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          LIVE Transfer Talk: Chelsea back in for Sevilla's Jules Kounde after signing Kalidou Koulibaly

          • ESPN
          Jul 16, 2022, 04:02 PM

          The summer transfer window is here, and there's plenty of gossip swirling about who's moving where. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings and goings and, of course, done deals!

          TOP STORY: Kounde back on Chelsea's radar

          Chelsea will revive their interest in Sevilla defender Jules Kounde as their pursuit for Manchester City's Nathan Ake looks to be collapsing, according to the Evening Standard.

          Chelsea will re-approach the LaLiga side for Kounde, with the Blues unwilling to match City's £50 million price tag for the 27-year-old Ake.

          As Thomas Tuchel looks to rebuild his side's defence this summer transfer window following the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, Kounde was a backup option for new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly as the side pursued Matthijs de Ligt, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Ake.

          After Koulibaly's arrival in a €40m move from Napoli, Chelsea are now set to fight Barcelona for 23-year-old Kounde, who is reportedly valued at £56m. The Catalan side lead the race for the France international, who made 32 LaLiga appearances for Sevilla last season, after reportedly reaching an agreement on personal terms.

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          LIVE BLOG

          21.35 BST: Rangers defender Calvin Bassey has agreed to join Ajax on a permanent deal, according to The Athletic.

          The deal is reportedly worth around £22m and Bassey will likely replace Lisandro Martinez who is set to join Manchester United. Clubs including Aston Villa, West Ham United, and Brighton & Hove Albion were all interested in the 22-year-old Nigeria international, who will leave the Scottish side on a club record fee.

          21.03 BST: AC Milan are interested in signing Tottenham's Japhet Tanganga, reports Gianluca Di Marzio.

          Negotiations over a loan are underway between Milan and Spurs, with a deal likely to include an option to make the move permanent. The 23-year-old defender is contracted to Tottenham until 2025, and only made 11 Premier League appearances last season before he suffered a knee injury.

          19.58 BST: PSG have confirmed that Reims striker Hugo Ekitike will join on loan until the end of the season, with an option to make the deal long-term.

          Newcastle United were also trying to sign him, but now it looks like he is choosing to join PSG instead. The 20-year-old French striker scored 11 goals in 27 matches for Reims in all competitions last season.

          19.06 BST: Sevilla are racing against Leeds United to sign Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe, according to Diario de Seville.

          The 27-year-old Ivory Coast international arrived at the Emirates for £72m from Lille in 2019, but started only five Premier League games last season. Leeds are looking for an attacking winger after Raphinha's transfer to Barcelona.

          18.05 BST: Arsenal are ramping up their efforts to finalise a new contract with Bukayo Saka, who is rumoured to be on Manchester City's radar after the departure of Raheem Sterling to Chelsea, according to The Daily Mail.

          20-year-old Saka has two years left on his current contract with the Gunners, and a new deal would make him one of the club's highest paid players. However, Mikel Arteta would be reluctant to part with Saka, who has become one of Arsenal's most important players given his exceptional ball carrying and crossing abilities.

          17.01 BST: Dani Ceballos is "90%" likely to stay at Real Madrid this season, Cadena COPE reports, because his preferred destination Real Betis are unable to offer a transfer fee of over €10m, which is the minimum that Madrid would consider acceptable.

          Ceballos, 25, spent the first half of last season injured, but made an impact off the bench when he returned to fitness, featuring as Madrid won a LaLiga and Champions League double.

          The midfielder wants increased playing time as he hopes to make the Spain squad for the 2022 World Cup and believes he would get it at boyhood club Betis, but the finances involved may frustrate a possible deal, according to COPE.

          16.20 BST: It's been a busy day in Munich, and more news just in!

          Bayern Munich CEO Oliver Kahn has confirmed the club are in talks to sign Matthijs de Ligt from Juventus, with the move to be funded by the transfer fee received from Robert Lewandowski's switch to Barcelona.

          "We have had talks," Kahn is reported to have told BR24Sport. "The player wants to come to FC Bayern. We'll have more talks and then we'll see how it goes."

          The transfer fee for the Dutch defender is expected between €60-80m.

          15.39 BST: Real Madrid and Real Sociedad are getting closer to reaching an agreement over the transfer of Takefusa Kubo, Marca reports, with a permanent move now more likely than a loan.

          Madrid had initially preferred a loan deal as they still believe in the youngster's potential, the newspaper says, but La Real were reluctant to agree to that, and the most likely scenario is that Madrid will retain the right to receive a percentage of any future transfer fee.

          Kubo, 21, spent the last three years on loan at Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe, but has scored just one goal in the last two seasons as he struggled to find consistency.

          15.00 BST: Two big pieces of news coming out of Germany!

          Bayern Munich president Herbert Hainer has said the club have a verbal agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of striker Robert Lewandowski.

          Lewandowski, 33, has twice won the Golden Boot for Europe's leading goal scorer and finished as runner-up for the 2021 Ballon d'Or. He is set to join Barca for a €45 million fee, with an additional €5 million in variables, sources told ESPN.

          "It's good for both sides that we have clarity. Robert has earned our appreciation, he has won everything with us. We are incredibly grateful to him," club president Herbert Hainer said in an interview with Bayerischer Rundfunk.

          CEO Oliver Kahn said: "We have agreed to release Robert Lewandowski. We have a verbal agreement with FC Barcelona, the contract is still pending. We know very well what we have to thank Robert for, but great players have also left FC Bayern in the past, and even after that, Bayern's world did not fall apart. On the contrary, it often continued with even more success."

