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          Transfer Talk: Chelsea to check in on Zaha at the winter window?

          • ESPN
          Aug 8, 2019, 10:21 PM

          The Premier League transfer window has closed but the rest of Europe remains open for business. Plus, it's never too late to look forward to January! Click here to view the latest transfers and keep up to date with the latest gossip below.

          - Lukaku completes €80m move to Inter
          - Lo Celso joins Spurs on loan initially
          - Tottenham seal £25m Sessegnon deal
          - Arsenal sign Luiz, clinch Tierney move
          - Man City sign Cancelo; Danilo joins Juve
          - Premier League transfer wrap: Who won and who lost?

          TOP STORY: Chelsea to circle back for Palace's Zaha

          The Sun claims that Crystal Palace's wantaway star Wilfried Zaha could finally be on his way out of the club in the new year, although his apparent suitors might come as a surprise. Chelsea, the report claims, will launch an £80 million bid for his services -- if (and it's a big if) they can get their current transfer ban overturned.

          Zaha has made no secret of his desire to leave Palace and head to pastures new. He has, though, reluctantly agreed to stay with the club until the winter window opens in four months' time. The winger handed in a transfer request on Wednesday and didn't train with Roy Hodgson's side on Thursday, with the manager admitting that Zaha's head wasn't clear. That is hardly great news for Palace on the eve of the new season.

          Everton were willing to spend big in order to bring Zaha to Merseyside, apparently preparing to offer him over £200,000-a-week to come to Goodison. But if Chelsea are free to splash the cash in January, the uneasy truce between Zaha and Palace could flare up again.

          LIVE BLOG

          22.14 BST: We'll close Friday's live edition of Transfer Talk with a done deal. The Vancouver Whitecaps have signed former Toronto FC forward Tosaint Ricketts on a deal through the end of the season.

          20.49 BST: With David Luiz's departure to Arsenal promoting Fikayo Tomori into Chelsea's first team, the club are eager to tie down the 21-year-old to a new contract, according to Goal.

          19.52 BST: Cagliari have confirmed the signing of Uruguayan international Nahitan Nandez from Boca Juniors.

          18.55 BST: Bild cites Sky Sport Italia as reporting that Bayern Munich have turned their attention to Inter winger Ivan Perisic following the ACL injury to Leroy Sane, who the Bavarians had been confident of signing from Manchester City.

          17.58 BST: With Chelsea's transfer ban concluding either in January or next summer, depending on the result of the club's appeal, the Blues will turn to Bournemouth's Nathan Ake to replace David Luiz should Frank Lampard determine he needs more reinforcements in central defence, according to the Telegraph. Chelsea sold the now-24-year-old Ake to the Cherries in 2017 for £20m, but inserted a £40m buyback clause, which has proven to be a prudent move considering Bournemouth quoted Leicester a £75m price tag when the Foxes inquired about Ake as a potential replacement for Harry Maguire.

          17.01 BST: The transfer window has shut in the Premier League, but Arsenal aren't done with their business. "Now we have the squad and we have finished in the transfer market, but it is still open in other countries," the Telegraph quotes Unai Emery as saying. "Now in the next 25 days some players will leave." The report states that the Gunners are looking to find buyers for Shkodran Mustafi and Mohamed Elneny.

          16.04 BST: The Mail writes that Paris Saint-Germain are preparing for the departure of Neymar ... by offering Paulo Dybala a contract that would net the Argentina international £11.1m a year, with Jeventus reportedly open to selling the 25-year-old for a fee of around £80m.

          15.07 BST: Paulo Dybala will stay at Juventus for the time being after his proposed move to Tottenham fell through on Thursday. ESPN FC's Julien Laurens explains why the deal plan out.

          14.37 BST: Japan international Shinji Kagawa has signed for Real Zaragoza from Borussia Dortmund, the club have announced.

          Kagawa spent the second half of last season on loan at Besiktas, where he made 14 league appearances, scoring four goals.

          14.25 BST: Former Chelsea defender David Luiz, who signed for Arsenal on Thursday, did not go on strike to force a move to the Emirates, according to Chelsea boss Frank Lampard.

          "The day David didn't train was a decision that I made because it was clear the way we were going," Lampard said in a news conference on Friday. "We had some honest conversations over the last week and the conclusion of that was he is gone."

          "It is an area of the pitch where we have competition. I don't have numbers ones or twos. They have to fight for that shirt."

          "Of course he's a good player. He's gone to a competitor, it's happened before, it will happen again."

          13.02 BST: Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects winger Alexis Sanchez to stay at Old Trafford this summer, he said in a news conference on Friday.

          Sanchez has not featured during preseason because of his Copa America commitments and despite speculation about his long-term future, Solskjaer expects his to stay.

          12.15 BST: Arsenal made a splash on deadline day, signing Chelsea's David Luiz and Celtic's Kieran Tierney to add to previous arrivals Nicolas Pepe, Dani Ceballos, William Saiba, and Gabriel Martinelli. But how will they line up this season?

          11.48 BST: Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has said that signing free-agent Andy Carroll was a "no-brainer."

