Welcome to our Daily Transfer Round up which is dominated by Arsenal completing a stunning striker signing after the Gunners agreed a £17million deal with a La Liga side. Meanwhile, Shkodran Mustafi has been given a green light by Valencia to join Arsenal as well.
Elsewhere, Chelsea’s third official bid has been turned down by the Serie A giants (not Napoli) which has left Antonio Conte in desperate need to sign a new defender without even a real target in sight. Meanwhile, Gabigol has broken the silence over his much talked about future and vows to put an end to the long-running transfer saga.
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On that note, here are the most popular transfer news and rumours doing the rounds on August 25th.
Serie A
- Santos forward Gabriel Barbosa says his future “will be resolved soon” following an interest from Juventus and Inter Milan. Gabigol’s future was held up due to his involvement at the Olympics where Brazil won their first ever Gold earlier this week. With Olympics over, Gabigol has vowed to sort out his future soon. Speaking in an interview, the attacker said: “I’m evaluating the offers received with my agent and my family. I think it’ll be sorted out soon, because we don’t have much time.”
- Inter Milan have put their highly rated midfielder Marcelo Brozovic on sale, according to his agent. Juventus are linked with the 23-year-old star who is valued in the region of 30million. Brozovic’s agent spoke with FcInterNews.it and said: “Marcelo must be considered as a player on the market and therefore on sale. But as for the details, you'd have to ask the club.”
- Milan have rejected Chelsea’s second bid of €40m [£34m] for Alessio Romagnoli, according to reports. A first bid from the English side was rejected this week, and reports this morning indicated that a second offer had been received last night. Football Italia revealed that AC Milan’s incoming owners want to keep Romagnoli and show the fans their statement of intent to keep their best players and attract quality stars in the upcoming transfer windows.
Bundesliga
- Schalke have confirmed a loan deal for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, who will join former Spurs midfielder Benjamin Stambouli at the Bundesliga club. According to German media house Kickr, Schalke have the option of signing Bentaleb on a permanent basis next summer for a reported fee of €22.6million. Elsewhere, Stambouli has signed a 4-year contract with transfer fee expected in the region of €8million.
- Stoke have made a £20million bid for Borussia Dortmund star Christian Pulisic, who is frustrated at the lack of playing time under Tomas Tuchel. Pulisic is currently behind the likes of Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Shinji Kagawa in Dortmund’s pecking order and is keen to seal a move elsewhere to gain regular playing time.
- Bayer Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt has invited offers for defender Omer Toprak after signing Dragovich from Dynamo Kiev according to BILD. Toprak himself is keen to quit Bundesliga amid an interest from Arsenal. The player was quoted saying: “It is not certain whether I will stay at Bayer Leverkusen, we still have a month and anything could happen until them.” Toprek has a £19.6m release clause to his contract and is expected to sign for Arsenal in coming days.
Premier League
- Arsenal were given a huge boost to their hopes of signing Shkodran Mustafi after Sky Sports reported a story of Valencia officials meeting player’s agent and assuring that the player is free to leave the club only if a club meets their quoted price tag. Arsenal are prepared to pay beyond £25million with Arsene Wenger facing a defensive crisis at the club.
- Manchester United are now confident of signing Jose Fonte this summer after Valencia have decided to pay €12million for Marcos Rojo. Last week, Jose Mourinho was told to clear up his squad before he can sign any new players. Rojo and Matteo Darmian are seen surplus to requirements and with Rojo moving to La Liga, Fonte’s transfer to Old Trafford could be completed early next week.
- Arsenal have agreed a £17million deal for signing Deportivo La Coruna striker Lucas Perez, as per reports from Marca. Perez scored 17 goals last season and is seen in the same mode as Jamie Vardy. Gunners are looking to sign a new striker this summer and have already been turned down by Vardy, Lacazette and Icardi. Although Perez is not quite in the same league as the names mentioned but Arsenal will complete Perez’s signing later this weekend.
La Liga
- Barcelona have completed the signing of Netherlands goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, clearing the way for Claudio Bravo to finalize his move to Manchester City. Cillessen signed a five-year contract and will be the number one choice for Luis Enrique this season. The news follows Bravo’s successful move to Manchester City, who signed a 4-year contract with the Citizens.
- Atletico Madrid have loaned Spanish midfielder Oliver Torres to FC Porto for a season-and-a-half, both clubs confirmed on Thursday. The 21-year-old returns to the Dragoes where he started in 28 games while on loan from Atletico in the 2014-15 campaign. The 22-year-old was loaned to Villarreal in the 2013-14 campaign.
- Valencia are close to agreement on the £5million signing of Sidnei from Deportivo La Coruna. This could have a direct bearing on Arsenal’s move for Shkodran Mustafi. Arsenal have yet to match the La Liga club's valuation of Mustafi, whose fellow Mestalla Stadium centre-half, Aymen Abdennour is linked with a move to Everton.
Rest of Europe
- Leeds United are close to signing AS Roma youngster Dario Vittorio Meadows. The English-born striker has been plying his trade in the youth ranks at Serie A giants Roma and now looks set to continue his career in the Championship at Elland Road. According to Sky Italia, Meadows is will sign on a season-long loan after he penned a long-term deal with AS Roma earlier this summer.
- Newcastle will not sign Brentford star Alan Judge this summer, insists Bees head coach Dean Smith. Speaking with Get west London, Davies said: “I expect Alan Judge will still be a Brentford player on September 1. Alan's injury is well-known to everyone but there have been enquiries from a number of clubs. With his injury at the moment I don't think anyone is going to take the plunge to take him. He's still our player and very much in our plans.”
