Football news LIVE: Manchester United tell Kane to hand in transfer request, Gundogan to Barcelona, Newcastle close in on Tonali
talkSPORT.com brings you all the latest football news, views and transfer gossip.
Headlines:
- Manchester United submit new Mason Mount offer but still short of Chelsea valuation
- Arsenal agree £65m fee with Chelsea for Kai Havertz
- Ilkay Gundogan set to join Barcelona after turning down new Man City offer
- Newcastle close in on £45m-rated AC Milan star Sandro Tonali, dubbed ‘the new Pirlo’
Newcastle and AC Milan will enter the final stage of negotiations over a deal for Sandro Tonali.
The Italy midfielder is set to join the Magpies in a blockbuster deal worth around £60m.
Journalist Fabrizio Romano says a new round of talks will take place over the final fee and the structure of the deal.
He is also understood to be signing a six-year contract until 2029.
Ilkay Gundogan has signed a contract with Barcelona and set to be unveiled by the club imminently.
The Germany international, who is out of contract this summer, will leave Man City.
City had offered the 32-year-old a new one-year contract with the option of a further 12 months but Barca are understood to have presented a more tempting three-year, and more financially-rewarding, package.
City are comfortable with the situation and the player would leave with their blessing.
The development comes on the same day City are understood to have agreed a £30million deal with Chelsea to sign Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The champions are set to pay an initial £25million for the 29-year-old with a further £5m to follow in potential add-ons.
That’s it for today on talkSPORT.com’s live blog.
It has been a hectic Wednesday which has seen Chelsea duo Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic edge closer to joining Arsenal and Manchester City respectively.
And you can be sure there will be more big transfer news on Thursday, which will also see the EFL fixtures released.
Southampton have confirmed Russell Martin as their new manager on a three-year deal until 2026.
The 37-year-old ex-Norwich defender will arrive at St Mary’s tasked with promotion after the Saints were relegated from the Premier League.
Commenting on his delight at taking over at Southampton, Martin told the club’s website: “It’s a privilege to accept this opportunity at Southampton, a club with such a long and rich history.
“My aim is to get this club back where it belongs – in the top flight of English football.
“I am ready for this challenge and will give everything to achieve this aim and to give the supporters a team that makes them proud.
“I’m thrilled to be here and cannot wait for the work to begin.”
West Ham fans have been banned from attending their first Europa League away game next season.
The Hammers have been punished by UEFA after their supporters threw objects from the stands at Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi in the Europa Conference Leaugue final.
Play had to be suspended after Biraghi was left a bloody mess after being struck on the head by an item.
A UEFA statement read: “The control and disciplinary body decided to ban West Ham United FC from selling tickets to away supporters for its next two UEFA competition matches.
“The second of which being suspended for a probationary period of two years as from the date of this decision, for throwing of objects.”
West Ham have also been fined £43,000 over the incident, while they have been hit with a further £8k fine after their pitch invasion following their 2-1 win.
Ilkay Gundogan’s switch to join Barcelona this summer is reportedly a done deal.
talkSPORT revealed earlier on Wednesday how the Manchester City skipper was set to sign a two-year deal at the Nou Camp.
The German midfielder will become a free agent when his contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the month.
And now transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has declared that Barca have been given the green light from LaLiga to register the 32-year-old as a new player.
It has been claimed that Gundogan’s deal will contain the option of a further 12-month stay.
Newcastle are close to agreeing a £60million deal for AC Milan and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali.
As talkSPORT reported this morning, the Magpies came to the table with an initial £45m bid for the 23-year-old star – dubbed ‘the next Pirlo’.
Talks continued throughout the day and it is now claimed they clubs are close to signing off an improved £60m fee for the 2021/22 Serie A title winner.
That figure would match the club-record deal Newcastle agreed with Real Sociedad last summer to sign striker Alexander Isak.
Kai Havertz declared Jorginho swapping Chelsea for Arsenal was ‘not right’ in January, but now he’s set to join him at Emirates Stadium.
Football’s a funny old game, isn’t it?
The German has agreed personal terms with the Gunners and a £65million fee has been agreed between the clubs, with the transfer expected to go through in the coming days.
But he told The Guardian in March about Chelsea’s influx of new signings and Jorginho’s Arsenal move: “You have the big picture where you think: ‘What is happening?’ And you should think that, you should think: ‘This is not right’.
