LIVE Transfer Talk: Barcelona could move for PSV's Malen if Depay not an option

The coronavirus pandemic made the summer transfer market unlike any before it, but there were still plenty of deals done and you can check out the major ones here. The window may be closed across the top leagues in Europe, but here are the best rumours from around the globe.

TOP STORY: Koeman plots PSV raid for Malen

Despite Ronald Koeman stating a few weeks ago that Barcelona would attempt to sign Lyon forward Memphis Depay in January, Mundo Deportivo believes the Barca boss is plotting a plan B, namely PSV Eindhoven's Donyell Malen.

Barca were unable to close a €25m deal to sign Depay in the summer and it might prove just as tricky in January, which is why Koeman could be considering the fall-back option of Malen, a 21-year-old who has scored five goals already this season.

Malen has also registered two assists and, despite his tender age, he has been playing for Netherlands' national team. In fact, Koeman worked directly with the former Arsenal graduate while coaching his country, and so he knows first-hand the potential the youngster has in front of goal.

Koeman is hoping he can strengthen his Barca squad in January, though he knows he will have limited funds to work with given the size of the club's debt and the turmoil surrounding the board.

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LIVE BLOG

22.31 BST: Talks over a new contract have broken down between Sheffield United and midfielder John Lundstram, according to Sky Sports, and Burnley, Crystal Palace and Rangers are all said to be keen on recruiting the 26-year-old former England youth international.

20.14 BST: Mundo Deportivo reports that the heel injury that has kept Valencia midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia out of action for the past two weeks threatens to sideline the 27-year-old midfielder beyond the Nov. 5 deadline awarded to Atletico Madrid to find a replacement for Thomas Partey.

17.57 BST: Hakan Calhanoglu has gotten off to a hot start to the 2020-21 season, scoring four goals and assisting on four more in his first eight games of the campaign. That form could explain the stalemate he finds himself in as he and AC Milan negotiate a new contract, with the 26-year-old playmaker in the final year of his deal at the San Siro.

Enter Manchester United, who, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, are prepared to offer the Turkey international a pay rise on a five-year contract to come to Old Trafford. The report suggests that Calhanoglu's preference is to remain in Italy, though. And then there's the presence of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, who also like to operate in similar positions.

15.40 GMT: Former Arsenal and West Ham midfielder Jack Wilshere has told Sky Sports that he is considering "something different to the Premier League."

The 28-year-old left Arsenal in 2018 but made just 19 appearances for West Ham since due to injury and his contract was terminated by mutual consent this summer.

"La Liga, Italy or Germany would be a nice change for me," he said. "Not many English players have done it. I always watch La Liga, it was always something I thought about. I like the league, I think it's more technical than the English game. I think it's somewhere I could really show what I can do.

"I don't think I'm too young for the MLS. It's on Sky Sports, I think there's been a big improvement in that league. If the right opportunity came up I'd be open to it."

15.09 GMT: Shkodran Mustafi insists there have been no talks over his Arsenal future but admitted he would like to stay at the club beyond the end of his contract.

The 28-year-old's existing deal expires at the end of the season and there had been suggestions he rejected an offer of an extension as he viewed his future elsewhere.

However, Mustafi, who joined the Gunners from Valencia for £35m in 2016, claims no discussions have taken place as he focused on returning from a serious hamstring injury which ended his involvement last season with the FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City in July. The centre-back has been subjected to fierce criticism at times from supporters and pundits alike but he expressed a desire to stay at Arsenal if an agreement can be reached.

"When I made a decision to sign for Arsenal it is because I respect this club," he told reporters. "It is a huge club, that's why for me if I could stay at Arsenal, of course it would mean a lot to me.

"At the end of the day, it was important for me in the last three months to come back after the injury and to be ready to play and to help my team. When you hopefully get a few games, you can maybe look at the future but at the moment for me it has been difficult because in the last months, I haven't really been thinking about the end of my contract or what's going on with the future because all I wanted was to be back as quick as possible."

