Welcome to Sports Mole's live transfer blog on Tuesday, July 28.
The new football season is just around the corner for clubs home and abroad, but transfer business remains a top priority.
With five weeks left to go until the summer window slams shut, there is still plenty of time for deals to get over the line.
We will keep you up to date with all the latest developments as they happen throughout the day.
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Good morning everyone! What is in store for us today? Will a transfer record fee be broken? Will there be a shock departure? At the moment, there's no indication that either of those things will happen today... but you never know! There are five weeks left to go until transfer business ceases and many clubs have already added to their squads for the new season. As you can see, though, there's still plenty of time for some more arrivals and exits.
One club that has apparently not woken up in a good mood this morning is Manchester United. According to the Daily Star, the Premier League giants feel betrayed by Sergio Ramos as their top target has reportedly opted to discuss signing a new deal at Real Madrid. The Spaniard is alleged to have indicated to United that he wanted to move to Old Trafford this summer, but following the latest developments, the Red Devils think that Ramos was playing a game all along. Ouch!
Now, what does the future hold for Queens Park Rangers striker Charlie Austin? Numerous Premier League clubs are believed to be interested in the £15m-rated player, but it appears that Newcastle United are winning the race for his signature. A report in The Northern Echo says that the Magpies have received word from Austin's camp that the striker wants to move to St James' Park. However, Newcastle do not agree with QPR's asking price, so it seems as though we're still a way off from a deal being completed.
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I think it's time for a transfer roundup, don't you? Kevin de Bruyne, Saido Berahino and Fernando Llorente all feature in the latest of our Transfer Talk Updates. To have a look through this morning's list, click here.
Remember when £30m Erik Lamela arrived at Tottenham Hotspur in 2013 with so much promise? Well, according to Portuguese paper Record, the Argentine winger is on the verge of signing a loan deal with Porto. The report adds that the transfer may include an option to buy for £5.3m! Surely Spurs will not accept that much of a loss on their club-record signing?! Time will tell.
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Could Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Sunderland's Steven Fletcher be on their way to Swansea City? Not according to the South Wales Evening Post. The Swans have reportedly rubbished the rumours and insist that they have no plans to sign a new striker before the transfer window closes.
Liverpool have been reportedly trying to offload Mario Balotelli this summer after just a season at Anfield. Sampdoria have been linked with the Italy international, but it has been reported that they want the Reds to lower their asking price before making a bid. More here.
Nottingham Forest pair Michail Antonio and Henri Lansbury have been linked with moves away from the City Ground this summer, with the club currently under a transfer embargo. However, Reds boss Dougie Freedman has insisted that the duo are going nowhere.
Bournemouth have been linked with Max Gradel for most of the summer and it appears that the Cherries are now close to getting their man. The club have reportedly agreed a deal with Saint-Etienne to sign the Ivory Coast winger. More here.
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DONE DEAL! Into the Championship now where Burnley have strengthened further ahead of the new campaign. The Clarets have completed the signing of young striker Chris Long from Everton for an undisclosed fee. Read more on this here.
DONE DEAL! Crawley Town have confirmed the signings of Lee Barnard and Roarie Deacon. The strikers have linked up with the Essex outfit on one-year deals.
West Bromwich Albion have taken to Twitter this morning to play down suggestions that Saido Berahino is to be sold this summer. The Baggies have insisted that no bids have been received for the striker, who has been linked with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
West Bromwich Albion are reportedly closing in on a move for Hull City defender James Chester. You find out more on that potential move here.
Sporting Gijon are reportedly exploring the possibility of bringing Barcelona's Sandro Ramirez to the club on loan this summer.
Celtic assistant coach John Collins has admitted that Virgil van Dijk could leave the club if they fail to qualify for the Champions League group stage.
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has just confirmed that defender Calum Chambers will not be leaving the club on loan. More here.
BREAKING! Chelsea have confirmed that Filipe Luis has returned to former club Atletico Madrid. Find out more about that transfer here.
Experienced Italian centre-back Leonardo Bonucci has signed a new three-year contract extension with Juventus.
Stefan Savic recently joined Atletico Madrid from Fiorentina. Why? Here, the defender explains the reasoning behind his switch to the Spanish capital.
DONE DEAL! After much talking, Arturo Vidal is now officially a Bayern Munich player. The story is developing here.
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Meanwhile, back in the Premier League, it's been a relatively quiet summer for Norwich City. But, that could all be about to change because according to the PA, they have reached an agreement sign Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom on a season-long loan deal.
DONE DEAL! While Norwich have been quiet, the same cannot be said of Aston Villa. Tim Sherwood has just signed his seventh player since the end of last season. Find out who here.
Down in the Championship there's some good news for Birmingham as defender Jonathan Grounds signs a new contract with the Championship club. He's committed himself to St Andrew's until the summer of 2017, with the option of that being extended by a further 12 months.
A couple of lines to bring you from the Football League now. Firstly, former Marseille striker Kevin Osei has signed a six-month deal with Carlisle United, while Northampton have recruited Rod McDonald on a one-year contract.