“Then you have the club. As a player, you don’t notice the ownership change so much but we have a new team, new manager, new staff.
“A completely new changing room, so many personalities. You have to adapt, build a relationship. I played with Jorginho for two and a half years, he changed next to me, I loved being with him and then…
“He calls me one evening and says: ‘I’m gone.’ I was like: ‘What the? How is this possible?’
“This is how quick things change. It’s a human thing. You just have to accept it, it’s football’.”
Football’s voice of reason and man of the people – the great Ian Holloway – has had his say on the ‘obscene’ transfer market and emergence of Saudi Arabia as football’s latest big-money player.
The goatee-beaded Bristolian legend insists the transfer market needs to be regulated with fees only set to rise even more, but regrets that it’s far too late now.
“The horse is out of the stable and he’s galloped off in the field and it’s a bit late to try and get him back in now – it’s all a bit late – especially given the Saudi investment we’re seeing now,” Holloway told Lord Ping.
“Transfer windows are obscene, particularly if you look at Chelsea’s last season and what it did to their team and their club.
“Yes, it needs regulation but it’s hard to know how that’s done without starting from scratch. Rules should have been laid down way before now. It is the craziness of it that people like.
“Being a football manager is like trying to manage chaos. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. But that’s the fun of it. As long as the bosses are in control and make sure the clubs we love don’t go missing and bust, I think we can all have a great time.
“As a manager, the transfer window was not a good time when you step up, you get payments once and it doesn’t really help enough, if you can stay there three or four times you might have a chance of catching everyone up.
“We have the best league in the world, but I would do things differently.”
Arsenal are ready to sell Thomas Partey this summer, with a move out to Saudi Arabia a ‘concrete’ option.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Saudi Pro League clubs are interested in the 30-year-old midfielder and are willing to pay around £34million to bring him to the Middle East.
However, it is claimed no decision has been made by the player yet.
Partey has two years remaining on his current Gunners contract but there have been no talks over a new deal with the club, and there have been no approaches from any clubs in Europe yet, either.
Jose Mourinho has been given a four-match suspension by UEFA for his behaviour at last month’s Europa League final.
The Roma manager faced widespread criticism after he directed abuse at English referee Anthony Taylor.
UEFA also announced West Ham fans would be banned for their next away game in European competition, with a further match suspended for two years.
That related to Hammers fans throwing missiles onto the pitch during their Europa Conference League final tie against Fiorentina in Prague earlier this month.
The Italian club’s defender Cristiano Biraghi suffered a cut to the head from an object thrown from the crowd.
VAR has been given a massive thumbs-down in a new fans’ survey published today.
Almost two thirds [63.3 per cent] of football supporters said they oppose the use of VAR, with only 26.8 per cent saying they were absolutely or somewhat in favour of it.
The National Supporters Survey was commissioned by the Football Supporters’ Association and covered 9,645 fans, running online in March and April.
Only one in 20 [5.5 per cent] of fans who had experienced the technology being used in stadiums rated their experience of it as good or very good.
The negativity towards VAR in 2023 contrasts with the 2017 FSA survey – prior to VAR’s introduction – which found 74.6 per cent of fans favoured the use of video referees to support on-field officials with game-changing decisions.
More than three quarters of match-goers [79.1 per cent] and two thirds of TV viewers [65.4 per cent] now rate their experience of VAR as either poor or very poor, with almost 92 per cent saying decisions were taking too long to make.
Meanwhile, 80 per cent said fans should be able to hear discussions between the VAR and the on-pitch referee.
Simon Jordan has major concerns about Saudi Arabia’s football transfer takeover and what it means for the sport.
Players are being tempted to move to the Middle East by the staggering wages on offer – similar to scenes we’ve seen before with the Chinese Super League.
Speaking on talkSPORT earlier today, the former Crystal Palace owner said:
“This leveraging of the finances Saudi have to disrupt football concerns me a little bit.
“It’s not because I’m xenophobic or I don’t want Saudi Arabian football to prosper, it’s because I do believe there is a destabilising effect with this kind of money that has ramifications around ALL leagues.
“You start to take stellar names out, someone like Steven Gerrard if he took that job in Saudi Arabia, it has certain ramifications about it.
“Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, these are all players who are towards the end of their careers.
“But when you see someone like Ruben Neves, that probably tells you more about their ambitions in football than it does about the blueprint maybe followed by others.”
