Key events
Aston Villa in talks over Sancho loan deal
Ben Fisher
Aston Villa are in discussions with Manchester United over a deal for Jadon Sancho. The winger is out of favour at Old Trafford but has admirers at Villa Park. The structure of the proposal is unclear, with Villa thought to be pursuing a loan move. Sancho spent last season on loan at Chelsea and has not played for United in more than 12 months.
Interestingly, the 25-year-old rejected a move to Roma, which triggered the Serie A club signing Leon Bailey on loan from Villa earlier this window. And then there is Emi Martínez, who was omitted from Villa’s squad on Sunday amid interest from United. Martínez is keen on the move but Villa will only sanction a sale if they get a replacement and the right price.
We have an early done deal from the EFL: Leyton Orient have signed 20-year-old Southampton striker Dom Ballard on a three-year deal. Is he any relation to Sunderland centre-back Dan Ballard? No, he isn’t.
As for news of Premier League deadline-day surprises, the hits just keep on coming …
Andy Hunter
Away from the Isak business, Liverpool could raise more funds on deadline day by selling Harvey Elliott and Joe Gomez. Aston Villa have emerged as a potential destination for Elliott, whose first-team chances are likely to be squeezed further by Isak’s arrival, but they might need to sell Emi Buendía first.
Milan made a €15m offer for Gomez on Sunday night but, with complications arising in Liverpool’s pursuit of Marc Guéhi, the Premier League champions would be reluctant to sell the versatile defender at this stage.
Nicolas Jackson emerges as Newcastle target
Jacob Steinberg
Nicolas Jackson is a target for Newcastle as a replacement for Liverpool-bound Alexander Isak. Chelsea are open to selling the striker despite calling off a proposed loan move to Bayern Munich after Liam Delap suffered a hamstring injury against Fulham. Work is being done to see if a move to the north-east is possible for Jackson. Newcastle have also looked at Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and the Wolves forward Jørgen Strand Larsen.
If Jackson does go, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chelsea pull another rabbit out of the hat in terms of a late arrival. There could be departures today too. Tyrique George could be heading to Roma, and Chelsea need to find moves for Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell and Axel Disasi. West Ham have asked about a loan deal for Disasi, who has also been targeted by Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.
Here’s a roundup of all the deadline-day transfer chat:
“Was Vinny Samways ‘tough-tackling’? I always remembered him as more a cultured midfielder,” writes Andrew Champney. One deadline day not dominated by Vinny Samways, all I ask. Will never happen. But did you know he spent six years at Las Palmas? Nice work if you can get it.
Man City pursue Donnarumma with Ederson sale agreed
Jamie Jackson
Manchester City have agreed the €14m transfer of Ederson to Fenerbahce but the deal is dependent on signing Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain for around €35m, or another elite goalkeeper as his replacement.
A deal is understood to be in place regarding Ederson’s move to the Turkish club but City are intent on securing Donnarumma’s arrival first. If the Italian cannot be secured the Brazilian will not be sold unless another top-class keeper can be signed. As the window closes at 7pm on Monday this may be unlikely.
Ederson, who is 32 and has a year left on his contract, has become unsettled at City while Donnarumma has been deemed surplus to requirements by Luis Enrique at PSG, the Spaniard signing Lille’s Lucas Chevalier last month to be his new No 1.
Ederson has been City’s first-choice keeper since signing in summer 2017 from Benfica. He has won six Premier Leagues, two FA Cups, four League Cups, the Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup. The Brazilian was a key member of City’s 2022-23 treble triumph.
Louise Taylor
Sunderland have agreed a fee of around £20m with Ajax for Brian Brobbey. The 23-year-old Netherlands striker is on a flight to Newcastle from Amsterdam and will have a medical later this morning.
On Sunday evening, Sunderland agreed to a request from Chelsea to recall their loanee striker Marc Guiu to Stamford Bridge in the wake of Liam Delap’s injury. Brobbey will become Sunderland’s 13th signing of a very busy summer.
Will Unwin
Burnley are set to complete the signing of midfielder Florentino Luís from Benfica on an initial loan deal. The Clarets will pay €2m (£1.7m) upfront with a €24m (£20.8m) obligation to buy next summer.
Luís has attracted interest from Premier League clubs in the past but will finally get the chance to play in England with Burnley. He will undergo a medical later today before finalising his move to Turf Moor.
“I might be late to the party on this one but I’ve just spotted David Moyes and the tough-tackling Vinny Samways having a sandwich together in a trendy Lytham cafe,” reports Darrien Bold. “Rumours of a cool £2m swoop from Everton doing the rounds in these parts.”
Some early news involving a couple of big Premier League clubs: Chelsea are poised to recall Marc Guiu from his Sunderland loan, as cover for Liam Delap’s injury. That could reopen the door for Nicolas Jackson to join Bayern Munich; the Bundesliga giants have been pondering other options, including Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman – who is also on Tottenham’s radar.
Meanwhile, Antony looks to be leaving Manchester United for good, with the striker set to get his wish and rejoin Real Betis on a permanent deal worth £21.7m – around a quarter of the fee United paid Ajax to sign him in 2022.
Before the madness begins today, you can catch up with all the big summer deals – more than 1,500 of them – with our interactive guide.
Liverpool agree £125m Isak deal with Newcastle
More on this morning’s big news, here:
Preamble
Hello. Around £6bn (SIX BILLION POUNDS) has been spent this summer across Europe’s “big five” leagues – with close to 50% of that figure spent in the Premier League alone. It has been – even by modern football standards – a transfer window of extraordinary excess, and it’s not over yet.
The biggest saga of the summer is yet to fully play out, but it looks like Liverpool will finally get their man after agreeing a £125m fee for Alexander Isak late last night. Do the Premier League leaders even need him? And will Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi follow Isak through the Anfield entrance later today?
Other loose ends to be tied up: will Yoane Wissa get his Newcastle move, and/or will the Magpies swoop for Wolves’ Jorgen Strand Larsen or Roma’s Artem Dovbyk? Could Manchester City hit the panic button and draft in Gianluigi Donnarumma and Rodrygo? And will United make their move for Emiliano Martínez, Senne Lammens or A.N. Other to cover their goalposts?
All will be revealed before the 7pm (BST) deadline, apart from those deals which are inexplicably allowed to rumble on for another two hours afterwards. Here we go!
