The summer transfer window is well underway and all of Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are working hard to complete some major early signings. Arsenal are the busiest of the lot, having agreed a deal for Chelsea’s Kai Havertz as they also step up their interest in Jurrien Timber and Romeo Lavia amid a bitter fight with Manchester City for top target Declan Rice.
Chelsea are ready to return with a new bid for Brighton midfielder Moises Caicedo amid a £30m move for Nicolas Jackson at Villarreal. However, Manchester United could well rival them for Caicedo if they cannot agree a deal for Mason Mount soon, with talks also now held by the Red Devils over Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Tottenham are set to make their first signing of the Ange Postecoglou era in Empoli’s Guglielmo Vicario, with a boost in their chase of James Maddison as Newcastle prepare to sign Sandro Tonali instead. West Ham continue to line up replacements for Rice, including Denis Zakaria and Joao Palhinha. Follow all the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip live below!
Live updates
Arsenal to make new Declan Rice bid
Arsenal are preparing a third bid for Declan Rice, reports claim.
The Gunners have already seen two offers for their top summer transfer target worth up to £90m rebuffed by West Ham, who want at least £100m.
That has opened the door to Manchester City, who have made their play for Rice amid reports that he is getting closer to a move to the Etihad.
However, others say that Rice still wants Arsenal, with the Daily Mail reporting that the Gunners will now return with a third bid for the England midfielder closer to the demands of West Ham, who believe a City offer is now imminent.
Kai Havertz to Arsenal deal explained
Why are Arsenal signing Kai Havertz?
The German’s goal record at Chelsea has underwhelmed and the Gunners already have a fairly similar centre forward in Gabriel Jesus.
Alas, Havertz will offer a versatility to Mikel Arteta that the Arsenal boss prizes and play in a system that far more suits his needs. There are even comparisons to Dennis Bergkamp…
Read Simon’s analysis on the deal
Another Chelsea player could be on the move
Inter Milan want Cesar Azpilicueta.
The Spanish defender has a year left to run on his Chelsea contract but could become available as part of the Blues mega summer sale.
And Inter are ready to do a deal to add some much-needed experience to their defence, according to Gianluca Di Marzio.
Guglielmo Vicario en route to Tottenham medical
Tottenham will put Guglielmo Vicario through a medical soon with the goalkeeper due to fly to England in the coming hours.
Reports in Italy state a deal is almost done for Spurs to sign the 26-year-old from Empoli.
A fee of £17m has been agreed between the two clubs.
Man City close to Declan Rice deal
This would be a huge blow for Arsenal.
Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio is reporting that Manchester City are on the verge of agreeing a deal with West Ham to sign Declan Rice.
It is claimed that City are confident of settling on a fee, with the Hammers wanting over £100m for the England midfielder.
Rice has had personal terms sealed with Arsenal for some time but the Gunners have been unable to agree a price with West Ham – with the player siad by reports in England to prefer signing for the capital club.
Watch this space…
Arsenal and Chelsea could hijack Man Utd deal
Manchester United have been warned of potential interest in Axel Disasi.
A £35m deal with Monaco is set to be discussed as the Red Devils look to bag their first signing of a summer that has been marred by the slow march of their takeover talks.
RMC Sport say an official offer is yet to be launched by United, however.
And it is also claimed that Arsenal and Chelsea are keen on Disasi.
Chelsea are about to let Kalidou Koulibaly go plus potentially Trevoh Chalobah, although it feels unlikely that Arsenal will make a move if they are successful in bidding for Jurrien Timber.
Tottenham take lead in race for James Maddison
James Maddison is moving closer towards a move to Tottenham after Newcastle’s interest in the England midfielder cooled.
With Sandro Tonali heading to St James’ Park, the Toon are said by The Guardian to be looking elsewhere for further signings in the transfer window.
Leicester reportedly want around £50m to sell Maddison, who has a year left on his contract.
Chelsea set to launch new Moises Caicedo approach
Chelsea are on the verge of launching a new transfer offer for Moises Caicedo.
Brighton rate the midfielder at £100m and the Blues have previously seen a £60m approach knocked back.
But Sky Sports report on how a number of player sales going through will allow Chelsea to make a fresh bid.
Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech, Mateo Kovacic, Kai Havertz and Edouard Mendy are all on the verge of leaving Stamford Bridge.
The latest as Arsenal agree Jurrien Timber deal
In a classic of the ‘transfer market nonsense’ genre, Jurrien Timber sparked a frenzy among Arsenal supporters today.
The Ajax defender simply tweeted the word “thanks” before swiftly deleting it.
Did he mean to send it as a direct message? Was he starting to type out his farewell to Ajax? We’ll never know…
Well, according to Fabrizio Romano he’s agreed personal terms with Arsenal (although that’s no strict relation to his tweet).
Timber’s club want in the region of £50m for this services after rejecting a £30m bid, yet some reckon a deal can be done for as low as £35m.
Arsenal set out plan for Declan Rice
Mikel Arteta wants to make Declan Rice the Arsenal captain if he snubs a move to Manchester City.
The Mail report on the Gunners boss rating Rice highly and as a future man to wear the armband, although Martin Odegaard is unlikely to have the club captaincy taken off him.
A third bid from Arsenal is imminent as they look to beat City to the England star.
Over at The Guardian, it’s reported that Rice still prefers moving to north London over a stint with the champions.
