Transfer news LIVE: Fernandes to Man Utd, Barcelona done deal, Arsenal, Liverpool gossip

Transfer news LIVE updates – Friday, July 12

• Barcelona have completed the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid
• Manchester United are still chasing Bruno Fernandes
• Liverpool are not interested in signing Nicolas Pepe
• Arsenal’s stance on Hakim Ziyech revealed
• Premier League done deals: Every confirmed transfer in the top flight this summer

10.45pm UPDATE: Ian Wright slams Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal legend Ian Wright has blasted Laurent Koscielny for refusing to go on the Gunners’ pre-season tour.

Unai Emery’s defender wants to force an exit away from the Emirates.

“For our captain to refuse to go on a pre-season tour after nine years of unbelievable service, to destroy your legacy a little by refusing to play for a club is something that is baffling me,” said Wright, speaking on his own YouTube channel.

“Why Laurent? Who are your advisers and what are they saying to you?”

10.15pm UPDATE: Harry Maguire to Man Utd update

Manchester United have not given up on Harry Maguire just yet.

“Manchester United say that to sign him, that deal is very much alive, Sky Sports News have been told,” presenter Tom White said on Good Morning Transfers.

“Leicester have made it clear that they have no interest in selling at the £70m asking price that Manchester United have offered.

“That’s especially after United paid £50m for Aaron Wan-Bissaka who doesn’t have quite the same experience.”

9.45pm UPDATE: Tottenham make Dani Alves contact

Tottenham have made contact with Dani Alves over a shock move to north London, according to reports.

Alves is a free agent after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain came to an end.

He has been strongly linked with Manchester City to link up with Pep Guardiola again having worked with him at Barcelona.

However, transfer expert Duncan Castles claims Tottenham are interested in taking the 36-year-old and that they have already opened talks.

“He has a long-held ambition to play in the Premier League and I understand that there’s been contact with Tottenham Hotspur about the possibility of Dani moving there,” he told the Transfer Window podcast.

9.15pm UPDATE: Man Utd want signing before Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United reportedly plan to make a signing before completing a deal for Bruno Fernandes.

The Red Devils have been strongly linked with Fernandes, who has impressed at Sporting Lisbon.

It comes with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen to overhaul his squad after Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League.

The Norwegian has already signed Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

United have also been linked with Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire after a difficult season defensively for the Old Trafford outfit.

And Portuguese outlet A Bola claim that United are wanting to sign a centre-back before they move onto midfield.

8.45pm UPDATE: Radja Nainggolan deal rejected by Man Utd

Manchester United have rejected the chance to sign Radja Nainggolan from Inter Milan in a player-plus-cash deal involving Nemanja Matic, according to reports.

Nainggolan is surplus to requirements at Inter after the club revealed that he and Mauro Icardi are free to leave this summer.

Now managed by Antonio Conte, they are keen to take Matic to Italy as Conte previously worked with the defensive midfielder at Chelsea.

The pair won the Premier League title together in 2016-17 and Conte would love to reunite with a player he sold to Manchester United in 2017.

However. transfer expert Duncan Castles says United are not interested in the part-exchange deal involving Nainggolan and it might indicate that Matic is in manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s long-term plans.

“There’s been an offer for Internazionale for Nemanja Matic which is quite an amusingly low offer of £10million plus the Inter player Nainggolan,” he told the Transfer Window podcast.

“He’s in his 30s so quite a ambitions offer from inter to see if they could get Matic out of the club that way.”

8.15pm UPDATE: Unai Emery set for Stan Kroenke talks

Unai Emery is set for talks with Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke over the club’s transfer plans this summer.

Arsenal only have a reported £40m transfer budget following their failure to qualify for the Champions League.

The limited warchest follows on from the winter window when Emery revealed Arsenal could only sign players on loan.

Emery has identified a number of positions in which he wants to improve the side such as left-back, centre-back and on the wing.

The club have made offers for players in all of those positions but have been knocked back in their efforts to sign Kieran Tierney, William Saliba and Wilfried Zaha.

According to football.london, the pair will have discussions about transfer budget and policy by the end of the week.

