Are Manchester United interested in signing Fernando Llorente? Well, nobody seems quite sure. A report in pink Italian paper the Gazzetta dello Sport claims the 34-year-old Spanish striker has been offered a two-year deal at United, but closer to home the Daily Mail insists no such move is ahoy. Llorente, a free agent since being released by Tottenham in June, has also been linked with moves to Serie A clubs Napoli and Lazio.
Victor Wanyama is another player who is surplus to requirements at Tottenham, who are still busy negotiating the midfielder’s sale to Belgian side Club Brugge. Elsewhere in north London, Arsenal have told Shkodran Mustafi and Mohamed Elneny to sling their respective hooks before the European transfer window closes next week, or face prolonged periods of footballing inactivity. “They are very big players but for one circumstance or another they are going to have fewer chances to show their capacity or to be happy with us and the minutes they play in matches,” said Unai Emery. Mustafi has attracted interest from Monaco, while a number of Turkish Süper Lig clubs are believed to be hitching their skirts at Elneny.
Following the departure of Islam Slimani for Monaco on a season-long loan earlier this week, his former Leicester City teammate Adrien Silva is about to join him on the French Riviera. Eager to further reduce numbers in his squad, Brendan Rodgers also hopes to offload winger Rachid Ghezzal and midfielder Fousseni Diabaté before the end of the month. “It’s difficult for the likes of Diabaté and Rachid because there are players in front of them,” he said. “There will be, in the next few weeks, opportunities for these guys to go [somewhere else] and play.”
Brazilian winger Kenedy is exploring his options, having dropped below Pedro, Christian Pulisic, Willian, Callum Hudson-Odoi and the person who makes the half-time tea in the Chelsea pecking order. Despite featuring prominently in Chelsea’s pre-season games, the 23-year-old did not make the bench for last weekend’s match against Leicester. Midfielder Tiémoué Bakayoko is also expected to leave Stamford Bridge, although negotiations over a season-long loan move to Monaco are reported to be at an impasse.
Inter’s hopes of securing Arturo Vidal from Barcelona on loan appear to have been dashed by the revelation that the Spanish champions want to sell the Chilean midfielder. Any money they raise from hawking him around will presumably go towards funding the latest bid for Neymar that Barcelona news outlet Sport say is in the pipe. While it remains to be seen whether the Brazilian goes to Barça or Real Madrid, his current employers, PSG, seem hell-bent on signing Juventus striker Paulo Dybala as his replacement.
And finally, rumours that Marcos Rojo is on the verge of moving to Fenerbahce appear to have been greatly exaggerated, as a spokesman for the Turkish club has insisted they are not interested in signing the Manchester United defender.