Transfer news latest: Updates & reports plus Alexander-Arnold makes Real debut

Regarding Rashford, I think many fans see him, rightly or wrongly, as someone with a bit of an attitude problem who doesn’t work hard enough to do justice to his undoubted talent. Perhaps clubs have a similar view and this is why he’s struggling to find a move – can’t justify the risk for the sort of money he’s on.

James

Where Thomas Partey’s future lies remains to be seen. But if he does depart Arsenal, will boss Mikel Arteta miss the Ghana international’s presence in midfield?

That was a main talking point after the Gunners’ first leg semi-final defeat by Paris St-Germain in the Champions League two months ago, when Partey was suspended after picking up his third yellow card of the competition in the previous game against Real Madrid.

Former Gunners defender Matt Upson felt Arsenal lacked “balance” without Partey, while French football expert Julien Laurens said his abscene had an impact on the rest of the midfield in the first leg atEmirates Stadium.

Thomas Partey signed for Arsenal from Atletico Madrid five years ago in a £45.3m transfer. Last season, he played 35 Premier League games for the Gunners – mostly in central midfield – scoring four goals.

If he was to leave north London, then his replacement has already been sorted – Martin Zubimendi, the 26-year-old who is considered one of the world’s best defensive midfielders and is set to join Arsenal for £51m from Spanish side Real Sociedad.

Back to Arsenal now and according to sources at ESPN, Thomas Partey is expected to leave the club, as negotiations over a new deal are at a standstill.

The 32-year-old Ghana midfielder, whose contract expires on 30 June, is not expected to re-sign with the Gunners.

Partey has reportedly attracted interest from some Turkish sides, plus Barcelona and former club Atletico Madrid.

Well done to everyone who correctly said the ‘hello, Bono, how’s The Edge” quote was from the Alan Partridge episode from series two, ‘I Know What Alan Did Last Summer’.

And put your name on your messages, folks so we can say hello to you.

Is the Alan Partridge quote from I know what Alan did last summer.

Tony Samra, West Bromwich

I’m not a U2 fan so can’t give you any puns but I’m sure the headline quote is from I’m Alan Partridge. PS, The Edge is fine

Anon

Probably late to the party here, but The Edge is fine, at least according to Fake Bono in I’m Alan Partridge.

“He is not Bono, he is rubbish.”

Anon

We can’t track Florian Wirtz’s exact location but word on the gossip street is the Germany attacking midfielder is en route to England and is getting ready to take his medical at Premier League champions Liverpool before hisclub record £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen.

According to the Standard and Sky Sports, 22-year-old Wirtz will arrive on Merseyside on Thursday and will reportedly join the Reds on a five-year contract worth about £200,000 a week.

As a City fan, I was rather underwhelmed by our performance overall, but there were certainly a few glimpses of what could be a very strong team for the upcoming season when Rodri is back up to speed. We need to sort out the Foden, Cherki and Savinho situation as they all naturally gravitate to the same area of the pitch, which leaves holes a better team would benefit from.

Colin

Since Todd Boehly took over the ownership of Chelsea in 2022, the Blues have brought in about 13 players and members of staff from Brighton.

Included in those is Moises Caicedo, who could cost the club £115m, with add-ons.

Among the coaching staff to make the switch was Boehly’s first managerial appointment Graham Potter, who took over from Thomas Tuchel as Chelsea boss.

Chelsea have made initial contact with Brighton over Brazil striker Joao Pedro, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The 23-year-old, who is also wanted by Newcastle, joined Brighton from Watford in 2023 and has since scored 30 goals from 70 games across all competitions.

Even though it was a ‘BAD’ decision to award the penalty. Bono had the ‘Desire’ to save it and must have felt immense ‘Pride’ afterwards!! Also… Forgot to say that the phrase came from Alan Partridge !!!

Gary, Birmingham

Ricardo Pepi is an American striker who has Mexican ancestry.

The 22-year-old started his club career at FC Dallas and earned his first senior cap for the USA in 2021.