7.50pm UPDATE: Xavi has issue with Neymar transfer

Xavi played alongside Neymar at Barcelona earlier in his career and, now, has admitted he sees any return to be ‘difficult’.

“He would be an incredible signing,” the Spain international told Marca.

”But I see it as being difficult, honestly. I think it’s very difficult.

“We have seen so many things that I thought I’d never see though, such as PSG paying 222 million euros, so we’ll have to wait.

“There’s no doubt that he’s one of the best players in the world, but let’s see what Barcelona do.”

7.30pm UPDATE: Chelsea set for loan exits

Chelsea are set for several loan exitsas eight young players were cut from their pre-season tour to ‘continue their preparations for the new season.’

The eight returning to Cobham from Dublin include Lewis Baker, Izzy Brown and Lucas Piazon, as well as Trevoh Chalobah, Dujon Sterling, Ike Ugbo, Conor Gallagher and Marc Guehi.

None are expected to be part of Frank Lampard’s plans at Stamford Bridge this season.

Instead they will go out on loan and gain more experience.

7.10pm UPDATE: Neil Lennon expects Celtic departures

Celtic boss Neil Lennon admits some players will leave the club before the transfer window closes.

He said: “I think there’s some trimming to do, yes.

“We have to be mindful with the amount of games we play, so the squad has to be of a decent size.

“We don’t want to have players on the periphery of the squad on a decent wage being left out.

“The squad is too big for my liking and I think it’s important that we [trim] it.”

6.50pm UPDATE: Liverpool fans want Ousmane Dembele

Liverpool fans have urged the club to sign Ousmane Dembele after Barcelona completed the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.

Barca confirmed the £107million capture of the Frenchman on a five-year deal on Friday afternoon.

They are also expected to re-sign Neymar if they can raise enough money to fund what could be a world-record deal.

That means a number of high profile players will have the be moved on, with Philippe Coutinho and Dembele looking vulnerable.

Former Liverpool star Coutinho has been linked with a return to Anfield but that looks unlikely.

And it appears as though Dembele is the man the fans are confident of getting as they took to Twitter to voice their opinions.

“Dembele to Liverpool can happen now,” one simply wrote.

Another agreed: “Is dembele now available? We want him at Liverpool.”

“Time for Liverpool to swoop in for Ousmane Dembele,” said another.

6.30pm UPDATE: Sean Longstaff to Man Utd close

Manchester United are reportedly on the verge of signing Sean Longstaff from Newcastle.

The Guardian say that Newcastle are ‘on the verge’ of losing Longstaff to the Red Devils.

It has recently been claimed that the Toon have slapped a huge £50m price tag on Longstaff as they aim to keep United at bay.

But the report fails to disclose any information about any potential fee involved.

6.10pm UPDATE: Neymar discussing PSG future today

Neymar will air his views on his PSG future and a potential return to Barcelona in the coming hours.

Neymar’s time at PSG could come to an end this summer with the 27-year-old eager to return to Barcelona.

The Samba star has come to regret his decision to leave the Catalan giants back in 2017, where he moved to the Parc des Princes in a £200million deal.

Brazilian outlet UOL claim Neymar is set to discuss his PSG future and links to Barcelona in the coming hours.

5.50pm UPDATE: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals transfer plans

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he will be targeting players with the ‘X factor’ in the summer transfer window.

Solskjaer has brought in two new faces so far with the £50million capture of Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Crystal Palace and the £20m signing of Daniel James from Swansea.

He is thought to be targeting young British talent but insists nationality plays no part in the types of characters he wants to bring in.

Instead, the Norwegian claims he wants players who can make an immediate impact as he looks to improve a squad that struggled badly at times last season.

“It doesn’t matter if they are English, Norwegian, French, Brazilian,” he said. “You just want good players and good people.

“Quality and speed, of course, is a big thing in football nowadays. The more x-factors you have in a team, the better you are.”

5.30pm UPDATE: Man Utd told to sign Diego Costa

Manchester United should only sell Romelu Lukaku if they bring in Diego Costa as his replacement, Sam Allardyce claims.

“I think he’d be a fit for United if they got rid of Lukaku,” he said.

“Lukaku by all accounts this morning, representatives of Inter Milan are talking to Manchester United.

