Football
ESPN 4y

LIVE Transfer Talk: Man United, Liverpool, Arsenal keep eye on Griezmann

The coronavirus pandemic has made the transfer market uncertain -- and you can find out when the windows open and close here -- but here are the rumours floating around Europe's big leagues and beyond.

TOP STORY: Griezmann future has major Premier League clubs 'on red alert'

Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are among the clubs monitoring the situation when it comes to the future of Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann, the Mail on Sunday reports.

Lionel Messi's dramatic U-turn on Friday ended his bid to leave the club this summer, leaving Barca looking for alternative ways to fund the major overhaul of their squad that is required following their first season without a trophy in 12 years.

Griezmann was one of the handful of players that Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said would not be available for a transfer this summer, but Messi's decision to stay could change that situation for the 29-year-old.

In 2017, sources told ESPN's Rob Dawson that Griezmann was United's top transfer target, when the France international was still at Atletico Madrid but, despite the player himself appearing open to a move, he remained in the Spanish capital.

The Mail report adds that Barcelona will have to take a significant loss on the €120 million fee they invested when Griezmann signed with them a year ago if they want to get him off the wage bill.

LIVE BLOG

22.40 BST: Sami Khedira has just 10 months remaining on his Juventus contract, but the Old Lady is desperate to get his €6m annual wages off their books, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. There's just one problem: There are no clubs interested in the 33-year-old midfielder and he insists on collecting the remainder of his salary.

21.53 BST: Marca reports that Barcelona have determined they will not send Philippe Coutinho on loan this season, meaning that the only way the 28-year-old playmaker will leave the Catalan club is if an interested party comes in with a big offer to take the Brazil international permanently - an unlikely scenario in this economic climate.

21.06 BST: With Luis Suarez closing on a move to Juventus after learning he is not part of Ronald Koeman's plans at Barcelona, the Blaugrana's ongoing pursuit of Inter Milan and Argentina striker Lautaro Martinez has taken a new turn, with Goal reporting that the Catalans have put together a new offer "to test the resolve" of the Serie A side to keep the prolific goalscorer.

20.32 BST: An Instagram post from Manchester United's David De Gea has sparked some transfer speculation surrounding the club. The Manchester Evening News shared a picture of De Gea and Sergio Reguilon as the two take part in UEFA Nations League action with La Rojas leading the paper to suggest the 23-year-old could be on his way from Real Madrid to Old Trafford.

19.48 BST: According to the Mirror, Liverpool are aware of Barcelona's interest in midfielder Gini Wijnaldum and they expect a fee of £15m in order to let the Netherlands international leave Anfield. New Barca boss Koeman is well aware of Wijnaldum's quality, having coached him in his previous gig as Dutch national team boss.

19.02 BST: Wolves have made their second signing of the weekend after securing the signature of defender Marcal from Lyon.

The 31-year-old has signed a two-year contract with the Premier League side for a reported fee of €2m.

Wolves paid a club record fee to land Fabio Silva from Porto on Saturday (see 09.00 BST)

17.38 BST: Don't forget to take a look at ESPN's Insider Notebook. Here are the top transfer lines:

- Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to value dressing room harmony over transfer business as the club continue to deal with the fall-out from Alexis Sanchez's disastrous move, sources have told ESPN's Rob Dawson.

- Real Madrid are considering a second round of temporary wage cuts for players as the club assesses the long-term financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, sources have told ESPN's Alex Kirkland and Rodrigo Faez.

- Atletico Madrid are yet to receive an offer for Arsenal target Thomas Partey, sources told ESPN, with PSG now in the running to land the midfielder.

16.46 BST: Christian Eriksen could be on his way out of Inter Milan after joining them in January, according to the Daily Mail.

The report claims that the midfielder has been placed on the club's transfer list and Inter would be willing to listen to offers around £35m.

The former Spurs man has struggled for minutes with club coach Antonio Conte preferring to stick to his favoured 3-5-2 formation which doesn't suit Eriksen.

15.59 BST: Lyon boss Rudi Garcia has said he would be willing to let his best players leave the club this summer if it meant they would have a chance of winning the Champions League.

Club captain Memphis Depay has been linked with a move to Barcelona and sources have told ESPN that Premier League clubs are monitoring midfielder Aouar.

"Memphis is a top player, he is a fantastic player who is returning following an ACL operation," Garcia told TF1. "If he can do the season with us, we will be stronger for it.

"Aside from that, for a lot of my great players, if they have the option to join a club that is built to win the Champions League, and we came up against a few of them in the Champions League this year, I will personally take them there in my car."

15.07 BST: New Manchester United signing Donny van de Beek has revealed that Netherlands teammate Steven Bergwijn tried to convince him to join Tottenham this summer.

"Steven Bergwijn texted me to see whether I would play for Spurs," he told Algemeen Dagblad. "But I chose United. I felt ready for the next step.

"This was the time to go. That is why I was on the phone with my agent last weekend. In the end, there was an agreement."

14.11 BST: PSG forward Kylian Mbappe has urged the club to make some signings this summer in order to compete for the Champions League.

The Ligue 1 champions progressed to their first ever Champions League final where they fell to Bayern Munich.

"We have to manage it," he told Telefoot. "It is sad, it is tough, but it's our reality. It is an incredible disappointment, but this is the job: you can't have feelings.

"Of course PSG has grown up with this final. Before, we had this blockage at the quarterfinal stage, but now we have blown through that. Lots of teams have lost a final and won the year after. We need to make good signings, we need to buy players. I hope that we will have good recruits."

13.21 BST: Paris Saint-Germain has turned down Celtic's bid to take left-back Mitchel Bakker on loan from the Champions League finalists for the season, Sky Sports reports.

The 20-year-old Netherlands youth international, who joined PSG last year after graduating through Ajax's youth system, made three appearances for the French club last season.

However, two of those came in the run-up to PSG's Champions League mini-tournament campaign, when he started in both the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue final victories in July.

The Sky Sports report adds that PSG have not completely ruled out the possibility of Bakker joining Celtic for the 2020-21 season.

12.35 BST: Bayern Munich midfielder Thiago Alcantara has played down talk of him leaving the European champions this summer to join Liverpool.

Thiago, 29, has one year left on his contract at the reigning Bundesliga and Champions League winners. The Spain international has had consistently linked with Premier League champions Liverpool in recent weeks, and Bayern coach Hansi Flick hinted the player had played his last game for the club following their Champions League final victory last month.

"I have not said at any time that I am leaving," Thiago told reporters ahead of Sunday's UEFA Nations League match against Ukraine (stream LIVE at 2:45 p.m. ET on ESPN+ in the U.S.). "Every year you put me in a different team.

"I am only thinking about the game against Ukraine. Afterwards, we will see. Bayern is my home and I am happy to be there."

- Ogden: Liverpool and Thiago seem like a perfect match. Why isn't a deal happening?

11.54 BST: Newcastle United have had their £20m bid to sign England striker Callum Wilson accepted by Bournemouth, according to reports in the UK.

Both Sky Sports and the BBC report that Aston Villa withdrew their £21m offer after it became clear that Wilson, 28, would prefer to move to St James' Park.

Wilson scored 41 goals in 126 league appearances during Bournemouth's five-year spell in the Premier League, which came to an end last season, and now wants a return to the top flight to resurrect his England career.

Newcastle's recruitment team have been very active over the past few days. The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday that former Bournemouth midfielder Ryan Fraser is set to have a medical this weekend ahead of joining Steve Bruce's side on a free transfer, while they are also close to signing defender Jamal Lewis from Norwich City, another relegated team, for a £13.5m fee.

11.07 BST: Liverpool have told Barcelona that Georginio Wijnaldum can sign for them for a £15m (€16.8m) fee, the Sunday Mirror reports.

Wijnaldum, 29, has been linked with interest from his former Netherlands national team coach, Ronaldo Koeman, who is now in charge at Barca.

The midfielder, who has one year remaining on his contract at Liverpool, is not the only player who has been linked with a move to Barcelona this summer -- Lyon forward Memphis Depay is also reportedly a target.

10.20 BST: Wales coach Ryan Giggs believes that Chelsea defender Ethan Ampadu may need to move in order to get regular playing time.

The versatile defender, who turns 20 later this month, has impressed both at Stamford Bridge and during last season's loan spell at RB Leipzig but has been unable to secure a regular first-team place at either club.

And, with veteran Thiago Silva arriving at Chelsea on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain, Giggs thinks Ampadu has a big decision to make this summer.

"Thiago is a quality centre-half and you can only learn from someone like that," Giggs said ahead of Sunday's UEFA Nations League game against Bulgaria in Cardiff (watch LIVE on ESPN3 at 9 a.m. in the U.S.).

"I want all the players to be playing regularly, but that sometimes isn't the case. It's that balance over whether they're at a top club and surrounded by top players and improving every day, but ultimately you need minutes on the pitch. That's a decision for Ethan. I've talked to him a lot about that. 

"I think last year was maybe a little bit different as he had injuries. You could see from the game he played against Tottenham in the Champions League he was outstanding. Nothing fazes him, he's a quality player, and he just needs to keep fit now."