He gained his first taste of European football with German club Augsburg in 2022 before moving to Dutch team PSV Eindhoven in 2023.

Last season he scored 17 goals in 28 appearances across all competitions for PSV.

Fulham are considering a move for PSV Eindhoven and United States striker Ricardo Pepi, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

Pepi is already a target for several clubs across Europe, with particular interest in the 22-year-old coming from Spain and Italy.

I think all this semantics money chat is showing how ‘exciting’ the Club World Cup has been so far. My team is in it and I wish they weren’t.

Bob, Truro

It mimics the action of pushing a button and a bell ringing on an old cash register… so I think hyphenated is right.

Dave

If you’re just tuning in, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Here’s a recap of the key stories from earlier. Have a look below for a catch-up:

• Willy Boly signs new deal with Forest
• Man Utd ‘definitely the top runners’ for Gyokeres
• Newcastle interested in Rashford – Gossip

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

This feels like a quiet period in the summer, with a lot of rumours about clubs being interested in players and buyers and sellers trying to establish what fees they could charge, or what they would have to pay.

For Manchester United, this might present a problem.

I was chatting to someone connected to the club earlier this week about Alejandro Garnacho, who has been told he can leave by head coach Ruben Amorim.

There is interest in the Argentina forward but no-one has stepped up to offer a fee United think is acceptable and the feeling is this might drag on.

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrrell Malacia are all due to return after spending time away from Old Trafford on loan. All are on the kind of salaries that won’t make it easy to move them on without United having some sort of financial involvement.

Players are due to return for training at the beginning of July, which should start to focus minds.

Then there is the first pre-season friendly with Leeds on 19 July followed by a three-match trip to the United States.

Ideally, United would have everything sorted by then. Don’t be surprised if it drags on much longer.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport chief football news reporter

Here’s what our chief football news reporter, Simon Stone, said back on May 15 about Rashford’s future…

Marcus Rashford will return to Manchester United, at least for pre-season, as there has been no negotiations with Aston Villa regarding the possible extension of the forward’s future.

The player’s camp do not believe current United head coach Ruben Amorim wants to restore the player to his squad, while minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has previously spoken about his frustration at some of the team’s highest earners not being on the pitch.

The simple truth is if Rashford sticks to his guns over his wages – and his United contract does not run out until 2028 – very few clubs in the world could afford him.

It means United have to offer an incentive to negotiate a sale, through a reduced fee or offering to pay a portion of his wages or both.

Marcus Rashford started last season involved in Manchester United’s team under Erik ten Hag.

During the first half of the season Rashford made 24 appearances for the club and scored seven goals.

However, after Ruben Amorim was appointed as Ten Hag’s permanent replacement, Rashford’s minutes dried up. He was exiled from the first team in December after a reportedly falling out with the manager.

The 27-year-old was then loaned to Aston Villa and during that time he scored four goals from 17 games.

Since making his senior debut in 2015, Marcus Rashford has won five major honours with Manchester United.

He has won the FA Cup twice, the EFL Cup twice and the Europa League.

Marcus Rashford joined Manchester United’s academy in 2005 and made his senior debut for the club in 2015.

In 2016 Rashford became the youngest scorer in the Premier League era when he scored against Manchester City. He was 18 years and 141 days.

He was a consistent performer for the club until the 2021-22 season, when his form took a dip. But he found his scoring prowess once again the following campaign, scoring 30 goals from 56 appearances in all competitions.

However, a tricky relationship with manager Ruben Amorim saw him loaned to Aston Villa for the second half of last season.

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim criticised Marcus Rashford publicly on multiple occasions after exiling him in December because of his attitude.

More recently, Amorim said he does not regret loaning Rashford to Aston Villa.

He said in April: “We lack a lot of things in the team. We saw with Milan in the past, a lot of problems – big teams that when you get inside [the club and understand], in one context, it’s really hard. And in January we lost Rashford and Antony and we didn’t bring new ones – was a risk.

“But there are things here that are more important than to score 10 more goals this season. We are trying to do something that is more important. We can hurt the squad now, but in the future it is going to help the club. So we are on that path.”