“If you were manager of Manchester United, you would not sell him.”

5.10pm UPDATE: Liverpool interested in Philippe Coutinho

Liverpool are interested in re-signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona, reports say.

Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo say that Liverpool are interested in re-signing the player.

Coutinho’s preference is said to be a return to England this summer despite PSG aiming to land him as part of any Neymar swap deal.

He has ruled out Manchester United because they are not competing in the Champions League.

And a move to Chelsea has also been discarded because of the Blues’ transfer ban.

The report says, though, that Liverpool will not break the bank to bring Coutinho back to Merseyside.

4.50pm UPDATE: Antoine Griezmann’s Barcelona release clause revealed

Barcelona have inserted a release clause of £717million into Antoine Griezmann’s contract after they signed him from Atletico Madrid.

Griezmann has been a long-term target for Manchester United and but the clause could now price them out of any future deal.

The World Cup winner, 28, has signed a five-year deal with the Spanish giants after they activated the £107m clause in his deal with Atleti.

“FC Barcelona has paid the 120 million euro buyout clause to release Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid,” a statement read on their official website.

“The player will sign a contract with his new club for the next five seasons, through to 30 June 2024, with a buyout clause of 800 million euros.”

4.30pm UPDATE: Virgil van Dijk enquiry

Barcelona launched an enquiry to sign Virgil van Dijk – but were given ‘short shrift’ by the Dutchman’s agent.

That’s according to Mirror journalist John Cross.

“Do not expect it to happen for a moment, but Barcelona made enquiries about whether Virgil van Dijk could be tempted to leave Liverpool,” he writes.

“They were quickly given short shrift by the Dutch defender’s representatives. They did not bother taking it further.”

4.10pm UPDATE: Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan update

Manchester United and Inter Milan have “bad blood” between them and that could scupper any potential move for Romelu Lukaku, says Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol.

“There is some sort of bad blood between the two clubs,” Solhekol said.

“If you remember two years ago, Manchester United were desperate to sign Ivan Perisic from Inter Milan.

“They offered €45million, Inter Milan said ‘we will not let him go unless we get €50m’ and they refused to sell him over just €5m.

“And I think people at Manchester United remember how Inter Milan behaved two years ago.”

3.45pm UPDATE: Bruno Fernandes wants Man Utd move

Bruno Fernandes is keen to join Manchester United and the Sporting midfielder is hopeful of agreeing a deal.

“The first # BrunoFernandes ‘ choice remain # ManchesterUnited,” Gazzetta dello Sport reporter Nicolo Schira wrote on Twitter.

“He is waiting for the agreement between # RedDevils and Sporting.

“Meanwhile Ed Woodward is interested in Sergej #MilinkovicSavic , but # Lazio want € 120M to sell him. # transfers # MUFC #mutd.”

3.15pm UPDATE: Barcelona sign Antoine Griezmann

Barcelona have confirmed the signing of Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona paid Griezmann’s £107m (€120m) release clause to sign the striker from Atletico Madrid.

The France international has penned a five-year contract with the Spanish giants.

Griezmann’s new contract also has an eye-watering €800m release clause.

2.45pm UPDATE: Unai Emery makes Hakim Ziyech decision

Arsenal boss Unai Emery is not interested in signing Hakim Ziyech this summer, it has been claimed.

The Ajax ace impressed last season in helping the Dutch side to a league title and the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Arsenal have carried out a detailed analysis of the player and have opted to look at alternative targets instead.

Ziyech scored 19 times and registered 16 assists in all competitions and is said to be keen on a move to the Gunners.

2.15pm UPDATE: Liverpool’s stance on Nicolas Pepe

Liverpool have ‘absolutely no interest’ in signing Lille sensation Nicolas Pepe, according to reports.

The Mail claim they will not be pursuing a deal for the 24-year-old.

“Also worth categorically saying now that Liverpool have absolutely no interest in Nicolas Pepe,” reporter Dominic King said on Twitter.

“For all the stories that are coming from the continent, it is not a deal that will be happening.”

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is not expected to spend like he did last summer when they splashed a combined £176million on Alisson, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho.