Friday's transfer news: Liverpool reject loan deal, Arsenal face exits plus Manchester United, Tottenham latest rumours and gossip
All the day's transfer news, rumours, gossip and done deals
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Your support makes all the difference.Here is the best of Friday's transfer news, rumours, gossip and done deals as Arsenal and Manchester United prepare for busy days ahead.
The Gunners were rocked by club captain Laurent Koscielny going on strike yesterday, with the Frenchman refusing to join the pre-season tour to the US. Koscielny has been offered a three-year deal by Bordeaux, while Rennes are also interested, and he wants the club to allow him to leave on a free transfer in return for his nine years of service.
Manchester United meanwhile met with representatives of Inter Milan yesterday to discuss a potential loan deal with an obligation-to-buy for wantaway striker Romelu Lukaku. Talks are still at an early stage, however, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side have received a boost in their pursuit of Sporting's Bruno Fernandes after the Portuguese club signed Aleksandar Trajkovski who is seen as a direct replacement. Over in Europe, Barcelona are expected to finally trigger Antoine Griezmann's release clause today in one of the biggest transfers in football history. Follow all the latest news throughout the day here:
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has addressed the club's apparent lack of activity in the transfer window, admitting that the Champions League winners won't be buying big this summer.
Speaking after a friendly against Tranmere Rovers on Thursday, the German said: “The transfer market is open until August 8th... we will see what we do, but I don’t think it will be the biggest transfer window of all time.
"We brought [players] in already, only you don’t realise it. Brewster, Oxlade-Chamberlain didn’t play last year. All the young boys today... they’re all new players for us."
Liverpool signed 17-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg from Dutch side PEC Zwolle last month, while Danny Ings, Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno have all departed from Anfield.
Arsenal have plans to derail Everton's move for Malcom.
The Toffees have already bid £31.5m for the Barcelona winger, but the Gunners are hopeful that they can persuade the 22-year-old to head to north London rather than Merseyside.
Everton face further competition in the transfer window from Wolves, who share the Toffees' interest in Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa.
The 30-year-old is apparently disgruntled in Madrid, but it is not clear which club he would prefer to move to.
The Spaniard has been a target of Everton's before, and is currently valued at around €30m.
Aston Villa have seemingly increased their spending again, agreeing a £15m deal for Manchester City's Douglas Luiz.
The Brazil U23 captain has never appeared for City, having spent the last two seasons on loan at Girona.
Villa's spending in this window is now nearing £100m.
Although Jurgen Klopp admitted that it is likely to be a quiet window for Liverpool, the Champions League winners look set to secure 16-year-old Harvey Elliot from Fulham.
Elliot has rejected the proposition of staying at Craven Cottage, where he became the youngest player to ever feature in the Premier League last season.
If Liverpool are successful in signing the youngster, they will have fended off competition from Real Madrid and PSG.
Watford are confident of signing Rennes winger Ismaila Sarr.
The Hornets opening €30m bid has been rejected, but the player is keen to push through the move and is close to agreeing personal terms with the Premier League side.
Joachim Andersen has signed for Lyon and will be presented this Friday at 15:30 at a press conference alongside Jean-Michel Aulas and Juninho.
The Danish centre-back was linked with Arsenal and signs from Sampdoria.
The player will cost around €30m.
Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella has confirmed that the Serie A club are interested in signing Mario Balotelli and Daniele De Rossi.
Balotelli is a free agent, having left Marseille this summer, while De Rossi last month expressed a desire to retire after his time at Roma came to an end.
After Laurent Koscielny refused to travel to the United States for Arsenal's pre-season tour yesterday, the club have decided to let the Frenchman go for a fee of £9m.
The injury-prone 33-year-old has a year remaining on his contract, but wishes to return to France to end his career and has been linked with Lyon, Bordeaux and Rennes.
Some acrimony in Spain as Malaga owner Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani accuses Jony Rodriguez of making "a big mistake".
Jony flew to Rome earlier this week to complete a transfer to Lazio, but Al Thani says that he did not sign off the player's contract and the 28-year-old did not have permission to travel.
"I hope the player solves this," Al Thani said on Twitter.
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