          Meanwhile, Bayern have confirmed that midfielder Serge Gnabry has signed a new contract until 2026. Gnabry, 27, had moved into the last year of his contract and was being linked with a move away from the club.

          14.31 BST: Former Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas is set for a shock move to Serie B with Como, reports Calciomercato.

          Fabregas, 35, left AS Monaco at the start of the month when his contract expired and had been linked with a return to Spain with Las Palmas and a switch to the United Arab Emirates.

          Instead the midfielder is set to play in Italy for the first time, linking up with Como -- whose director is former Chelsea star Dennis Wise -- on a two year contract.

          13.48 BST: Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri would like Alvaro Morata to be the alternative to Dusan Vlahovic in the team's attack this season, according to the Italian journalist Gianluca DiMarzio.

          Morata, 29, spent the last two seasons on loan at Juventus, scoring 20 goals in Serie A, but returned to parent club Atletico Madrid this summer, taking part in preseason training this week, with Juve unwilling to pay the agreed €35m fee to make the deal permanent.

          Allegri is still keen on having the Spain international as a back-up to first choice Vlahovic, however, and talks between the two clubs have now reopened.

          13.09 BST: Another done deal for Chelsea today, with the West London club completing the signing of Omari Hutchinson from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee.

          Hutchinson, 18, was in talks with Arsenal over a new contract but has opted to move across the capital. While he hadn't made a first-team appearance for Arsenal, he had been named in the matchday squad on several occasions, including for the trip to Stamford Bridge in April.

          He is an attacking midfielder or winger and an England youth international. He has also made a senior appearance for Jamaica, in an unofficial friendly against Catalonia in March.

          12.20 BST: There were few bright sparks within Burnley's relegation from the Premier League, but Maxwel Cornet did give some cause for cheer.

          Cornet, 25, joined Burnley from Lyon in a €15m deal and scored nine goals in 26 league appearances. He is now a man in demand and The Athletic reports that Everton are working on a deal to keep him in the top flight.

          Talks are continuing over a deal for the forward, though no agreement has yet been reached.

          11.41 BST: Manchester United and Chelsea are set for a transfer battle over Lens wing-back Jonathan Clauss, reports the Evening Standard.

          Chelsea are said to have been tracking the 29-year-old for the last year, but United have now stepped to the front of the race for his signature by making an approach to the French club.

          Atletico Madrid, Marseille and Wolves are also said to be interested in the player, who is reportedly available for a transfer fee of just £8m.

          Clauss spent most of career in the lower leagues before a breakthrough period with Arminia Bielefeld in Germany. He joined Lens on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2020 and his career has gone from strength to strength, leading to a first senior cap for France in March.

          11.00 BST: The Guardian reports that West Ham United have made an opening transfer offer of £25m for Chelsea forward Armando Broja.

          Broja, 20, was excellent on loan at Southampton last season, scoring nine goals in all competitions, and wants to leave Stamford Bridge permanently for regular first-team football.

          The Albania international has also been linked with Everton, Newcastle United and Napoli.

          10.21 BST: Manchester United are still confident they will be able to sign Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona this summer, according to The Sun.

          On Friday, Barca president Joan Laporta denied reports that the club will be forced to let De Jong go this summer to comply with financial fair play rules.

          The report says that £24m in unpaid wages owed to De Jong remain the major issue preventing the deal, worth a total of £72.7m, from being completed

          De Jong has been included in Barcelona's preaseason tour to the United States as talks continue.

          09.40 BST: Barcelona and Bayern Munich have reached an agreement for the transfer of Robert Lewandowski, sources have confirmed to ESPN's Sam Marsden Moises Llorens.

          The final agreement for the Poland striker is for a €45 million transfer fee, with €5m in potential add-ons.

          Lewandowski will be announced as a new Barca player over the weekend, according to sources.

          09.00 BST: Chelsea have completed the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Serie A side Napoli, the club have announced.

          Manager Thomas Tuchel has been looking to bolster his defensive options since the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen on free transfers to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively.

          Koulibaly, 31, joined Napoli in 2014 and has made 317 appearances for the club. He previously had spells with Belgian side Genk and French team Metz.

          He becomes the latest big name arrival at Stamford Bridge this summer after Chelsea signed Raheem Sterling from Manchester City.

          PAPER GOSSIP

          - Juventus have move closer to reaching an agreement with Bayern Munich to sign Matthijs de Ligt, according to Sky Sports Germany. The Italian club are still demanding around €80m for the 22-year-old centre-back following the Bundesliga side's initial offer of €60m, excluding potential add-ons. However, the Serie A side are determined to offload the Netherlands international this summer, with further negotiations to take place soon.

          - William Saliba will push to leave Arsenal if he cannot be guaranteed a starting place in Mikel Arteta's side, reports the Independent. The 21-year-old, who has spent the last three seasons on loan since arriving from Saint-Etienne for in 2019 for £27m, can reportedly secure a place in France's World Cup squad if he plays consistently before the tournament kicks off in November. Marseille are looking to sign Saliba on a permanent deal after an impressive loan spell last season, with Atletico Madrid also reportedly interested in the young defender.

          - PSG have offered to transfer Georginio Wijnaldum to AS Roma, according to Calciomercato. The 31-year-old midfielder has failed to make an impact after arriving last summer on a free transfer from Liverpool. The Netherlands international is reportedly on football advisor Luis Campos' list of players to move on this summer and has been left out of the pre-season squad for the tour of Japan. PSG have reportedly approached Jose Mourinho's side, who are in the market for a midfielder, and the Giallorossi considering the offer.