Transfer roundup: Chelsea look to hijack De Jong transfer as Barcelona confirm Kounde

In the last week, a lot of deals took shape while a flurry of speculations spread across the internet like wildfire. A transfer season full of more twists and turns than your average pulpy thriller, this one has kept the fans on the edge of their seats.

Ronaldo back in United fold

After weeks of impasse over his exit, Cristiano Ronaldo finally lined up for Manchester United on Sunday as they took on Rayo Vallecano in a pre-season friendly in Old Trafford. The gnawing feeling of all being not well behind the scenes was apparent when he was hauled off at half time and left the stadium before the match even ended. Before half-time, footage captured United coach Ten Hag talking animatedly towards Ronaldo but was met with a shrug and a walk off from CR7. Even though he later posted a picture of himself playing in the game with the caption: “Happy to be back,” you can’t help but feel that the United faithful will not be really happy with their prodigal son.

With a serious offer yet to materialise for the 37-year-old Portuguese talisman, it’s becoming more and more apparent that he might have to keep his head down, grit his teeth and continue as a Manchester United player for at least one more season.

Old rival rears its head

After being on the losing end of two transfer skirmishes with Barcelona for Raphinha and Jules Koundé, Chelsea have decided to hijack the Manchester United deal involving Frenkie de Jong, according to the Daily Mirror. The London-based outfit will probably offer Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta as part of the negotiations, the former being already under Barca’s radar, according to the report.

Meanwhile, their attempt to secure defender Wesley Fofana also hit a considerable roadblock with Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers insisting that the 21-year-old is not for sale. Chelsea have no intention of giving up and will try to negotiate again next week.

Barcelona sign Kounde

If you look at Barcelona’s transfers this season, you will never know that this is a club apparently creaking under financial burden. On July 29, the Catalan club added another signing to their already impressive squad as defender Jules Kounde joined from Sevilla on a five-year contract.

Though the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, media reports stated that the fee agreed is 55 million euros ($55.82 million), according to Reuters.

Chelsea, who were very keen on the move, made several offers but were ultimately left in the dust as Barcelona swooped in and made an offer to the player that he just could not refuse.

Speaking of the Catalan-based club, former Barcelona player Luis Suarez, who was plying his trade for rivals Atletico Madrid till last season, returned to his native Uruguay, signing for Nacional.

Done deals this week

Jules Kounde – Sevilla to Barcelona, undisclosed

Lisandro Martinez – Ajax to Man Utd, £56.7m

Gianluca Scamacca – Sassuolo to West Ham, £35.5m

Nuno Tavares – Arsenal to Marseille, loan

Luis Suarez – Atletico Madrid to Nacional, free

Dwight McNeil – Burnley to Everton, undisclosed

Kiko Femenia – Watford to Villarreal, loan

Chris Richards – Bayern Munich to Crystal Palace, undisclosed

Kevin Mbabu – Wolfsburg to Fulham, £6.5m

Ruben Vingare – Sporting Lisbon to Everton, loan

Manor Solomon – Shakhtar Donetsk to Fulham, loan

Sekou Mara – Bordeaux to Southampton, undisclosed

Ridvan Yilmaz – Besiktas to Rangers, £5m

Wesley – Aston Villa to Levante, loan