          Bruce said in a news conference on Friday: "He was desperate -- a bit like myself, I suppose -- to come back, and of course the big question mark of everybody is can we get him back quickly and can he stay fit?"

          "It's his home-town club -- it was a no-brainer, really, one of those where you're delighted to do it."

          11.06 BST: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde refused to be drawn on speculation over the club's interest in signing Neymar from PSG this summer in a news conference on Thursday.

          "You told me something yesterday about Real Madrid, we will see tomorrow. No, you know that two years ago, you were already questioning me about Neymar on the American tour.

          "I feel like this issue is chasing me. We do not know what is going to happen. Today, he is with another club. We have nothing to say about players from other teams."

          Real Madrid are interested in bringing Neymar to the Santiago Bernabeu if they fail to land Manchester United's Paul Pogba this summer, sources told ESPN FC on Wednesday.

          10.33 BST: Southampton have completed the signing of centre-back Kevin Danso on a season-long loan from FC Augsburg, with an exclusive option to buy next summer.

          10.05 BST: What did we make of Romelu Lukaku's move to Inter Milan? One FC TV pundit says it was a great move.

          09.27 BST: Barcelona midfielder Arthur Melo has been speaking to ESPN and some other reporters in the U.S. -- here's what he had to say on transfers.

          On Philippe Coutinho: "It's his choice. He has to speak with his family, he has to be happy [here] to stay [here]. I think he's happy. My desire is for him to stay because he's top player and a great friend, too."

          On Neymar: "I don't speak with him about his future because I don't want to annoy him too much. Everyone asks him about that and I speak with him about a lot of other things. I don't know if he will come or not, but here we are. Let's see what happens.

          "I think me, the fans, the players and the team would want him back because he's an amazing player. I really like playing with him for Brazil and I hope I can enjoy [playing with him] here, too."

          09.07 BST: Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has signed a new long-term contract, the club announced on Friday.

          Gundogan, 24, has put pen to paper on a four-year deal that will keep him at City until at least 2023.

          08.41 BST: Manchester United will resume their recruitment of a technical director now that the Premier League transfer window has closed for the summer, the BBC reports.

          United initially began looking for candidates to fill the newly created role last summer, and intended to make an appointment before hiring a permanent successor to Jose Mourinho as manager.

          However, with no appointment made since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge, first as caretaker and then on a full-time basis, the Norwegian oversaw the signings of Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire this summer.

          Former United players Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher have been linked with the role.

          08.15 BST: Real Madrid are turning their full attention to signing Neymar now that they have given up on Paul Pogba, according to Marca.

          Pogba had been a target for Madrid all summer, and had himself expressed his desire to leave Manchester United for a new challenge earlier in the summer.

          However, with the transfer deadline passing for Premier League clubs without a potential replacement for the France midfielder being signed, Real club chiefs are assuming a deal will not be possible before their own transfer window closes.

          Marca reports that Madrid are now hoping it is third time lucky in their pursuit for Neymar, who they tried to sign from Santos before he joined Barcelona in 2013, and again in 2018 after his first season at Paris Saint-Germain.

          Once again, it looks like they will go toe-to-toe with bitter rivals Barca for the Brazil striker's signature.

          PAPER TALK (by Rich Edwards)

          After Lukaku, Inter target Dzeko next

          Inter Milan have finally got their man after persuading Romelu Lukaku to leave Old Trafford and travel to the San Siro. Now the Italian giants are setting their sights on doing likewise with Edin Dzeko. According to Calciomercato, the agent for the Bosnia international met Inter officials on Wednesday, with the player holding discussions with the club on Thursday.

          That said, this is no done deal. Roma have no replacement lined up, and with the European transfer window slamming shut soon, time is running out. All of which might make negotiations between the two Serie A rivals more than a little challenging.

          The outlet claims that Dzeko has already reached an agreement in principle with Inter and that the club is willing to up its offer in order to get the deal done and over the line. That could see the former Manchester City star lining up with former Manchester United player Lukaku by the time the month is out.

          Modric going nowhere

          Croatia star Luka Modric is not heading to Paris Saint-Germain this summer, with Marca reporting that his representatives have insisted that he will not be leaving Real Madrid.

          Modric missed the club's friendly against Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday, sparking a flurry of speculation about his future, but the rumour mongers can stand down. He's going nowhere.

          - Premier League fixtures 2019-20 in full
          - ESPN fantasy: Sign up now!
          - When does the transfer window close?

          Tap-ins

          - Marcos Rojo is fizzing after his deadline day move to Everton collapsed. The Daily Mail reports that a loan deal had been put in place, but Manchester United changed the conditions of the deal on transfer deadline day morning. That leaves Rojo stuck and Everton without a much-needed addition to their defence.

          - After his miserable stay at Stoke was ended in fairly fractious circumstances earlier this week, it seems as though Saido Berahino is set to resurface -- in Belgium with Zulte Waregem. That's according to the Daily Mail, which reports that the Belgian club are swooping for his services after Stoke paid him almost £2.5m to release him from his current deal. The striker endured a troubled stint in the Potteries and was recently banned from driving for 30 months and fined £75,000 after being found guilty of drink-driving.