LIVE Transfer Talk: Real Madrid eye Haaland if Mbappe move fails

The coronavirus pandemic made the transfer market unlike any before it, but there was still plenty of action on Deadline Day. With the window closed across the major leagues in Europe, you can check out the latest major completed transfers across the globe.

TOP STORY: Real Madrid eye Haaland if Mbappe move fails

Erling Haaland is back on the front page of Marca, with claims Real Madrid are likely to move for the Borussia Dortmund striker next summer if it proves too difficult to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain.

The newspaper reports that "Madrid haven't lost sight of the Norwegian's progression" -- having scored 11 goals already this season for club and country -- and "it's a more straightforward, affordable operation" although Mbappe, whose PSG contract expires in 2022, remains their No. 1 attacking target despite his €150m-plus pricetag.

Marca cites Madrid's excellent relationship with Borussia Dortmund, demonstrated by the recent loans of Achraf Hakimi and Reinier Jesus, as giving them the edge over any potential rivals for Haaland's signature.

Sources told ESPN in April that Manchester United would be interested in Haaland if the striker leaves Borussia Dortmund. United have been trying to sign €120m-rated Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho, but a reported €75m release clause in Haaland's contract makes him more affordable.

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LIVE BLOG

22.42 BST: While AS Roma worked tirelessly to shed salary over the summer, the Giallorossi are naturally putting greater emphasis on young (and cheap) players they've produced in house, and have agreed a new contract with 18-year-old midfielder Edoardo Bove that will keep him in the Italian capital through 2024, according to Corriere dello Sport.

21.45 BST: Journalist Pete O'Rourke reports that Chelsea's highly rated 18-year-old left-back Ian Maatsen is set to join Championship outfit Charlton Athletic on loan ahead of Friday's EFL transfer deadline, with the Blues already having three established left-backs in the first team.

20.48 BST: West Ham United's move for Brentford playmaker Said Benrahma has stalled, the Telegraph writes, but the 25-year-old is expected to move to the Premier League before the close of the EFL transfer window on Friday, with Aston Villa and Crystal Palace credited with interest.

19.51 BST: MLSsoccer.com's Matt Doyle said in the Extra Time podcast that the New York Red Bulls' just-signed 17-year-old attacking prodigy Caden Clark has a clause in his contract that will allow him to leave Major League Soccer for RB Leipzig in 2022.

18.54 BST: As reports emerge in France and Spain of a dispute between Chelsea manager Frank Lampard and midfielder N'Golo Kante, leading to the 29-year-old wanting to leave west London potentially for Real Madrid, the Telegraph's Matt Law reports that such accounts are wide of the mark.

17.57 BST: Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman wants the club to complete the signing of Lyon forward Memphis Depay in January, according to Mundo Deportivo, after the Catalans had been linked with the 26-year-old Netherlands international for much of the summer. However, the Blaugrana will need to make room for the Dutchman's wages, with Ousmane Dembele said to be the preferred player to be offloaded, while Martin Braithwaite could also be surplus to requirements come the winter window.

17.00 BST: Liverpool only signed a few players this summer and have struggled already in the Premier League title defence.

16.12 BST: He's only been there for a few weeks, but AC Milan are keen to make Diogo Dalot's loan from Manchester United permanent, says Tuttosport.

Dalot, 21, struggled for game time after the arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka at Old Trafford and could be handed his debut in the Milan derby on Saturday.

15.30 BST: ICYMI - A number of Manchester United players have expressed their disappointment at the treatment of goalkeeper Sergio Romero, sources have told ESPN's Rob Dawson.

Romero has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford after the return of Dean Henderson from loan but was priced out of a move away on deadline day because of United's insistence on a fee of around £10m.

The 33-year-old, a popular member of the squad, is set to return to Manchester after a break in Argentina but is likely to find no prospect of first team football until at least January while No.1 David de Gea and Henderson share duties in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.

15.12 BST: How is Juventus loanee Weston McKennie getting on at his new club? Pretty good.

Read why the recently concluded European transfer window has the potential to be a watershed moment for U.S. players here.

14.35 BST: Bayern Munich and Inter Milan were engaged in talks over a swap deal involving Jerome Boateng and Christian Eriksen, reports Sky Germany.

Inter have been looking to improve their defence and 32-year-old centre-back Boateng caught their eye as his place in the Bayern side is under threat this season. Eriksen only joined Inter in January for around €27m, but the attacking midfielder hasn't settled and Inter were ready to swap him for Boateng, though a deal could not be reached.

