This archive report was first published on 22 June 2021.
June 22, 2021 - Barcelona president Joan Laporta has expressed his desire to pair Cristiano Ronaldo with Lionel Messi next season, and is prepared to offer two players in exchange to persuade Juventus to sell the 36-year-old Portugal forward.
Manchester City, on the other hand, is ready to include Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus, 24, and England forward Raheem Sterling, 26, in any bid for 27-year-old England striker Harry Kane, who Tottenham value in the region of £150m.
Manchester United is making progress in its efforts to sign 24-year-old Spain defender Pau Torres from Villarreal, while Rafael Benitez is edging closer to the Everton job after further talks over the weekend.
Crystal Palace have held positive talks with Lucien Favre over potentially replacing Roy Hodgson, but could face competition from Everton over his signature. Atalanta are expected to hold off interest from both AC Milan and Roma in Italian midfielder Matteo Pessina and are set to offer the 24-year-old a contract extension.
Wolves are interested in signing Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward, 27, who has impressed playing for Wales at Euro 2020. Germany defender Antonio Rudiger, 28, wants to stay at Chelsea next season even though the club have yet to open talks over an extension to his current contract.
Bayern Munich have joined Everton, AC Milan, and Inter Milan in the race to sign 25-year-old Dutch international full-back Denzel Dumfries from PSV Eindhoven. Lille's French midfielder Boubakary Soumare, 22, will have a medical at Leicester in the next 10 days before signing a five-year contract with the Premier League club.
Liverpool has no plans to sell Kostas Tsimikas this summer despite the 25-year-old Greek defender making only seven first-team appearances last season. Roma are in talks with Wolves over a deal for Portuguese goalkeeper Rui Patricio, with the Premier League club wanting between £10m and £13m for the 33-year-old.
Southampton's England midfielder James Ward-Prowse, 26, is interested in joining Aston Villa this summer. Fulham boss Scott Parker is close to finalising the termination of his contract, with the former England midfielder then expected to take over at Bournemouth.
