Gianni Infantino’s not-at-all-confusing first transfer window of the summer slams shut at the end of Tuesday, so teams involved in his cherished new Club World Cup are scrambling to complete deals ahead of a tournament they’re not sure they care about. Chelsea are reportedly in talks with Borussia Dortmund over the signing ofJamie Gittens. The German club, said to be looking for a fee of upwards of £40m for the winger, have rejected an opening bid from Chelsea of just short of £30m. Bit of a gap to bridge there, then. Gittens, 20, is an England youth international and – as is often the case – spent a period in the Chelsea academy. Chelsea are thought to be delving into their reserves to make a second cash offer.
As they aim to close deals for Wolves’ Rayan Aït-Nouri and Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders, Manchester City are trying their best to offloadJack Grealishbefore jetting off to the States this week. Everton are said to be interested in the winger, with the club’s new owners keen to bring in a stellar name to play alongside other superstars like James Tarkowski, James Garner and Beto when David Moyes’ side move into their new stadium this summer. Grealish scored a whopping three goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for City last season, so you get the feeling that he’d fit right in at the prestigious Hill Dickinson Stadium.
In the north east, Newcastle are reportedly turning their attention to Brighton’sJoão Pedroin order to bolster their squad to make a better fist of the Champions League this coming campaign. Another of Eddie Howe’s attacking targets, Bryan Mbeumo, appears unable to resist the lure of Manchester United, which has left João Pedro as a top target at St James’ Park. Surely the clearest evidence that the Brazilian could be on his way is the bid that Brighton are said to have made forCharalampos Kostoulas. Yes,thatCharalampos Kostoulas. The 18-year-old Olympiakos striker, who scored six goals in 21 league games last season, has been the subject of a bid worth £34m from the Seagulls. He would be the second teenage Greek forward to move to Brighton this year after Stefanos Tzimas was signed from PAOK in January. Do they know something we don’t?
Harvey Elliott, who is heading off to the Under-21 European Championship this summer despite being, what, 28 by now, appears to be angling for some more playing time at Liverpool and/or an exit. Elliott made just two league starts for the Premier League champions last season and has said: “I don’t really want to be wasting years on my career because it’s a short career. You don’t know what’s going to happen.” After apparently rejecting a move to Nottingham Forest recently, the midfielder could be more likely to seek his fortune abroad. Let’s call it the Scott McTominay effect. Or Jude Bellingham – whatever.
Arsenal have spent much of the first window working on tying up a deal forMartín Zubimendi. Real Madrid, as they are wont to do sometimes, are apparently trying to muscle in on these negotiations. The Real Sociedad midfielder has already rejected one move to England, turning down Liverpool last summer. Maybe it’s the food. And who can blame him?
Cristiano Ronaldois one player who will not be featuring at the Club World Cup. The now two-time Nations League winner has all but confirmed that he will be staying at Al-Nassr. “Basically nothing is going to change,” the 40-year-old said afterPortugal’s penalty shootout winagainst Spain in Munich, once he’d stopped crying obviously.
Joining Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia this summer could beJadon Sancho. Al-Hilal, whose current wide options include the former Barcelona icon Malcom and Saudi Arabia’s World Cup hero against Argentina Salem Al-Dawsari, are reportedly pursuing Sancho as well as Liverpool’s Luis Díaz, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min and Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres. Perhaps these players can be enticed by the prospect of being comfortably beaten but not humiliated by Real Madrid in their Club World Cup opener in Miami. Who knows, maybe they’d even get to meet Gianni.