Tottenham and Crystal Palace are closing on agreement today over a fee for Eberechi Eze.
As Mail Sport reported at the weekend, Tottenham’s opening proposal has been around £55m plus add-ons, with Palace valuing the 27-year-old closer to £70m. Talks had been edging towards £65m on Tuesday afternoon.
Although Eze’s release clause of £60m plus £8m expired last week, he still has two years left on contract.
Talks resumed on Monday and are ongoing, with Palace keen to secure their replacement before agreeing to Eze’s departure.
That has not been easy as Bruges are holding out for over £35m for former Norwich City attacking midfielder Christos Tzolis, while Leicester City rejected Palace’s £20m offer for El Bilal Khannouss over the weekend. Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott was another possible target but there are doubts he would join and he would be even more expensive.
Palace, who have rejected an approach from Atalanta for Jean-Philippe Mateta, retain interest in Hwang Hee-chan from Wolves who could leave on loan as cover for Eddie Nketiah, with the striker currently out with a hamstring injury.
Eberechi Eze looks to be nearing a move from Crystal Palace to Tottenham, with the clubs close to agreeing a fee
Palace want El Bilal Khannouss to replace Eze, but have seen a £20m bid rejected by Leicester
Matt Hobbs, the former Wolves sporting director who was influential in bringing Hwang to Molineux from RB Leipzig in 2022, is close to filling a similar role at Palace after Dougie Freedman departed for Saudi side Al-Diriyah. Hobbs was alongside Palace chairman Steve Parish at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have yet to give up on Manchester City’s Savinho. Pep Guardiola wants the Brazilian winger to stay but Spurs are ready to give it another try after this Saturday’s trip to City.
Chelsea have also considered the 21-year-old. They are reluctant to offer £50m for Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho but Savinho is valued at £65m.
Teams queueing up to take Sterling on loan
Chelsea forward Raheem Sterling would prefer to stay in London if possible.
The 30-year-old, who is on £300,000 a week, is understood to have interest from Fulham, Crystal Palace and West Ham, but the amount of his salary Chelsea agree to subsidise will be key to any deal. Galatasaray and Bayer Leverkusen have also shown interest in the England international.
Chelsea rejected an offer from Borussia Dortmund for Carney Chukwuemeka last week but he also has interest from West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Napoli and RB Leipzig, who continue to look for solutions should they sell Xavi Simons to Chelsea. One such option, Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku remains hopeful of joining Bayern Munich although Inter Milan are also in the background.
Chelsea defender Renato Veiga, 22, has agreed personal terms with Spanish club Villarreal but the crucial matter of a fee has still to be determined, with the Stamford Bridge club wanting around £34m.
Enzo Maresca would still like another centre back, with intermediaries having sounded out Bayer Leverkusen’s Piero Hincapie among others but a deal for the Ecuadorian is off the agenda for the German side.
Raheem Sterling is ready to leave Chelsea on loan, but would prefer to stay in London
Chelsea remain open to offers for Nicolas Jackson, who is emerging as a target for Aston Villa, but his asking price of £80m is deterring potential suitors.
Vardy biding his time over future
Jamie Vardy is in no immediate rush to make a decision on his next club.
The 38-year-old is maintaining his fitness by training in Portugal following his departure from Leicester and has fielded a number of offers or enquiries from the likes of Napoli, Rangers, Celtic, Everton and Brentford. As a free agent, he can still join clubs outside of the window.
Leeds to land £17.5m Milan forward
Noah Okafor is due to arrive at Leeds tonight ahead of his transfer from AC Milan.
The Swiss international forward, who has had niggling injuries over recent seasons, is scheduled to fly in ahead of his medical in a deal worth up to £17.5m.
Leeds are also assessing a move for Leicester City right back James Justin after he picked up an injury at the weekend, but there are hopes it is only short-term. Justin, 27, has just a year left on his contract at the King Power Stadium and had attracted interest from Everton, too.
Leeds are still looking to offload striker Patrick Bamford before the end of the window. Werder Bremen remain interested in Leeds left back Isaac Schmidt.
Phillips has suitors… but Leeds’ interest has cooled
Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips is still expected to leave the club in the final days of the window.
Kalvin Phillips looks unlikely to rejoin his former club Leeds, who have signed Sean Longstaff
Phillips has been recovering from achilles surgery and is looking to be fully fit by September. Leeds, his former club, were among those keen to take him on loan earlier in the window but have since signed Sean Longstaff from Newcastle. Other Premier League sides remain interested in his recovery, though.