14.47 GMT: Chelsea spent big money on Kai Havertz this summer and it was a worthwhile investment.

14.15 GMT: Calciomercato claims that Aitor Karanka's Birmingham are keen to bring former AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato to the club.

Pato, 31, ended his contract with Brazilian side Sao Paulo in August and is reportedly also of interest to Italian sides Genoa, Spezia and Monza.

The Brazil striker was tipped for the top at a young age and scored 63 goals in 150 appearances for Milan before his career dipped and he spent time at Corinthians, Villarreal and Tianjin Tianhai. In January 2016 he moved to Chelsea on loan but only played twice.

Pato has not played for his country since 2013 but Birmingham have only scored three Championship goals this season and need some firepower up front.

13.55 GMT: Corinthians striker Danilo Avelar has invested in a platform that links big clubs from Brazil and the rest of the world to footballers that don't have easy access to agents.

Avelar, 31, who is recovering from a right knee injury, joined a new venture by investing in an app called Tero, which is already up and running. It allows clubs to see the quality of players so that they can showcase their football with a view to getting a professional contract.

"I have always liked entrepreneurship and have been involved in it alongside football. I like to undertake, to innovate, to seek new ideas, because I have this entrepreneurial streak," Avelar said. "The app manages to connect large clubs in Brazil and the world with the athlete who is in the countryside, who has no agent who has no perspective. The distance ends up decreasing through this platform, because it allows young people to achieve this dream of being a professional athlete.

"The platform will help athletes and the clubs themselves. For example, you can filter which athlete you are interested in. So, if the team is looking for a midfielder, 1.80m tall, left-footed, this application will provide all these options. With that, the club saves and optimizes time, and has greater assertiveness. It is much better than having a sieve of a thousand athletes to get maybe just one."

13.11 GMT: Estudiantes La Plata president Juan Sebastian Veron believes Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is not comfortable at the club.

Messi wanted to leave Barca this past summer, with the forward accusing club president Josep Maria Bartomeu of lying and then criticising the running of the club when he announced that he would stay rather than pursue legal action to force a move away.

Amid poor performance on the pitch and €97m losses off it, Bartomeu resigned on Tuesday, with the rest of the board of directors stepping down alongside him, and an election will be scheduled within the next 90 days to appoint a new president.

Veron, a former Manchester United midfielder and Argentina international, told DeportivoIP: "I note a certain discomfort for now, understanding that all these years at Barcelona he looked to be a protagonist, and it seems to me that it's an era in transition, with a lot of change, trying to find a certain identity. And Messi is involved in that, too.

"It seems to me that to a certain extent, the club has not been able to accompany him, especially in the creation of a group and a team, and that at one point it conspires against what he is. He has always been a competitive player and sought to try to stay at the top."

12.32 GMT: IFK Norrkoping midfielder Isak Bergmann Johannesson has been scouted by Liverpool, according to Swedish outlet Expressen.

Johannesson, 17, has impressed for his club side and plays for Iceland Under-21s. Manchester United and Juventus have also shown an interest in signing him, says Aftonbladet.

11.21 GMT: Reports have resurfaced about Manchester United targeting RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano, in The Times.

Back in August, sources told ESPN's Mark Ogden that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to bolster his defensive options and that Upamecano was his top target. The 21-year-old impressed during Leipzig's run to the Champions League semifinals in Lisbon last season.

The Frenchman signed an extension to his contract until June 2023. He had been due to be out of contract in June 2021 -- a deal which included a €60m release clause -- but despite committing his future to Julien Nagelsmann's team, reports in Germany claim that the new deal includes a release clause of €42m, which can be triggered at the end of the 2020-21 season.

10.35 GMT: First Man United, then Arsenal: Wilfried Zaha's form for Crystal Palace could attract interest from the big clubs again, writes James Olley.

