Welcome to our Daily Transfer Round up which sees the long-running saga of Simone Zaza’s transfer rumors put to bed with a Premier League side winning the race in the end. There is also a new side in the race to sign Joe Hart while Arsenal are confident of announcing their much awaited Double Deal in next 24 hours.
Manchester United are ready to break the transfer record yet again and this time they have one of their long-term targets in sight, while Chelsea defender is set for a shock move to Bundesliga giants.
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On that note, here are the most popular transfer news and rumours doing the rounds on August 28th.
Serie A
- Inter Milan have announced Joao Mario’s signing from Sporting Lisbon on a season-long loan. Reports have confirmed that Mario will sign on an initial €10m season-long loan deal with Inter prepared to complete his transfer on a permanent basis next summer for a total of €35m. Mario was previously linked with the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool as well.
- Juventus have now turned their attention to Sevilla’s Steven N’Zonzi as their priority midfield signing this summer amid Newcastle United’s €40m asking price for Moussa Sissoko. PSG have also said no to Blaise Matuidi’s departure from Parc des Princes leaving Juventus to consider N’Zonzi as a viable option. Leicester City are also in talks to sign N’Zonzi this summer, who is prepared to quit Sevilla following Unay Emery’s move to PSG.
- AC Milan have expressed their interest in signing Joe Hart on a season-long loan, according to reports from Football Italia, however, Serie A side have not guaranteed Hart first team action. Teenage sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma is currently the number one choice for AC Milan who has received an international call-up for Italy earlier this week. Hart is yet to decide on his future after being frozen out by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Bundesliga
- Bundesliga side Stuttgart are expected to imminently make an offer for 20-year-old Lille defender Benjamin Pavard according to French Football. An offer had been made by OGC Nice earlier on during the window, but Lille decided not to sell Pavard to their direct rivals. The versatile defender is tipped to quit Ligue 1 this summer after manager Frédéric Antonetti’s decision to not use him as one of his key players for the season.
- Schalke have approached Chelsea with hopes of signing Kurt Zouma on a season-long loan. Zouma injured his knee last season and is still not 100% fit to feature in Antonio Conte’s starting XI. Although the reports have come from the reliable source of Di Marzio, but it feels unlikely that Chelsea would allow such a top player to join a club like Schalke before he’s fully recovered his fitness.
- Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller has confirmed that Borussia Dortmund failed to meet Omer Toprak's asking price which saw the negotiations between the two club break down. Toprak, 27, was the subject of a €20 million bid from Dortmund earlier this month, but Leverkusen refused to budge over their valuation of the player. Toprak now can leave for as little as €12m next summer due to a release clause in his contract which will only be activated next summer.
Premier League
- Arsenal are hopeful of announcing the £52million double Signing of Shkodran Mustafi and Lucas Perez in the next 24 hours, according to reports from Daily Mirror. The report states that the players have passed their medical and will be an Arsenal player before next Tuesday. Arsenal won their game vs Watford 3-1 and are hopeful of adding Mustafi and Perez to their squad before they head back with their countries to play in the upcoming international friendlies.
- West Ham have completed the signing of Juventus striker Simone Zaza on a season-long loan. Hammers have decided to pay £5million for Zaza’s signing this summer and will need to pay further £20m if they want to make his deal a permanent one next summer. Zaza could never cement his place in the Juventus lineup and was linked with Wolfsburg and Napoli earlier in the summer. The 25-year-old becomes West Ham’s 11th signing of the season.
- Manchester United are planning to make a £100million world record bid for Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale next summer, according to reports from Daily Express. United are prepared to break the transfer record for two consecutive seasons after they sign Paul Pogba earlier this summer in a reported 89m deal. Although Bale signed a new long-term contract with Madrid earlier this month but United will test La Liga side’s resolves with a massive £100m bid.
La Liga
- Barcelona are facing a 4-way race to sign the highly-rated Nottingham Forest forward Oliver Burke. According to The Sun, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Tottenham have also expressed interest in Burke but Barcelona are hopeful to wrap up a deal by next Wednesday before the end of summer transfer window.
- Chelsea have made a late attempt to sign Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, according to reports from Daily Mirror. The report claims that Chelsea are pushing for a season-long deal to see if James fits in the Premier League and in Antonio Conte’s plans. The report also claims that Florentino Perez would prefer to cash in on a £60million permanent deal and is prepared to block any loan offer from the Blues.
- Tottenham have been installed as favourites to sign Isco as the possibility grows that he could leave Real Madrid by next weekend. Spurs are rated as 3/1 favourites by SkyBet to land the 24-year-old midfielder before the transfer window shuts next Wednesday. Isco is also linked with Chelsea, Napoli and Wolfsburg with the player open to the idea of quitting Santiago Bernabeu after being given a bit-part role under Zinedine Zidane this season.
Rest of Europe
- Hull are aiming to beat Burnley to the signing of Derby County midfielder Jeff Hendrick. The Tigers are currently negotiating a deal to sign Tottenham’s Ryan Mason as their priority midfield signing but have kept Hendrick as the ideal back-up. The Republic of Ireland player is valued at £7m and is also linked with Burnley this summer.
- Burnley are close to signing Patrick Bamford on loan from Chelsea. Bamford, 22, is still waiting to make his Chelsea debut following his move from Nottingham Forest in January 2012. In that time, the England Under-21 international striker has had loan spells at MK Dons, Derby County, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Norwich City.