Meanwhile, Galatasaray have opened talks with City over a possible deal for centre back Manuel Akanji. Pep Guardiola is leaving it up to the Swiss international to decide his future, providing Galatasaray meet City’s valuation. Gala had been discussing a bid for City goalkeeper Ederson but have still to make a suitably tempting offer. The Turkish side have also been assessing Diogo Costa at Porto as an alternative.
Erik Ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen have stepped into hijack Borussia Dortmund’s planned move for City midfielder Claudio Echeverri.
The 19-year-old Argentine, who is travelling to Germany on Tuesday, is still highly thought of by City but with competition fierce in his position, they want him to gain regular game-time in a competitive league such as the Bundesliga. He will join on a season-long loan with no option to buy, though Leverkusen will pay a loan fee. Dortmund wanted to include an option to buy.
As Daily Mail Sport reported on Tuesday, Wrexham are also working to finalise the signing of City defender Callum Doyle in a deal worth up to £8m.
Wolves sign fastest player in Italy
Wolves fans will be hoping fleet-footed Jackson Tchatchoua can give their defence greater powers of recovery than they showed against Manchester City in the opening day of the season.
The £10m signing from Hellas Verona was regarded as the quickest player in Serie A last season, clocking a top speed of 36.3km/h, or 21mph for the more traditional among you. That makes him as fast as a roadrunner bird but not quite as speedy as Tottenham’s Micky van der Ven, who clocked 37.12km/h (23.1mph) last season. Anyway, Tchatchoua was quick to sign a five-year deal today.
Wolves are wary that Jorgen Strand Larsen is high on Newcastle’s shortlist, as first revealed by Daily Mail Sport, but consider the striker not for sale.
Wolves have signed Hellas Verona defender Jackson Tchatchoua, who was the quickest player in Serie A last season
Newcastle were waiting on the outcome of Brentford’s meeting with wantaway striker Yoane Wissa on Tuesday. Brentford are understood to be valuing the 28-year-old at around £40m and would like a replacement sorted before selling, slowing down the process. A return for Marseille forward Neal Maupay is one idea that has been floated.
Newcastle are understood to have been approached about a possible move for Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund but that idea has been dismissed. The Dane still has interest from Napoli, AC Milan, Fulham and Atalanta as United consider allowing him out on an initial loan. United still want a midfielder but priority is sales at this stage.
Burnley forward heading back to Spain
Burnley’s Italy under-21 international forward Luca Koleosho is in talks to join partner club Espanyol. Discussions between the clubs are over a season-long loan for the 20-year-old.
Koleosho joined Burnley from the Spanish club in the summer of 2023 on a permanent deal. Burnley manager Scott Parker would ideally like to add another defender before the window closes.
Boro win race to land MLS defender
Middlesbrough have agreed to add a 13 percent sell-on fee to their deal to sign Adilson Malanda from MLS side Charlotte FC.
The French-born centre back was at The Riverside on Monday evening to watch Boro’s under 21s against Manchester United and sat alongside manager Rob Edwards. The 23-year-old also had varying degrees of interest from Derby, Everton, Leicester and Norwich, as well as PSV Eindhoven and Bruges. However, Boro agreed to pay a fee of £5.5million and will allow Malanda to return to Charlotte on loan to finish the MLS season before coming back to Teesside later this year.
The club remain in the market for a left wing-back and a striker, while Ipswich may look to rekindle their bid for Boro’s Hayden Hackney in the coming days. Kieran McKenna’s club have also asked about Newcastle’s Lewis Miley but Eddie Howe is reluctant to let him go with so many games ahead.
West Ham could send Alvarez to Turkey
Fenerbahce are pushing to complete a deal to sign West Ham’s Edson Alvarez on loan with an option to buy. The midfielder is surplus to requirements and freeing up his wages, which are understood to be around £115,000 a week, will increase Graham Potter’s budget for new signings.
Edson Alvarez could leave West Ham on loan this window, but the midfielder is undecided on his future
Alvarez has not made a decision on his future, however, and also has loan interest from Porto and Borussia Dortmund.
Rabiot puts clubs on red alert
Clubs are monitoring developments at Marseille after Adrien Rabiot was put on the market. The France midfielder had a dressing room altercation with England under 21 international winger Jonathan Rowe.
Hull’s transfer boost
Hull have confirmed their transfer embargo has been reduced from three windows to two by the Club Financial Review Panel. The Tigers announced in early July that they would appeal against the EFL punishment and were ‘confident of resolving the matter’, with owner Acun Ilicali hopeful the panel would accept the club’s explanation for late payments and outstanding fees.
