Thursday's transfer news, rumours and done deals as Man Utd battle and Everton rival Liverpool for signing

Hello and welcome along to Thursday's latest transfer news, rumours and done deals. We'll have everything that happens through the day right here so stay tuned.

First up this morning is the battle for Harry Maguire, as Manchester United and Manchester City try to coax the Leicester centre-half north.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains confident that a bid of £75m will be enough to persuade the Foxes to let him go, according to the Mail.

Leciester are said to want £85m but United believe they can get a deal agreed before City.

Sam Allardyce claims he has turned down an offer to take over as the next Newcastle United manager.

You can read the full story here:

Arsenal and Everton are in a race to sign Barcelona winger Malcolm, according to the Sun.

Everton had a £31.5m bid rejected for the 22-year-old but are hopeful of completing a deal in the coming days.

However, Arsenal have also turned their attentions towards Malcolm and believe he could be a cheaper alternative to Wilfried Zaha.

Frank Lampard managed his first Chelsea game last night. Here's reaction and how he wants to improve the Blues:

Tottenham are said to be leading the race to sign Dani Olmo from Dinamo Zagreb despite competition from Atletico Madrid, while Roma want to bring Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld to the Olimpico.

AS report that Spurs are closing in on a £27m deal for the midfielder.

Aston Villa are set to sign Brentford defender Ezri Konsa in a £12m transfer, according to the BBC.

Konsa, 21, has been a key target for Dean Smith, who managed the England Under-21 centre-back when he was in charge of Brentford.

He joined from Charlton in 2019 for £2.5m.

West Ham have big ambitions this summer and one of the players on their target list is Juventus striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The 31-year-old is in limbo after returning to Juventus following a mixed loan spell at Chelsea, where Cristiano Ronaldo is unlikely to afford the Argentine much game time. 

And according to Sky Sports Italia, the Hammers believe they can entice Higuain to the London Stadium on a season-long loan.

Everton have joined the race for Liverpool's top transfer target Nicolas Pepe.

The Telegraph reports that Everton are desperate to land a marquee signing this summer and have designs on Pepe, who excelled for Lille in Ligue 1 last season.

The 24-year-old, who scored 22 goals in 2018/19, has long been a target of Liverpool, who were expected to rekindle their interest this summer.

Lille value their star asset at £59m, meaning that Everton will need to smash their club record transfer fee to land the Ivory Coast international.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident that David De Gea will soon sign a new contract with Manchester United.

We understand that the Old Trafford giants have offered the 28-year-old a new and improved deal in an attempt to finally agree upon a contract extension.

Negotiations with De Gea failed to bring a resolution last season, with demands around the deal holding things up despite the goalkeeper's apparent desire to remain at a club he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2011.

The situation is becoming more pressing as the Spain international is out of contract next summer, with Paris St Germain, Juventus and Real Madrid - a club he was so close to joining in 2015 - reported to be among the interested parties.

Asked about De Gea's situation, United boss Solskjaer said: "David has had a summer now where he's been negotiating and thinking about his contract, so we hope that we're going to get it sorted soon.

"I'm positive. Of course, with David, I've said many times how lucky I am and how happy we are to have him in the goal, so we hope he stays here for many years."