The summer transfer window was unlike any other; see all the major deals and check out how we graded the biggest signings. And just because the window is shut until January, that doesn't mean the rumours won't keep coming. Here is the latest gossip and speculation.
TOP STORY: Chelsea eye Hazard return
Chelsea are interested in a double swoop for Real Madrid duo Ferland Mendy and Eden Hazard, according to El Nacional.
The Blues reportedly made a €40 million offer for left-back Mendy in the summer that was later turned down by the LaLiga club. It is believed that Chelsea are willing to go back in for the France international with a raised offer, while Los Blancos will not listen to anything below the €60m mark.
The 26-year-old joined Real Madrid from Lyon in 2019 for €48m and has made 71 appearances at the club since joining. However, president Florentino Perez is reportedly willing to let the full-back leave and find a suitable replacement for the right offer.
As for Hazard, a return to Stamford Bridge could be on the cards. The winger left the Blues in 2019 for over €100m. Since then, he has struggled to stamp his authority at the Bernabeu, often hindered by injury troubles.
According to the report, the hierarchy have lost patience with the Belgium international due to the form of Vinicius Junior, as well as a reported plan to sign Kylian Mbappe at the end of his deal with Paris Saint-Germain.
While Chelsea would not close the door on a return for Hazard, there are apparent doubts over the wideman, but they do believe he has a future and could be tempted by the right deal structure.
- ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more (U.S.)
- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access
LIVE BLOG
21.58 BST: This concludes another edition of Transfer Talk for Saturday, October 23. Check back later tonight and tomorrow for another rolling live blog full of whispers, rumors and transfer chat!
20.51 BST: An update involving Chelsea next, as Gianluca Di Marzio drops hints about Antonio Rudiger's future. In an interview with German media, Di Marzio notes that Rudiger's not looking to sign a contract extension to remain at Stamford Bridge given the club's lack of communication. As such, Di Marzio believes he's going to join one of four teams: Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City or Tottenham.
Rudiger, 28, is under contract at Chelsea through the end of June, 2022 and his age means he would be free to begin negotiations with another club starting in January.
19.49 BST: Is the next American talent heading to the Premier League? The Mirror reports that Liverpool and Manchester United are interested in FC Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi considering his remarkable season so far for club and country.
With 13 goals in 27 MLS appearances in 2021 and three goals for the U.S. national team in four games, Pepi is the man in form though the domestic season is coming to an end and Pepi is reportedly anxious to keep the momentum going heading into a World Cup year.
18.56 BST: Football.London believes that Tottenham are already well into planning their January transfer window and that Jack Clarke will be loaned out again. Clarke, 20, has struggled to get an opportunity in the first team since arriving in 2019 from Leeds United -- in fact, he's yet to make a single appearance for the senior side, taking loan spells at Leeds, Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City instead.
According to the report, AFC Bournemouth are one of several Championship teams said to be interested.
17.42 BST: We've got a #DONEDEAL in Major League Soccer now, as Chicago Fire FC announce they've signed 16-year-old midfielder Sergio Oregel from their academy, thus ensuring he'll be a homegrown player for the senior side in 2022.
Said Fire technical director, Sebastian Pelzer: "Sergio is a talented young midfielder with excellent vision and a strong passion for the game. We look forward to officially welcoming him to the first team and to continue being a part of his development."
16.49 BST: Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez has revealed he received an approach to sign for French club Rennes from an unlikely source: Hollywood star Salma Hayek.
Mexican actress Hayek is married to Rennes owner Francois-Henri Pinault, and she contacted El Tri international Alvarez in the hope it would help convince him to join the Ligue 1 side.
"As a well-known fellow Mexican, she called me and tried to persuade me to come to France," Alvarez told De Telegraaf. "That surprised and flattered me, but I was certain in my choice of Ajax and I explained that to her.
"She's a very great actress, famous all over the world because of her Hollywood films, a huge star. I regard her very highly. She is an example because as a Mexican she fought to be where she is today."
15.51 BST: Paulo Fonseca is now the frontrunner to take over as Newcastle United's next full-time manager after Frank Lampard ruled himself out of contention, the Daily Mirror reports.
Former Chelsea boss Lampard had been one of many high-profile names linked with replacing Steve Bruce at St James' Park, but he has stepped out of the running over concerns that the team is not in a strong enough position to survive Premier League relegation.
Bruce's former No. 2, Graeme Jones, has taken charge of the first team for Saturday's match at Crystal Palace and is expected to remain in the dugout for next Saturday's home game against Chelsea, allowing the club's new Saudi Arabia-backed owners to finalise Fonseca's appointment.
Sources told ESPN's James Olley that ex-Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk coach Fonseca had a second interview for the post on Wednesday, the day that Bruce's sacking was announced.
14.54 BST: Liverpool's Egypt forward Mohamed Salah said he would "love to stay" at the Premier League club until he hangs up his boots but that his future at Anfield was not in his hands.
Salah, the league's joint-top scorer this season with seven goals, has a contract with Liverpool until June 2023.
"If you ask me, I would love to stay until the last day of my football career. But I can't say much about that, it's not in my hands," Salah, 29, told Sky Sports.
"It depends on what the club want, not on me. At the moment I can't see myself ever playing against Liverpool. That would make me sad.
"It's hard, I don't want to talk about it, but it would make me really sad... but let's see what will happen in the future."
- Ogden: Liverpool must make Salah Premier League's best-paid player
14.07 BST: Barcelona great Xavi says he is a much more experienced coach than when his former club approached him to take the job and now feels "ready to coach any team in the world."
Xavi won four Champions League titles during his career at Barca before leaving to finish his career at Qatari club Al Sadd, where he is now coach.
The 41-year-old was approached by former Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu before the club eventually hired Ronald Koeman.
"Yes, I feel ready to coach any team in the world," Xavi said. "When they offered me it, I'd only been a coach for three months, but now it's different. I have more experience and I'm learning a lot here.
"I want to tell everyone that I'm very happy in Qatar and my idea is to keep achieving success with this team."
- Stream Barcelona vs. Real Madrid on ESPN+: Oct. 24, 10.15 a.m. ET (U.S. only)
13.20 BST: Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini has said Cristiano Ronaldo should have left the club before the start of the season because his late departure to Manchester United affected the team.
Ronaldo had one year left on his contract with Juve but returned to Old Trafford in August for €23m. The 36-year-old's last game for Juventus came in the 2-2 draw at Udinese on the opening day of the Serie A season where his stoppage-time header was ruled out by VAR.
"Cristiano Ronaldo left on Aug. 28," Chiellini told DAZN. "This creates a shock and I think we paid him in terms of points in the start of the season.
"It would have been better had he [Ronaldo] left on Aug. 1 as we would have prepared ourselves and we would have arrived ready for the start of the campaign."
Ronaldo won five trophies, including two Serie A titles, in his three seasons at Juventus. He also scored 101 goals in 133 appearances.
After Ronaldo's departure, Juve picked up just one point from their next three league games and are sixth in the league table, 10 points adrift of league leaders Napoli.
12.34 BST: ESPN's James Olley was at the Emirates on Friday to watch Arsenal's 3-1 win over Aston Villa, which featured an impressive performance from Alexandre Lacazette that could boost the forward's hopes of securing a new contract:
"There remains considerable uncertainty around Lacazette's future, but this could yet be one of those rare contract standoffs that actually works in everybody's favour.
"Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta dangled an unexpected carrot on the eve of Friday's game, hinting that the 30-year-old could yet be offered an extension to his existing agreement which expires at the end of the season. ESPN reported on Sept. 17 that there was no offer on the table from the club, and that is still the case today, but on this evidence, Lacazette is not about to join the long list of players to spend the impasse sitting on his hands.
"He set the tone for Friday's win over Villa four days earlier. The Frenchman reinvigorated an ailing team performance against Palace on Monday with a vibrant 23-minute cameo that climaxed with a stoppage-time equaliser to salvage a draw. Lacazette was rewarded with a place in the starting XI here -- his first Premier League start of the season, having featured for just 72 minutes before tonight -- with Arteta's prematch news conference words ringing in his ears, chiefly that "anything is possible" regarding the prospect of a new contract.
"Whether Lacazette is motivated by proving himself worthy of extending his stay in north London or showcasing his talents to potential suitors in the January transfer window is unclear. But if Arteta can harness the determination he showed here, Lacazette can prove himself a real asset in the coming weeks and months regardless of what the future holds."
- Olley: Lacazette making case for new Arsenal deal
11.39 BST: Atletico Madrid are already making moves to extend the contracts of Jan Oblak and Thomas Lemar, according to Marca -- but the club are happy to wait and see on Luis Suarez, who will be out of contract next summer.
The newspaper's front page on Saturday claims that the Uruguay forward "wants to renew" but the club would prefer to see how the season goes first.
The 34-year-old has scored four goals for far this campaign, but faces competition up front from Antoine Griezmann, Joao Felix, Matheus Cunha and Angel Correa.
Marca also reports that Atletico have been in touch with the entourages of Oblak and Lemar about new contracts, but these are "first contacts" and the parties are "far from reaching agreements" about extending their current deals which expire in 2023.
