Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain could be picking up the phone to one another a fair bit across the next fortnight, with theCatalan club’s desire for a rendezvous with Neymar the worst kept secret on the planet. If Barça get things their own way, they could end up with a plum deal. They are set to make an offer to re-sign the 27-year-old on loan this week, and are keen to insert a clause whereby they can land the Brazilian on a permanent deal next summer. Neymar has itchy feet and is keen to depart France, while Italy is another plausible destination, with Juventus sniffing around.
Then there is Real Madrid, who are willing to throw in any number of bells and whistles to gain the upper hand over their La Liga rivals in pursuit of Neymar. Real are happy to throw in Raphaël Varane and even the 19-year-old Vinícius Júnior to get a deal over the line for the forward, who joined PSG for a world-record fee of £200m two years ago.
Barça and Madrid could yet end up battling it out for another expensive commodity: Christian Eriksen. The Tottenham midfielder supposedly has his heart set on a move to Spain before the 2 September European transfer deadline, while Juve are also on his radar. While all of that is going on, the Serie A champions could catch Barça cold with a £9m bid for their teenage defender Juan Miranda.
Away from statement signings, Liverpool are striving to prevent a goalkeeping crisis from unfolding at Anfield. With Adrián gifting Southampton a goal last weekend and Alisson still out for another six weeks, Jürgen Klopp fancies adding another former Premier League No 2 to his ranks, with the 35-year-old free agent Michel Vorm, who was released by Spurs last summer, on his wishlist. Elsewhere, Arsenal are desperate to offload Shkodran Mustafi on loan to Roma before the sun goes down, with a £23m permanent deal also mooted, while Southampton are hoping to solve the same problem by lending Mario Lemina to Monaco for the rest of the campaign.
Beyond that, Celtic are keen to take Jordon Ibe on loan from Bournemouth, Fernando Llorente is close to joining Lazio, while Manchester City are set to say farewell to Claudio Bravo next summer and Arsenal are eyeing a move for the 16-year-old Rennes prodigy Eduardo Camavinga, who recently helped his side to victory over PSG.