Danny Murphy admitted his surprise that former Liverpool teammate Steven Gerrard turned down a job in Saudi Arabia.
On Monday Gerrard revealed that he was invited to the Middle East by Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq, who made the Reds legend an offer to become their new manager.
But the 43-year-old, who has been out of a job since being sacked by Aston Villa in October, decided against it after a few days of deliberation.
Murphy is happy he did and suggested it’s because there might be ‘something in the pipeline’ for Gerrard in England as he aims to make his return to the dugout.
“I was a tad surprised if I’m honest,” Murphy told talkSPORT.
“I thought while he was over there that the lucrative aspect of it and the way they would have made him feel welcome and wanted, I thought he might get reeled in.
“But he’s shown some courage and substance.
“The one thing I know about Stevie, and he’s been the same all his life, is he loves football, he loves a challenge and he loves trying to prove people wrong.
“He did that journey amazingly well as a footballer, and as a manager he took some steps forward and then he’s gone backwards.
“So he’s going to have to take challenge that maybe he didn’t anticipate he was going to have to take when he started flying at Rangers.
“Maybe there’s something in the pipeline that we didn’t know about and he’s going to challenge himself to do that, which I think long-term will be beneficial to him.”
Newcastle are in advanced negotiations with AC Milan over a move for Sandro Tonali, but what kind of player would Eddie Howe be getting?
The Italy international – who will captain his country at the European Under-21 Championship which begins tomorrow – is a holding midfielder and is known for his combative style in the middle of the pitch.
But this season he has shown his eye for a pass and more creative flair, which has seen him compared to Italian passmaster Andrea Pirlo.
The 23-year-old ended the season with a total of 12 direct goal involvements in all competitions – his most productive campaign since joining AC Milan from Brescia for a total of £26million.
RB Leipzig will demand a fee of at least £75million to sell defender Josko Gvardiol to Man City, talkSPORT understands.
Pep Guardiola is targeting Gvardiol along with Croatia teammate and Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
The current world record fee for a defender is the £80m Manchester United paid Leicester for Harry Maguire.
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is the next superstar wanted by the Saudi Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante have joined the Middle East football revolution which promises players fine lifestyles and big-money wages.
And the head of the Asian Football Confederation’s marketing committee has admitted Salah is one of the top names in their radar.
The Egyptian King is one of the most marketable names in football and only has two years left to run on his current deal at Anfield.
Hafez Al-Medlej, told Koura Press Network via AS: “We must also start working on the signing of Mohamed Salah, since he is overwhelmingly popular in the Arab world and in Europe.
“I think Salah still has records to break with Liverpool so I hope that if he doesn’t come now, he will in the future.”
Chelsea have rejected a second bid from Manchester United for Mason Mount.
United’s offer is understood to be around £50million – a guaranteed £45m plus £5m in add-ons.
Chelsea have said no and are demanding £65m for the England international.
Talks between the clubs are set to continue.
Follow the latest Man United news on our dedicated club blog
talkSPORT can confirm treble winning captain Ikay Gundogan is set to leave Man City after agreeing terms with Barcelona.
Gundogan has been offered a two-year deal with the option of a further year by the Spanish giants.
Declan Rice may have to go on strike at West Ham to get his Arsenal move across the line this summer.
That’s according to former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy.
He believes the Hammers star may be forced to put his foot down if his transfer saga continues much longer after his club rejected two bids from the Gunners.
“As of now Man City aren’t in – my understanding is they have not committed yet and I’ve heard nothing about Bayern Munich – so Arsenal don’t have to rush,” Murphy told White and Jordan on talkSPORT.
“And it may get to a point where Declan has got a decision to make – has he got the courage to kick up to get out if he needs to?
“I know he’s not that type of lad but sometimes you have to be Craig Bellamy, Joey Barton – you’ve got to look after yourself.
“I only had it once in my career, but you have to be able to follow through.
“It means you have to make it perfectly clear, ‘If you keep me here I won’t be playing’, and even if you don’t really believe it long-term, you have to do it and make them believe.
“Is it a professional thing to do? It doesn’t matter. You’ve got to look after yourself.
“The big question mark for Dec is if Man City do come in late, the choice over whether to leave London or not.
“London is his home, it’s where he’s grown up, it’s where his family is, but as a football decision it would be a no-brainer to join the Premier League champions.
