has four-and-a-half years of his contract left,” he said at his weekly news conference.
“I think it’s not the right time for him to even think about a move. I would also be doubtful when too many clubs are linked with him.
“He is totally at the right place here, he’s played nearly 20 Premier League games, now leave him alone and let him play some football.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies