Liverpool sales among deals which could be rushed through in final hours before first transfer deadline

The ‘exceptional’ Club World Cup transfer window closes at 7pm on Tuesday, with a series of eye-catching possible signings including some Liverpool sales.

10) Angelino (Al-Hilal)
He might have been “absolutely awful” for Manchester City but in between his loan-laden spells at the Etihad, Angelino has established himself as a reliable left-back across Europe.

The 28-year-old’s performances for Roma have even thrust him onto that most lucrative of radars: a Saudi side scrambling around to sign players in time for a Club World Cup in which the country’s sole representative is desperate to make an impression – or at least not thoroughly embarrass itself.

It seemed as though Angelino would follow new manager Simone Inzaghi through the door in a summer of chastening rejection for Al-Hilal, whose priority target in the position was AC Milan defender Theo Hernandez. But when the France international rejected an approach, the pivot to Angelino was quick.

Personal terms were agreed, a medical was set and an offer was made. But a stumbling block in negotiations has given Al-Hilal hours to avoid another collapsed deal.

9) Illya Zabarnyi (PSG)
It will be a considerable test of Bournemouth’s policy as a self-identifying stepping-stone club never to sell more than two first-team players in the same summer, but Paris Saint-Germain’s interest in Zabarnyi is as real as it is strong.

While the Cherries would have stood firm on a valuation around £60m either way, the departure of Dean Huijsen and probable exit of Milos Kerkez represent the limit of the churn Andoni Iraola is expected to suffer.

The European champions will not wait around either: they have told Zabarnyi that they will not revisit a move after the Club World Cup, not that Bournemouth will be bothered unless and until their asking price is met.

8) Franco Mastantuono (Real Madrid)
While the race initially involved Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and a select few others, it was entirely run once Real Madrid registered their entry. Even when they lazily stroll to the starting blocks weeks after everyone else has tired themselves out sprinting, the Galactico effect remains by far the biggest transfer pull in world football.

And with La Masia graduate Lamine Yamal threatening to dominate the sport for decades, it feels spiritually appropriate for Real to outsource his prodigious equal.

Mastantuono has been similarly overworked in his formative years, debuting for Argentina and playing more than 60 River Plate games before his 18th birthday.

It is why not a single eyebrow will be raised at a record fee of around £33m being paid for a 17-year-old – and even that comes with a slight discount after Real accepted River Plate’s request to keep Mastantuono for this summer’s unnecessarily vast get-together.

7) Tijjani Reijnders (Manchester City)
All that remains is to cross the proverbial t’s and dot all those i’s and lower case j’s which, in fairness after a quick glance at Manchester City’s next midfielder’s name, are bound to take some time.

A thoroughly straightforward track to a player voted Serie A’s best midfielder of this past season should contain no twists, turns or final detours as Pep Guardiola’s side push through a deal which could soon seem ludicrously cheap at £46m once Reijnders completes his mandatory first Etihad year of looking embarrassingly out of his depth.

6) Jobe Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
It might be that Borussia Dortmund eventually decide to negotiate an exclusive deal with Mark Bellingham’s testicles to save time, but there can be no complaints with the current arrangement of letting his offspring develop in the Championship before offering a leg-up into the elite.

Bellingham the younger inserted a middle man between Birmingham and Dortmund into his career path and promotion with Sunderland vindicated that decision long before the German giants came calling.

Dortmund will pay for more Jobe than they did Jude – and Real Madrid will be monitoring his progress closely.

5) Luis Diaz (Al-Hilal)
The noise emanating from Liverpool is that a Diaz sale will not be countenanced this summer. Barcelona have certainly been given that impression despite their intense interest in the Colombian – and the wider sense that Liverpool really should sell.

But it would be interesting if Al-Hilal threw a particularly expensive spanner in the works. A £70m offer from a non-European team feels like a considerable test of that resolve over a player who has infuriated Arne Slot so.

4) Darwin Nunez (Al-Hilal)
The easier option at this stage would be to list the forwards Al-Hilal have not been linked with. The Saudi side started this summer wanting a new manager, left-back, central midfielder and forward in time for the Club World Cup; as things stand Inzaghi will be adorned with no new players at the tournament.

The striker situation has been particularly humbling. Victor Osimhen has already turned down Al-Hilal and it seems as though Viktor Gyokeres, Benjamin Sesko and any other expensive, sought-after alternative will follow suit.

Nunez might prefer not to focus on how far down that list of targets his name is but they have landed on it nevertheless and a couple of years in the Middle East could be the best way to channel his chaos away from the spotlight before eventually returning to Europe to dominate in the way Jurgen Klopp always thought he could.

3) Rayan Cherki (Manchester City)
Perhaps it is time to declare The Great Battle of 2022 between Nunez and Haaland over. But only because the war of Cherki and Wirtz is here to take its place.

This one feels more fundamentally appropriate. There is no obvious superior, no awkward crowbarring of an already slightly hollow rivalry into two completely separate transfers to inject some drama and intrigue into the equation. Nunez was always so absurdly better than Haaland to make the comparison moot.

But Cherki versus Wirtz could feed generations. Manchester City targeted the latter but will end up with the former once Liverpool have their 427th bid accepted by Bayer Leverkusen. There is a wonderful disparity in the fees which suggests a gulf in quality between the two that no-one actually thinks exists. And long before either deal was actually completed, fans busied themselves poring over their exciting individual performances in Nations League semi-final defeats, so starved are they of actual, meaningful football.

2) Mike Maignan (Chelsea)
The day Chelsea sign a legitimately brilliant goalkeeper and centre-forward is the day the joke dies. It is intrinsically hilarious that they have invested actual billions of pounds on a playing squad designed to flourish over the next decade without even accidentally landing on competent players in the two most individualistic and important positions in the sport.

Liam Delap is the next hopeful to break the curse of the No. 9 shirt, but none of the myriad keepers Chelsea employ seem capable of helping guide a journey which sort of has to end in world domination considering the ludicrous expense.

Maignan could be next to step up, although it will require Chelsea and Milan to meet in the middle on their valuations. The France international can be as keen on the move as he wants but it will matter not if £18m is not dragged closer to £25m.

1) Marcus Bettinelli (Manchester City)
“We cannot replace him. We cannot,” said a teary, thankful Pep Guardiola, presumably when he discovered Scott Carson would be leaving after six remarkable years of unrivalled brilliance.

The 39-year-old had a 100 per cent win rate and collected one winner’s medal every 8.9 minutes, even if that England call-up never did come.

Bettinelli has some unfathomably large gloves to fill as the homegrown quota merchant third-choice goalkeeper specifically designed to never actually play. One appearance in four years at Chelsea suggests he has the pedigree.

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