Transfer news LIVE: Mane set for Bayern exit, Ten Hag's Man Utd demand as Abraham scouted
The domestic seasons are beginning to draw to a close across football with attention increasingly starting to turn to the summer transfer window which is just two months away
Another busy day of Premier League action takes place on Sunday with the battle for the title, race for top four and scrap to avoid relegation all in play.
There is likely to be mass upheaval this summer across the board with the ongoing takeover at Manchester United likely to coincide with renewed investment in the first-team squad at Old Trafford – a striker and a goalkeeper are top of the club's priority list.
Chelsea, on the verge of appointing Mauricio Pochettino as their new permanent boss, are likely to sanction at least a dozen exits from their first-team squad as owner Todd Boehly hopes to continuing investing in the first-team squad.
Mikel Arteta will also need to bring in reinforcements after Arsenal blew their Premier League title advantage while Liverpool are also in the market to overhaul their midfield after a below-par campaign.
With all that in mind, follow our live transfer blog for the latest transfer news and rumours...
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Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain sent scouts to watch Tammy Abraham yesterday, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Abraham scored in the 94th minute of Roma's Serie A match against AC Milan, only for Alexis Saelemaekers to equalise three minutes later in a 1-1 draw.
Rangers boss Michael Beale has suggested that the Scottish giants are approaching their "biggest rebuild in years".
Speaking after a Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic, he said: "Listen, I think it will be the biggest rebuild this club has seen in a number of years. You have to be respectful, you are coming in in November and know changes will be made.
"Every time you come to a press conference people ask you about it. I have got a group of players that I need to manage and keep moving forward and motivate for the games I have been here. It's obvious I am not going to come out and condemn people and send people away.
"But I think it's also obvious that we are getting to the summer and there's going to be some change."
The Premier League action is over the day and it has been rounded off with a stunning 4-3 win for Liverpool over Tottenham at Anfield.
The Reds roared into a 3-0 lead within the opening 15 minutes before Spurs rallied with goals from Harry Kane, Heung Min-Son and Richarlison.
Liverpool secured victory in stoppage time through Diogo Jota.
Read the talking points here
Jurgen Klopp has made his thoughts on Chelsea abundantly clear by admitting that he's "happy" to see the Blues struggle this season after their huge transfer outlay under new owner Todd Boehly.
The West Londoners have endured a rotten campaign under the American after he took control from Roman Abramovich just over a year ago. Despite a huge investment of £600m in the transfer market over two windows - an outlay that has seen 17 new faces arrive at Stamford Bridge - Chelsea sit 12th with six games of the season left to play.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the German said: "I feel a little bit for Chelsea to be honest, because it's not going well, I think they’re a top, top team, but on the other side it's good to see that you cannot just bring top players together and think it works out. You have to build a team and that's what the guys there underestimated and gave their coaches a nearly impossible job to do."
Read his thoughts in full here
Graeme Souness has suggested that Spurs and Liverpool players are playing for their futures at Anfield and in North London today.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: "The same applies to both clubs, some of them are fighting for their future at their club. The young boys - Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones - they have to show the manager you don't have to buy expensive midfield players, we’ve already got them here.
"And for Spurs, a lot of them are playing for their future. This year they’ve shown they’re not up for the fight on a regular basis, every single week. We talk about passion, it's not like a light switch, you can't turn it off and on. When you play for a big club you’ve got to be on it all the time. These players this year have shown this has not been the case."
A number of European giants are plotting a move for Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha once his Crystal Palace contract.
According to The Telegraph, Juventus and Arsenal hold long-term interest in the former Man Utd winger, whilst Barcelona and Chelsea could match the contract being put on the table by the Eagles.
Zaha scored on Saturday as Palace beat Wesr Ham 4-3 at Selhurst Park.
Mateo Kovacic is reportedly Thomas Tuchel's 'dream' signing for Bayern Munich this summer.