Zaha looks to be rediscovering the form that came either side of that bumper contract -- nine goals in 29 Premier League games in 2017-18 and 10 in 34 in 2018-19. Similarly, Palace are in striking distance of joining the league leaders on 13 points when they kick off the weekend action on Friday evening at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Palace and Hodgson will reap the short-term benefits should Zaha continue to excel, but it may also reignite talk of the 'big club' move he palpably craves, perhaps still motivated to some extent by his failure to thrive at Manchester United in 2013.

Zaha became Sir Alex Ferguson's final signing at Old Trafford, almost a parting gift for his successor, David Moyes, but the £15m man was discarded and eventually returned back to Palace, initially on loan in 2014 and then permanently 12 months later for around £6m. He made four appearances for United and never started a Premier League game.

One agent described the absence of a release clause in his contract as "farcical," questioning how Zaha was ever convinced to sign a deal that left Palace in such a strong negotiating position. Yet next summer he will have two years left on that deal, and it remains to be seen whether Palace chairman Steve Parish would soften that stance.

09.59 GMT: Manchester United face RB Leipzig tonight but might they be looking closing at the German club's manager too?

09.12 GMT: David Alaba and Bayern Munich could part ways at the end of the season, according to German outlet Sport Bild.

Alaba's representative Pini Zahavi and the Champions League winners returned to the negotiation table last Friday, but they left without getting any closer to agreeing terms over a new contract.

The Austria defender is under contract at Bayern until 2021, and he could now leave the club where he has spent his entire professional career.

Alaba, 28, could leave the Allianz Arena on a free transfer next summer and can sign a pre-contract for the 2021-22 season with a new club from Jan. 1.

08.35 GMT: Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned along with the rest of the board of directors on Tuesday, rather than await a fans' vote of confidence on his future at the club, raising the prospect that Lionel Messi could stay at the club beyond the end of the season.

Last season was Barca's first campaign without a trophy since 2007-08, and earlier this month the club announced losses for the 2019-20 season of €97m, although it was largely a consequence of the financial strains relating to the coronavirus pandemic. Cracks emerged between Bartomeu and the players, particularly Messi.

Bartomeu stood firm when Messi wanted to leave Barca this past summer, with the forward accusing him of lying and then criticising Bartomeu's running of the club when he announced that he would stay rather than pursue legal action to force a move away from Camp Nou.

"The easiest thing after the Champions [League defeat to Bayern Munich] was to resign, but one had to take decisions amid an unprecedented global crisis," Bartomeu said, adding that later on, in the wake of the Messi spat, he could not let the club be run by external, temporary figures. "Who would have ensured that Messi stayed? Who would have hired a new coach?"

Messi's contract expires next summer, meaning he is free to talk to clubs outside of Spain over a free transfer from Jan. 1, 2021.

08.00 GMT: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hit back at claims Manchester United made a mistake in signing midfielder Donny van de Beek and insisted he will play a key role at Old Trafford this season.

Van de Beek, a £40m summer signing from Ajax, was an unused substitute for the 0-0 draw with Chelsea on Saturday, prompting Patrice Evra to say his former club "don't need him," while former Netherlands forward Marco van Basten said the player should have joined a club where he can play more regularly.

Van de Beek has not started a Premier League game so far this season, managing just 61 minutes in five games, but Solskjaer is backing the 23-year-old to come good.

"I realise the topic is Donny van de Beek and it's nice for some players or commentators to have a little go," Solskjaer told a news conference on Tuesday. "I know you're short for time when you're on telly and you have to put your points across very quickly but you have to know that you don't have to start the first three games to be a very important player in the squad.

"When Donny has played, he's played really well. I think it says a lot about our depth of quality in the squad that we don't have to use him every single game because we have other players as well. I also think it says everything about our ambitions -- we want to push on, we want to challenge for trophies this season. Donny is going to play a big, big part this year. Donny's going to be very very important for us, don't worry about that."

PAPER TALK (by Nick Judd)

Barcelona and Juventus in new swap deal?

Having conducted one swap deal already this year -- for Arthur and Miralem Pjanic -- Barcelona and Juventus could do more business in January 2020, with the Old Lady willing to swap Federico Bernardeschi for Ousmane Dembele.