09.38 BST: Luis Suarez and Arturo Vidal trained separately from their Barcelona teammates on Saturday, sources have told ESPN's Moises Llorens, as both players prepare to leave the club.

Sources told ESPN's Andrew Cesare Richardson on Friday that Suarez, 33, had agreed to join Juventus while Vidal, also 33, is in talks with Inter Milan.

New Barca manager Ronald Koeman decided that the pair should train individually, accompanied by a fitness coach, rather than join the rest of the squad.

Suarez, who has risen to third in Barca's all-time goal-scoring charts since joining in 2014, is expected to move to Turin for a nominal fee.

Sources told ESPN that Vidal had originally been expected to stay at Camp Nou but there was a change of heart after the 8-2 Champions League quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. He is now likely to link up with his former coach at Juventus, Antonio Conte, in a return to Serie A.

09.00 BST: Wolves smashed their club-record transfer fee to sign Portuguese teenager Fabio Silva from Porto, the Premier League club said on Saturday.

Wolves did not disclose the fee paid for the 18-year-old striker, who has signed a five-year contract, but said it was a club record. Media reports had indicated the fee was around £35 million.

Silva was part of the youth system at both Porto and Benfica and made his first team debut for Porto, his hometown club, in August 2019 as a 17-year-old.

The forward has scored one goal in 12 Portuguese league appearances for Porto and spent time last season with their B-team in the second division.

Wolves' previous record signing was Mexico forward Raul Jimenez who joined the West Midlands club from Benfica for £30m in 2019.

PAPER TALK (by Nick Judd): Juve consider Morata if no Suarez

Italian champions Juventus are planning other options in case their quest to sign Luis Suarez from Barcelona falls through, and AS are suggesting they're considering Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.

Juve are desperate to add another attacking option to the squad and they've been heavily linked with Suarez and AS Roma star Edin Dzeko. The club has an agreement in place with Suarez but the player is yet to reach a deal with Barcelona over his severance package, or sort out the issue of his passport, which can take up to a month to finalise.

Similarly, Juve are believed to have an agreement in place with Dzeko but Roma are unwilling to let him leave until they've completed the signing of Arkadiusz Milik from Napoli.

This is why AS have linked the Turin-based club with Morata, and suggest the club has even put together a technical dossier on the Atletico forward.

Morata spent two seasons at Juve between 2014 and 2016, and the club is willing to throw in one from Federico Bernardeschi, Aaron Ramsey or Douglas Costa to sweeten the deal.

Mourinho contemplates shock move for Hughes

The Daily Mirror is linking Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho with a surprise move for Watford midfielder Will Hughes.

Mourinho is looking to reshape his squad but he has to balance the books while doing so. The Spurs manager has already signed Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton, Matthew Doherty from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Joe Hart from Burnley, which is why Hughes -- at £13m -- appeals.

Mourinho believes Hughes provides a number of options in various roles across the midfield while also boosting the side's homegrown quota.

Hughes impressed at Watford in the Premier League after joining the club from Derby County in 2017.

Mourinho is prepared to let players leave such as Juan Foyth, Serge Aurier, Danny Rose and Paulo Gazzaniga in an effort to sign squad players such as Hughes.

United hand trial to youngster Khadra

Manchester United have handed a trial to former Borussia Dortmund youngster Reda Khadra, according to the Daily Mail.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has given the 19-year-old a chance to prove himself by allowing him to play for the club's U23s, and if successful he could push for a place in the Reds' first team next season.

Khadra was due to play in a friendly against Doncaster earlier in the week but was forced to watch from the sidelines after his international clearance failed to go through.

Khadra plays on the right-hand side but can also play on the left or as an attacking midfielder.

Khadra won the U17 Bundesliga West and U19 Bundesliga West before being released by Dortmund earlier this summer.

Tap-ins

- Hot on the heels of signing Portuguese wonderkid Fabio Silva, Wolves are looking to capture Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo. Todibo impressed while on loan at Schalke 04 last season but Sport believe Wolves are in pole position to sign the centre-back on a permanent basis. Wolves still have money to spend after the Doherty deal to Tottenham, but they value the player below the €17-20m Barcelona are asking for him. 

- Leicester City are hoping to hijack West Ham United's move for James Tarkowski, according to the Daily Star. Tarkowski has two years left on his Burnley contract and the Clarets have rejected a £25m bid from the Hammers. And now Leicester are hoping an offer of £30m will be enough to ensure the Foxes take the central defender to Walkers Stadium. Burnley are hoping to get £50m for the defender, or hope that the price tag is enough to put off both would-be suitors.

^ Back to Top ^