With the transfer window for Europe's biggest clubs set to open soon -- find out when the Premier League transfer window opens -- rest assured that Transfer Talk is scouring the world's media and setting correspondents loose to see what is on the agenda. You can click here to review all the latest transfers.
TOP STORY: Bayern set to launch fresh bid for Hudson-Odoi
Bayern Munich have been encouraged by Callum Hudson-Odoi's comeback from a ruptured Achilles, with the forward set to return from surgery quicker than previously expected.
Latest assessments suggest that Hudson-Odoi could be back in action in just four to five months, which will be music to the ears of the German giants who were intent on bringing the England man to the Bundesliga this summer. The original assessment suggested that he would be out of action for more than six months after he suffered the shocking blow a fortnight ago.
But now The Sun report that Hudson-Odoi could soon be on Bayern's radar again. They missed out signing him for a huge £35m in January, but with the player now potentially looking to be fit shortly after the start of next season, Bayern could soon be back. Waving their cheque book with abandon.
LIVE BLOG
22.30 BST: That's your lot for tonight. If you didn't see the Tottenham game, you really REALLY should. Maybe chairman Daniel Levy will even give Mauricio Pochettino some money to spend in the transfer window now...
21.56 BST: According to L'Equipe, Le Havre midfielder Pape Gueye is of interest to Leicester, Watford and West Ham.
21.02 BST: The MEN claim that Manchester United are set to dump their policy of signing superstars like Paul Pogba and Alexis Sanchez and "manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is insistent on recruiting the right players over more marketable names as he presides over the club's recruitment reboot."
The paper also claims this means he will want to get business done before July 8 when the club departs for a preseason tour.
Maybe they should follow some advice:
20.10 BST: Swansea winger Daniel James is being tracked by Newcastle and Bournemouth, say the Mirror. Newcastle are on the lookout for a replacement for Ayoze Perez, who looks set to move to Inter Milan or Napoli for around £30m this summer. James is only worth £10m, so the Magpies might even end up in profit.
19.34 BST: Gareth Bale might not be wanted by Real Madrid, but he certainly wants to stay at the club.
Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett told Sky Sports News: "He wants to stay. I am not sure that Mr Zidane wants him to stay but at the moment Gareth wants to stay."
18.38 BST: Benny Feilhaber is headed back to Sporting Kansas City, with the former U.S. international midfielder getting traded to his old club, multiple sources have told ESPN FC.
Jean Luc Imfurayacu of Rwandan outlet RadioTV10 was the first to report the news.
18.09 BST: It's the news that all Manchester United fans have been waiting for: Alexis Sanchez and huge wage packet of £400-a-week could be leaving.
Gazzetta claims that his agent has been spotted in Milan and is negotiating a deal with Inter. That deal would almost certainly mean a wage drop of about 50 percent, given the two clubs' financial positions, but he could be very willing to do that if it means playing again.
17.24 BST: Championship side QPR have a new manager.
— QPR FC (@QPR) May 8, 2019
16.47 BST: Philippe Coutinho is "not a Barcelona player" and will be the first casualty of their shambolic Champions League exit to Liverpool, while the board are set to meet to decide coach Ernesto Valverde's fate, sources have told ESPN FC.
Sources also confirmed that a number of the coaching staff are disappointed with Coutinho's performances this season. The Brazilian is the club's record signing at €160 million but his displays against his former side across both legs of the semifinal strengthened the idea that his time at Camp Nou is up.
"Coutinho is not a Barcelona player, that's been made clear," a club source told ESPN FC.
16.05 BST: Fresh from securing a return to Serie A, Brescia midfielder Sandro Tonali, who has been described as 'the new Andrea Pirlo,' said he is aware of the interest in him.
"I know everyone wants me," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I just want to concentrate on playing."
He also rejected comparisons to Pirlo, adding: "I'm a midfielder, I play for the team. The playmaker is a completely different role. In Italy [Marco] Verratti has the quality and the experience at the top -- [Stefano] Sensi is another who comes to mind. I don't have their technique."
14.39 BST: Having joined Borussia Dortmund from AIK as the "new Zlatan Ibrahimovic" in January 2017, Sweden international Alexander Isak, 19, failed to live up to the promise in his first 24 months at the club. But after joining Dutch outfit Willem II on loan, he revived his career, scoring 12 goals in 14 league games.
His performances have not gone unnoticed in Europe. Isak has been linked with top clubs such as Barcelona in recent weeks, but he has now told Swedish paper Expressen he still wants to break through at Dortmund.
"To be honest, I still believe I can do it," Isak said, adding he's aware other clubs are interested in him.
13.41 BST: Having missed out on signing him at Chelsea, Antonio Conte could finally be managing Romelu Lukaku next season, if reports in La Repubblica are to be believed.
The Italian daily newspaper claims Conte will target the Manchester United forward should he be named Inter Milan manager this summer.
12.59 BST: FIFA has rejected Chelsea's appeal against a two-window transfer ban, but will allow the club to continue to sign some players under the age of 16.
Chelsea were handed the punishment in December after FIFA found them guilty of breaching rules relating to the transfers of 29 players under the age of 18, along with a fine of £460,000.
In a statement, FIFA said the ban on Chelsea registering senior players in the next two transfer windows will stand, but added their Appeals Committee decided entirely restricting the signing of U16 players was "not proportionate" to the offence committed.