14.04 BST: Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is set to extend his contract at Camp Nou until 2025, sources have confirmed to ESPN's Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden.

Negotiations over a new deal were put on hold at the start of the coronavirus pandemic but talks resumed with Ter Stegen's agent, Rene vom Bruch, last month and a loose agreement was brokered last week.

Sources close to the discussions have told ESPN the Germany international's new contract could be drawn up and signed before the end of the month -- and maybe even before next weekend's Clasico against Real Madrid.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Ter Stegen will receive a substantial wage rise in accordance with his increased importance to the side, placing him among the club's top earners. However, the increase to his salary will be staggered across the five-year deal to help the club manage the financial fallout caused by the pandemic. Cost-cutting measures this summer have already seen Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal and Ivan Rakitic leave the club.

13.17 BST: Manchester United have added Sevilla's Jules Kounde to their list of targets, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not ruling out a move for a centre-back in January if his problems in defence do not improve, sources have told ESPN's Rob Dawson. 

Kounde, 21, is considered an option to strengthen the defence in January or next summer, but any move is likely to rely on United moving on at least two of the centre-backs already at Old Trafford. Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are surplus to requirements and both have been left out of this season's Champions League squad.

Manchester City registered their interest in Kounde in the summer but after scouts described the Frenchman as "an unknown quantity" after just one full season in La Liga, director of football Txiki Begiristain opted instead to sign Benfica centre-back Ruben Dias for €68m.

As well as Kounde, who is valued at between €65m-€70m by Sevilla, United are also monitoring 23-year-old Villarreal defender Pau Torres.

Only newly-promoted West Brom (13) have shipped more goals than United (11) in the Premier League so far this season as Solskjaer has struggled to find a reliable partner for captain Harry Maguire.

12.21 BST: Joining Barcelona to play with Lionel Messi is an easy sell.

12.04 BST: Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has been speaking about his failure to sign a young Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Ibrahimovic was invited to London for a trial as a teenager, but told the French boss 'I don't do trials' and eventually moved to Ajax, before embarking on an incredibly successful career. But Wenger told BBC Sport that he doesn't regret not offering to sign the Sweden legend at that stage of his career.

"Not really, because he was a 17-year-old boy playing at Malmo in the second league in Sweden," he said. "And nobody knew him. We gave trials to many players at 17 -- it was absolutely normal before you make a decision."

Asked about some of the players he almost signed, he replied: "Of course I think what if, for example, Cristiano Ronaldo played with Thierry Henry, [Robert] Pires, [Sylvain] Wiltord and [Dennis Bergkamp]. Maybe we score 200 goals in a season!

"You regret sometimes, you think it's your fault that you didn't decide quickly enough or sometimes financially you couldn't agree quickly enough, but overall I must say you go to Chelsea, you go to Manchester United, you go to Liverpool ... every club is full of stories like this."

Wenger was also asked about the current situation with Mesut Ozil at his former club, where the £42.4m signing has been frozen out of the first-team with less than a year left on his contract.

"I feel it is a waste for him," Wenger said. "Firstly because he's in the years where a player of his talent can produce the most. And it's a waste for the club as well because he's a super talent, a creative talent that in the final third can create that killer pass.

"The way football is going at the moment it's quick counter-pressing, quick transitions and everybody plays the same. It's kicked out players like Ozil. Although let's not forget who this guy is. A world champion who has played at Real Madrid. He's been the record player of assists, so you have to find a way to get him involved again."

11.16 BST: Chelsea full-back Emerson was linked with Inter Milan throughout the summer but failed to secure a move and now says he's unhappy at the club.

Emerson, 26, is third choice behind £50m signing Ben Chilwell and Marcos Alonso, despite keeping his place in the Italy team which played on Sunday in a 0-0 Nations League draw with Poland.

"When I arrive here I change my head, I feel important and part of the group," he told reporters while on international duty. "At Chelsea, things are not going as I wish in this part of the season. I just have to work."

10.41 BST: West Ham have tabled a bid for Bournemouth striker Josh King worth in the region of £13m, sources have told ESPN's Tom Hamilton.

King, 28, was linked with a move to Manchester United in January, but now down in the Championship at relegated Bournemouth, the Norway international is keen to secure a move back up to England's top tier.

West Ham are looking to bring in a new striker and winger before the domestic transfer deadline shuts on Friday for deals between Premier League sides and clubs in the EFL. They have been heavily linked with a move for Brentford winger Said Benrahma and King is also on their radar.