The Croatian has been linked with a Stamford Bridge exit this summer with Manchester City and Bayern having been linked. According to reports in Germany, Kovacic is Tuchel's ideal candidate for a midfield addition as he plots a raid on his former club.
Away from transfers, we've had a few intriguing results from the Premier League. Take a look at all of Sunday's early scores below:
Man Utd 1-0 Aston Villa
Fulham 1-2 Man City
Bournemouth 4-1 Leeds Utd
Newcastle 3-1 Southampton
Kyle Walker has plans to see out the rest of his Manchester City contract amid talk over an exit.
The England international has just a year remaining on his contract at Old Trafford and has been linked with an exit. According to the Daily Star however, he will reject the chance to leave the club this summer before bidding farewell on a free transfer next year.
Barcelona were interested in a deal for former Roma man Nicolo Zaniolo this January before his move to Galatasaray but they could not afford to sign him.
His agent Claudio Vigorelli said: "He was on Barcelona's list in January, it's true — they appreciated him but unfortunately it was not possible to proceed due to financial reasons."
Arsenal have once again been offered the services of Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, according to reports in Italy.
The Gunners were linked with a move for him before his switch to Turin but lost out to the Italian giants. They might have the chance to make a fresh swoop for him now.
As per La Stampa, the Gunners have been offered his services by his representatives and he could be open to a move.
However, Juventus do not want to sell and have put a €70m price tag on him.
Newcastle are reportedly eyeing a move for Roma star Paulo Dybala.
According to reports in Italy, the Argentine has a £12m release clause written into his contract at the Stadio Olimpico. Newcastle are apparently aiming to take advantage of that fact as they plot their return to the Champions League.
Bayern Munich have had Ollie Watkins watched as part of their search for a new striker this summer.
Watkins has been in explosive form in front of goal since Unai Emery arrived at Aston Villa in October.
And with 15 goals this season — including one run of 11 in 12 matches — that form has not gone unnoticed both at home and on the Continent.
Bayern had a scout at Villa's home game with Fulham on Tuesday, although the only goal was scored by Watkins’ team-mate Tyrone Mings.
Read the full story here
Arsenal and Liverpool are involved in a Premier League face-off to sign Croatia star Lovro Majer.
As per the Daily Mail, Spurs have regularly watched him in action for Rennes, whilst Arsenal and Liverpool are taking a "greater interest" in his development.
It is suggested that the player is open to a fresh challenge and could be available for around £30m in the summer.
Zinedine Zidane wants to return to management but he will not be rejoining Real Madrid this summer, report Marca.
The Frenchman, who won three Champions League trophies as a boss at Madrid between 2016 and 2018, has been out of football since leaving the role for a second time in the summer of 2021.
Juventus, Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain are all feasible destinations for Zidane this summer, the report adds.
Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets is set to pen a new one-year contract which will extend his stay at Camp Nou by one more season, according to Sport.
Busquets, aged 34, continues to play a key role for the Catalan giants and has made 38 appearances across all competitions this term.
Roma are interested in signing Benfica striker and Portugal international Goncalo Ramos this summer, reports A Bola.
Ramos, 21, has been linked with a move to Manchester United having starred for the Lisbon giants since the exit of Darwin Nunez last year. He also netted a hat-trick for Portugal in the Round of 16 World Cup win over Switzerland, when he started ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Any move for Ramos this summer is likely to prove difficult, as he carries a price tag which is likely to prove prohibitive for Roma.
Harry Kane has confirmed he plans to hold talks with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy before the end of the campaign with his club future in the spotlight.
Kane, 29, is on Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag's target list this summer as he is on red alert to sign a central striker at Old Trafford. The Spurs frontman will be on the market, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2024 and is likely to be in high demand.
The England captain had already revealed he had an "honest" talk with club chairman Levy following Spurs' 6-1 thrashing against Newcastle. That preceded Ryan Mason becoming the club's third head coach this season after Antonio Conte and Cristian Stellini were axed in consecutive months.
Read more on what Kane had to say here
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has been urged by Paul Merson to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney this summer.