Oblak is viewed as the best goalkeeper in LaLiga alongside Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois, while Lemar emerged as a player during Atletico's title win last season.
- LaLiga on ESPN+: Stream LIVE games and replays (U.S. only)
10.46 BST: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou refused to be drawn on speculation that he would try to sign Japanese forward Daizen Maeda in January, but says he hopes for a "ess "chaotic" transfer window than his first at the club.
Celtic signed nine players in the summer as Postecoglou took over at Parkhead, including Japan international Kyogo Furuhashi who has scored nine goals in 13 appearances for the Bhoys already this season.
Yokohama F. Marinos' Maeda, 24, has been linked with reuniting with Postecoglou at Celtic, but the former Australia coach told reporters that he could not neither "confirm nor deny" the reports.
"We are looking to strengthen the squad in January and we will," he said. "We have started that process but the difference is we are in no rush.
"Whatever business we do in January, it won't be as chaotic as it was in the last window. But a hugely important part of bringing players here is understanding their mentality and whether they can cope.
"I was confident with someone like Kyogo. I knew him really well from Japanese football. I knew his background and I asked enough people about him as a personality, to know he would cope well.
"That is part of the process, particularly when you are talking about bringing in people in January when they are going to have to hit the ground running.
"Those are the things we will be looking into, not just their playing ability but also their personality."
09.51 BST: Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks says he will have to look elsewhere to get his career back on track if he can't get regular football at his boyhood club.
Winks has made just two appearances for Spurs this season in the Premier League, and was part of the second-string side that lost 1-0 at Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.
"Listen, I love Tottenham, I've always made that clear, but I want to play regular football," he said. "The only way to play your best football and get momentum is when you're playing regularly.
"I'm giving my all for the club, of course I am. They've stuck by me, I've stuck by them, and I want to play for Tottenham. But it is difficult when you're only getting matches here and there. Confidence is low and you don't get that run of games.
"I'm not thinking that far ahead. I've got a lot of games left to go to try and fight for the club. It's important we all stay in the same mindset, the same thought process and we see.
"There's a long way to go, still two months to go [until January] and it's about knuckling down, working as hard as I can and having no regrets.
"When the time is right I'll have a conversation but right now it's important that the team and manager focus on the next game and don't get any distractions from me."
09.00 BST: Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has attempted to play down speculation of a move for Erling Haaland and said he "fell into a trap" by joking about the prospect of partnering the Borussia Dortmund striker in attack with Romelu Lukaku.
The 48-year-old gave an interview to SportBild this week after picking up the German newspaper's Coach of the Year award, confirming his side had looked into signing Haaland, who according to ESPN sources wants £30m per year in wages for his next move, during the summer and that the Chelsea boss would have "no problem" pairing him with Lukaku.
Tuchel's comments reportedly provoked a furious reaction at Dortmund, who may be resigned to losing Haaland, next summer given he has a €75 million release clause which becomes active at the end of the season with a host of top clubs including Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City monitoring the situation.
"I fell into a trap," Tuchel said. "I got an award in Germany. I got an award from a newspaper and they asked me about a player.
"Normally I never, never speak about other players because simply I never, ever do. Then we were making more or less fun about it. I should have known better because [I was] making fun about it and being a nice guy and answering a question instead of 'no, I don't want to answer a question'.
"Getting this award and I joke about a double striker with Romelu in October and then it gets like we put in an offer. That was the context but OK, I should have known better."
PAPER GOSSIP
- Bayern Munich are pushing a move for FC Salzburg forward Karim Adeyemi, according to Sport1. The 19-year-old has impressed with the Austrian side, scoring three goals and assisting once in three Champions League starts. The report also claims that any move depends on the future of Kingsley Coman, whose deal runs until 2023.
- West Ham United are linked with a move for Clermont Foot striker Mohamed Bayo, according to journalist Ekrem Konur. The 23-year-old has five goals and two assists in nine Ligue 1 appearances this season and has been linked with the London club, who are on the search for a striker to compete with Michail Antonio.
- Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger's priority is to stay with the London club, however an agreement over a new deal is "far from being reached," according to journalist Fabrizio Romano. The 28-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has been linked with several clubs, but the Germany international is currently in talks with the Blues over an extension.
- Seven clubs are eyeing a move for Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans, who is out of contract in 2023. According to Calciomercato, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Juventus are all monitoring the Belgium international.
- Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is hoping to one day to play at David Beckham's Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF, according to El Nacional. The France international was out of contract in the summer, but recently signed a new deal with Los Blancos keeping him there until 2023. The 33-year-old has before placed on record his desire to play in the United States.