Everton were reportedly in the race for King, but sources told ESPN that West Ham are the frontrunners with the two clubs trying to find a compromise over the fee.

10.10 BST: Luka Modric's contract with Real Madrid expires in June 2021 but Mundo Deportivo claims that the club aren't going to be rushed over an extension, however much the midfielder wants to stay.

Modric, 35, has been at Real since 2012 when he joined from Tottenham. However, after failing to sign anyone in the summer transfer window, the club have a host of targets for 2021 including Rennes' 17-year-old star Eduardo Camavinga.

09.28 BST: Thomas Partey's father Jacob has said the family were hoping the midfielder would leave Atletico Madrid on deadline day -- and he advised his son to join Arsenal, despite their lack of Champions League football.

"We actually weren't disturbed by anything (on deadline day) because we hoped a bigger team will come for Partey," he told Ghana's Joy News. "We were aware of the [other teams that were interested]: Juventus, Chelsea and so forth."

"He was willing to play where there is Champions League [football] but [suggested] can't he be where there is no Champions League and help them get into the Champions League?" he added. "My advice to him was irrespective of the big move, he has to keep training seriously and not lose focus. Not chase ladies so he doesn't flop!"

It's not the first time Jacob Partey has been vocal about his son's career, getting into hot water in April when Thomas' agent was forced to deny his claims that talks with Arsenal were underway.

08.57 BST: La Liga president Javier Tebas is hopeful that Barcelona captain Lionel Messi will continue playing in Spain beyond June 2021, when his contract expires.

Messi, 33, had wanted to leave Barca in August after growing increasingly unhappy at how the club was being managed but was forced to make a U-turn when the Catalan giants demanded his €700m release clause.

"Messi? I hope he will always stay in La Liga," Tebas added. "I don't know if from a personal standpoint he is better off leaving, certainly on the professional side he could earn even more, but considering how well he feels in Barcelona."

La Liga lost Cristiano Ronaldo two years ago when the Portugal forward left Real Madrid to sign for Juventus in a €100m transfer while in the summer of 2017, Neymar left Barcelona to join Paris Saint-Germain in a world record €222m transfer.

"Cristiano Ronaldo left two years ago but we didn't notice from an economic point of view," Tebas told Gazzetta dello Sport. "And we have always been preparing for the release of our best talents, for the generational change.

"It has already happened with Neymar and with Cristiano. We have signed contracts already for the next four years and no one has complained if Ney or Ronaldo left, they didn't ask for their money back.

"On the contrary, we have grown in the sale of rights. Because there are other factors that matter, besides the names of the players. We have such stability that we continue calmly on our path."

08.24 BST: Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has said there will be "no ultimatum" for defender David Alaba whose current deal is set to expire in 2021.

Talks between Bayern and Alaba have stalled and the Austria defender, 28, has been linked with a free transfer to Juventus or one of the two Spanish giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

"David is our player, and he's been at the club for 12 years. We will not set David an ultimatum, we will not play any games there," Salihamidzic told reporters on Monday.

"We all know what we have in David and we try to convince him. We'd be delighted if he were to stay in Munich and are hoping for his signature."

08.00 BST: A number of Manchester United players have expressed their disappointment at the treatment of goalkeeper Sergio Romero, sources have told ESPN's Rob Dawson.

Romero has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford after the return of Dean Henderson but was priced out of a move away on deadline day because of United's insistence on a fee of around £10m.

The 33-year-old, a popular member of the squad, is set to return to Manchester after a break in Argentina but is likely to find no prospect of first team football until at least January while No.1 David De Gea and Henderson share duties in the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.

It comes just months after manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer surprised the United dressing room by omitting Romero from the FA Cup semifinal against Chelsea and Europa League semifinal against Sevilla last season, despite picking the Argentina international for the majority of games in both competitions until that point.

Romero has also been left out of this Champions League squad after Solskjaer chose 37-year-old Lee Grant as the third goalkeeper in the list submitted to UEFA. It has led members of United's dressing room to express their sympathy with Romero's situation with many to feel he has been unfairly frozen out after five years of service.

Everton were keen to sign Romero on deadline day but were unwilling to match United's asking price and instead opted for Sweden international Robin Olsen on a season-long loan deal from AS Roma to provide competition for first-choice Jordan Pickford.

PAPER TALK (by Danny Lewis)

Man City to return for Tagliafico

Manchester City will make another move for Ajax left-back Nicolas Tagliafico during the January transfer window, reports the Sun.