12.13 BST: It was not the return of the prodigal son when Mario Gotze signed for Borussia Dortmund in 2016 under much resistance from the club's fan base. They had not forgiven him for swapping the black and yellow jersey for Bayern's in 2013.
However, time has healed the wounds and this term Germany's 2014 World Cup hero has played an important role for Dortmund. He has scored six goals and set up a further seven in 24 league appearances. About to enter the final year of his contract, Dortmund now want to sign Gotze to a new deal.
"Our ambition is that Mario will stay with us," Dortmund chief Hans-Joachim Watzke told Bild, adding that both club and player "know what they have in each other."
Gotze is on an annual salary of around €10 million and would have to agree to a small paycut, the paper added.
11.21 BST: AC Milan's sporting director Leonardo has confirmed the club will not be investing heavily in the transfer market this summer.
The Rossoneri look set to miss out on qualifying for the Champions League and, after investing €35 million in Lucas Paqueta and a similar amount in Krzysztof Piatek in the winter, Leonardo said they must now tighten the purse strings.
"We're not in an easy situation," he told Sky Sport Italia. "We have to adhere to certain parameters within a short period of time [for Financial Fair Play].
"Certainly a lot will depend on whether we qualify for the Champions League or not and we're not going to be dismantling the squad, but certainly there won't be major investments either. We've already made investments, though, like Piatek and Paqueta. These were all studied over time and I think it's normal that you work out bit by bit what you can do, but the certainty is we won't be making any major investments in the summer."
Milan are three points behind fourth-placed Atalanta with three games of the season remaining and are currently on course for a place in the Europa League again next season.
10.36 BST: On the last leg of his loan spell with Bayern Munich, James Rodriguez is set for a Real Madrid return -- but only for a short while.
Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane is reportedly not interested in working with the Colombia international and he could now play a role in a new attempt to bring Neymar to the Bernabeu, German outlet Sport Bild reported on Wednesday.
The paper said that James dropped hints in the Bayern dressing room that Paris Saint-Germain are interested in him, with the paper adding he could be part of a possible Neymar deal.
In recent weeks, James has also been linked with a switch to Juventus.
09.41 BST: Franck Ribery has refused to rule out signing for former Bayern Munich defender Markus Babbel at A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers.
The former France international will be leaving Bayern after 12 seasons with the club in the summer.
08.25 BST: Porto are interested in signing Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas this summer. Porto want a replacement for Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who is out indefinitely after suffering a heart attack last week.
Navas has started in only nine league games for Madrid and has fierce competition with Thibaut Courtois for the number one spot and faces an uncertain future at the Bernabeu. The 32-year-old, who was close to leaving Madrid for Manchester United in the summer of 2015 in swap deal that would have seen David De Gea move the other way, is tied to Los Blancos until June 2020.
According to Record, Porto are not the only club monitoring Navas, with Paris Saint-Germain also interested in the Madrid goalkeeper. Cadena Cope claim that Navas has no intention of leaving Madrid this summer and that his intention is to remain and fight for a starting place with Courtois. Navas has the support of Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane to remain at the club.
PAPER TALK (by Richard Edwards): The Real deal? Mbappe set for capital move
Real Madrid -- no doubt backing in the afterglow of Barcelona's humiliation at Anfield -- are hoping to give Bernabeu regulars hope for next season by shelling out a ludicrous amount of cash on French prodigy Kylian Mbappe.
According to France Football, Madrid president Florentino Perez is set to sanction a record-busting splurge on the Frenchman, with the club's offer for the Paris Saint-Germain striker topping the outrageous €222 million that PSG paid Barcelona for Neymar in 2017.
Whether PSG will flog their man, though, remains to be seen. The club have built their team around someone who represents the future of the French national side and very much see him as the man who can deliver the European dominance that they crave. With the shadow of FFP hanging over them, however, the money on offer from Madrid might be too good to turn down.
Babel fishing for Turkey return
After the astonishing events at Anfield it would be remiss to have Transfer Talk without a Merseyside link.
So praise be for the The Sun which reports that ex-Anfield favourite Ryan Babel -- now 32 -- is set for a Premier League exit from Fulham following the club's relegation from the top flight.
The paper report that the Dutch star, who arrived at Fulham from Besiktas in January, is set to flee London and head back to Turkey.
Although this time he's off to Galatasaray, not the Istanbul club that he called home for two seasons before heading to Craven Cottage. Babel is unlikely to be the only star to vacate the Championship-bound club this summer after a disastrous season by the Thames. Mind you, Galatasaray won't need to break the bank to bring him back to Turkey as his contract expires at the Cottage this summer. Meaning that the Turkish giants can snap him up for free.
Tap Ins
- Vincent Kompany has potentially had a decisive say in the ultimate destination of the Premier League title and now The Guardian report that playing time could play a massive role in whether the Belgian remains at the club next season. The club are potentially willing to offer the talisman a new one-year deal but Kompany wants reassurance that he will play more than a bit-part role as City (potentially) look to secure three titles in three years.
- Gareth Bale is no longer part of Real Madrid's plans -- but his exorbitant wages could prevent him from leaving the Spanish giants, even though the club are intent on ditching him sooner rather than later. Marca report that Madrid want him gone by the time they head on their preseason tour in July. But that Bale's €17m a year wages are a major stumbling block.