Is Emmaneul Adebayor going to fill the void left by Christian Benteke at Aston Villa? The Tottenham Hotspur man has reportedly been spotted at Villa's training ground.
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DONE DEAL! News from the Championship as MK Dons secure the season-long loan signing of Rob Hall from Bolton Wanderers. The 21-year-old had a brief spell with the Dons last season and scored a hat-trick in one of his seven appearances, helping them earn promotion to the second tier.
Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan has been heavily linked with a move to Rangers this summer and now he has reportedly handed in a transfer request to try to force through a move.
COMPETITION! Not transfer news (sorry!), but surely you'd be interested in joining the Sports Mole Readers league on Fantasy Premier League. The winner gets a £100 Amazon.co.uk voucher and you can find out how to enter right here.
Marseille announce that they have agreed a deal in principle to sign former Arsenal man Abou Diaby, who was close to joining West Bromwich Albion after his release by the Gunners.
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7PM UPDATE! Missed anything today? Well our evening round-up of all the day's news and gossip is just what you need.
We brought you the news earlier that Scott Allan had reportedly handed in a transfer request at Hibernian and the Edinburgh club have now confirmed the story. Read what they had to say on the midfielder's future here.
Here's the latest on rumours linking Borussia Dortmund attacker Marco Reus with a move to the Premier League.
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Are Celtic chasing an Italian left-back from Serie A? That's what one report claims this evening.
From a defender leaving Serie A to arrive in Britain to one that could be going the other way. Tottenham's Vlad Chiriches is apparently on the verge of a £4.5m switch to Italy - find out who the interested party is by clicking here.
Meanwhile, another man who could be on his way out of Serie A (and one that has been linked with Spurs in the past, incidentally) is Xherdan Shaqiri. According to reports, the Swiss winger wants out of Inter Milan and is still keen on a switch to Schalke.
Keeping with the Spurs theme, Mauricio Pochettino appears to have switched his attention elsewhere having seemingly been priced out of a move for Crystal Palace's Yannick Bolasie. Manchester United winger Ashley Young is the latest to have been linked to White Hart Lane, and that full story can be found here.
Speaking of Crystal Palace (these tenuous segues are working quite well, don't you think?), the Eagles are reportedly lining up a move for Swansea City centre-back Ashley Williams. They've already done some good business this summer, and another top-half finish is clearly their aim next season judging by the players they are still targeting.
Down to the lower leagues of English football, and QPR's repeated attempts to lure James Perch back up to the Championship have hit another stumbling block after Wigan reportedly rejected a third bid from Chris Ramsey's side.
Earlier this evening we brought you the news that Tottenham and Napoli had agreed a deal for Vlad Chiriches, thought to be for around £4.5m. Well, that deal appears to be moving quickly, and the Romanian is now understood to be in Italy for his medical.
DONE DEAL! Over to Italy, and Serie A newcomers Carpi have brought in Raphael Martinho from Catania ahead of their spell in the top flight. You can find that full story by clicking here.
Speaking of top-flight new boys, It is going to be very interesting to see how Bournemouth get on next season. They have brought in six new faces already this summer, but manager Eddie Howe has hinted that there could be more to come.
Moving north of the border now and the saga surrounding Hibernian's Scott Allan might have another twist in its tail, as reports suggest that Aberdeen and Dundee United have joined the race for his signature. Rangers have had two bids rejected by the Edinburgh outfit, who have confirmed that Allan has submitted a written transfer request.
Back to the English top flight as reports indicate that Tottenham Hotspur are stepping up their interest in Manchester United's Javier Hernandez. Spurs are said to lining up the striker as a potential replacement for Emmanuel Adebayor, who is expected to complete his move to Aston Villa in the next 24 hours.
The Premier League may not have seen the last of Dimitar Berbatov as The Express has gotten word that the Bulgarian hitman is in talks with Aston Villa. The former Manchester United and Fulham man is available on a free transfer after being released by Monaco at the end of last term.
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Reports that Newcastle United's unsettled defender Fabricio Coloccini could be nearing a move to Olympiacos are in circulation. The Greek champions are said to be preparing a £2.5m bid for the Argentinian, which will likely alert his former boss Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace.
How about a recap on all of the transfer gossip you may have missed from earlier this evening? You can find the latest on Arturo Vidal's move to Bayern Munich and Saido Berahino's future in our latest Transfer Talk update here.
This one is almost a done deal - West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis has confirmed that Hull City defender James Chester is on the verge of signing for the Premier League club. The Wales international will set the Baggies back £8m.
A rumour emerged earlier this evening linking Everton striker Romelu Lukaku with a move to Manchester United. The Belgian limped off during the Blues' pre-season friendly victory over Dundee today with a suspected hamstring strain. That could end up being a deciding factor in how the Red Devils proceed with that one.
And that's all we have time for this evening but be sure to rejoin Sports Mole from 7am tomorrow for live transfer updates throughout the day. Many thanks for reading!