Toney, 26, infamously took a dig at the Gunners on the opening day of the 2021-22 Premier League season, as his side marked their return to the top flight with an emphatic 2-0 victory over Mikel Arteta 's team. After the game at a raucous Brentford Community Stadium on a sunny August evening, Toney cheekily tweeted: "Nice kickabout with the boys."
The true impact of that tweet was revealed in Amazon's All or Nothing show on Arsenal 's 2021/22 campaign, which showed how Arteta used an expletive-leading rallying cry based around that tweet in an attempt to inspire the Gunners to beat the west London club later that campaign.
Read what Merson had to say here
Napoli will look to keep hold of superstar Victor Osimhen beyond this summer despite intense transfer speculation, writes Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Nigerian has been linked with a move to Manchester United, while Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain are also monitoring the situation of the striker, who has bagged 26 goals this campaign.
Napoli could confirm their status as Serie A champions today.
Chelsea and Inter are involved in negotiations over a swap deal this summer, reports Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Blues are intent on signing goalkeeper Andre Onana from the Italian club, but the Nerazzurri appear to have no interest in signing either Kepa Arrizabalaga or Eduoard Mendy in exchange.
The report claims the Serie A side may consider including centre-back Trevoh Chalobah and midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek in any move.
Erik ten Hag has confirmed his intention to sign a main central striker this summer – alongside other attacking options.
Wout Weghorst is set to leave this summer at the end of his loan stint while Anthony Martial will also be moved on, leaving Marcus Rashford – who prefers to play from the left – as the only senior central striker.
"Everyone knows, it's not a secret," said Ten Hag about his striker plans this summer. "All season we have had a shortage of number nines.
"We had a drop out of [Cristiano] Ronaldo and then [Anthony] Martial was often not available. [Jadon] Sancho was often not available. And then you have a shortage of frontline players. We have to cover many games. We need players who can strengthen to squad.
"You can approach that from many ways. The typical No 9, we talked before, [Marcus] Rashford can play very good as a No 9. Martial is a great No 9.
"So we have good players who can play in the role but we definitely need some offensive players, impact players, quality players who improve the front line."
Sadio Mane is set to leave Bayern Munich this summer, as outlined by a report in Diario AS.
The Senegalese forward only joined the German giants last summer from Liverpool but has struggled for form and fitness this season.
Mane, 31, was suspended by the German champions after allegedly hitting Leroy Sane following their 3-0 Champions League defeat against Man City. The former Liverpool forward was excluded from Bayern's recent Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim as punishment alongside a hefty fine.
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Erik ten Hag has explained Manchester United's thinking ahead of the summer transfer window, when they will push to sign a striker.
"Everyone knows, it's not a secret. All season we have had a shortage of number nines," he said.
"We had a drop out of [Cristiano] Ronaldo and then [Anthony] Martial was often not available. [Jadon] Sancho was often not available. And then you have a shortage of frontline players. We have to cover many games. We need players who can strengthen to squad.
"You can approach that from many ways. The typical No 9, we talked before, [Marcus] Rashford can play very good as a No 9. Martial is a great No 9. So, we have good players who can play in the role but we definitely need some offensive players, impact players, quality players who improve the front line."
Chelsea have reignited their interest in Lyon defender Castello Lukeba, according to L'Equipe.
The Blues reportedly saw a £38million bid rejected last summer by the French club, but are ready to return again.
Manchester United plan to extend Victor Lindelof's contract by a year in the summer, according to the Daily Star.
Lindelof would have gone into the final 12 months of his contract in July, but United will take up the option in his deal to keep hold of him.
Lindelof has found himself in the team recently due to injuries to Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane.
Paul Merson has urged his former club Arsenal to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney this summer.
"I don't see much difference between him and [Gabriel] Jesus," he said on Sky Sports. "If I was Arsenal, I'd take him. He suits Arsenal down to the ground. You can't really go long with Jesus, but you can go long with Toney, he's good in the air."
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