“If you had a choice between City and Arsenal, although Arsenal are on a great trajectory, you’d pick City all day long.”
Ilkay Gundogan has passed a medical with Barcelona ahead of a transfer from Man City, according to reports in Spain.
Pep Guardiola was keen to keep hold of the influential German midfielder, but he has decided to move on after the club’s treble success and join Barca in a free transfer.
That’s according to Spanish outlet Relovo, with claims Gundogan’s transfer to Barcelona is ’99 per cent done’.
The 32-year-old is set to sign a three-year deal with the Catalan giants – the longer-term contract he was looking for after City reportedly only offered him a one-year deal with the option for an additional year.
Toni Kroos has signed a contract extension at Real Madrid to remain at the Spanish giants.
The German midfielder’s existing deal was due to expire at the end of June, but – as expected – he has penned an extension to keep him at the Bernabeu for one more year.
“Real Madrid CF and Toni Kroos have agreed to extend the player’s contract, which remains linked to the club until June 30, 2024,” read a club statement.
Kroos has made 417 appearances for Los Blancos – the most of any German player in the club’s history – since his arrival from Bayern Munich in 2014.
He has won 20 titles in his nine seasons in the Spanish capital, including four Champions League crowns and three LaLiga titles.
Staying with the Declan Rice deal – there are questions if Man City’s interest is real or if it’s just a ruse to try and drive up the price.
There is also talk of Kalvin Phillips being included in a player-plus-cash deal, but the midfielder has said that he wants to stay at the Etihad Stadium and keep working with Pep Guardiola.
That has seemingly ended speculation over him leaving, with Liverpool also said to be keen… or does it?
“What Kalvin Phillips says and what Pep Guardiola tells him might be two different things,” says Simon Jordan.
“If he says he wants to stay at Man City and Guardiola says, ‘that’s very commendable son, by you ain’t playing’, then his attitude will have to change.
“There are a variety of ways this deal can be done because West Ham are going to have a need, they’re going to have to replace this player and Phillips could be the makeweight.
“Suddenly you’re doing a £75m deal with cash, plus you’re taking Kalvin Phillips, and you’re making it happen that way.”
Simon Jordan has said Arsenal are not going about things the right way in their pursuit of Declan Rice.
The Gunners have had two offers rejected by West Ham for their star player and captain, with the latest reaching a club-record £90million.
Arsenal are expected to launch a third bid in the hope of finally getting a deal over the line, but many fans are questioning why the club are trying to undercut West Ham’s valuation instead of just getting a deal done.
Jordan says Arsenal’s game doesn’t quite make sense, but does admit they are dealing with a tricky salesman in Hammers owner David Sullivan – saying getting an agreement out of him is like ‘trying to nail jelly to a wall’.
The White and Jordan host said this morning: “At this moment in time you’ve for Arsenal sitting in an auction room going, ‘I’ll bid’, and it’s not big enough… ‘Oh, I’ll bid again!’
“That’s not how it works.
“When you’re doing a deal and you’ve got some competitive tension in the room and you believe other people are going to bid against you, then you react to the circumstances.
“If Arsenal wants to steal a march they would rock straight through the door and go, ‘i’ll give you £100m on the nail, done, we’ve done the deal’.
“But you’ve also got to recognise who they are dealing with and I have dealt with David Sullivan and if Sullivan tells me it’s 9 o’clock in the morning, I’d check my watch!
“So with that in mind I think you’ve got to price in who you’re dealing with and price in the fact this is a commodity other people want to have.
“I don’t think whatever Arsenal do at this moment in time is going to be a done deal.
“Unless Arsenal go to David Sullivan and ask him, ‘What exactly do you want? Tell me exactly what you want and if we meet that expectation will you now do that deal?’
“And I promise you that would be like nailing jelly to a wall.”
Manchester United are reportedly considering entering the race for Declan Rice with a player-plus-cash offer.
Arsenal are in talks with West Ham over a move for their captain, with two bids rejected with the latest fetching a club-record £90million.
Man City are also linked with an interest in the England midfielder.
But the Daily Telegraph claim United could enter the fray and battle it out to beat their rivals to the transfer.
The report claims the Red Devils are ready to offer cash plus either Harry Maguire or Scott McTominay in a deal to bring Rice to Old Trafford, with both players put up for sale by Erik ten Hag this summer.
