Transfer rumour ranking: Liverpool want Newcastle contact for Isak deal; Man Utd, Villa keeper drama

Liverpool are sitting back and waiting for Newcastle to open the door for Alexander Isak to join, while Manchester United and Aston Villa are entangled in some goalkeeper drama.

With so much transfer talk doing the rounds, we’re here through the summer to sift through the bullsh*t and highlight the whispers that might have some substance.

Each day we’re ranking the top 20 rumours involving Premier League clubs, the higher the link, the more likely we feel they are to become done deals.

So we start with the tittle-tattle…

20) 🆕 Lucas Paqueta – West Ham United to Aston Villa

Tottenham actually landing one of their top targets in Xavi Simons as Chelsea dawdled over whether they really needed yet another tricky little No. 10 type sees their interest in swooping for another Hammer after signing Mohammed Kudus early in the window cool somewhat, with Aston Villa now sniffing around in their increasingly desperate hunt for warm bodies to bring in to a threadbare squad.

19) 🔽 Jorgen Strand Larsen – Wolves to Newcastle

The signing of Nick Woltemade means Newcastle are very unlikely to bring in Strand Larsen, with Wolves always deeply reluctant to sanction any move. Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is not ruling out his departure, though, and he wasn’t involved against Everton on Saturday, which adds fuel to the fire. Maybe they’re just waiting for the window to close and for this all to blow over after the player’s ‘polite’ request to be sold. But he’s just too similar to Woltemade and Yoane Wissa is a more realistic option.

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18) 🆕 Marco Asensio – PSG to Aston Villa

Asensio’s colossal £300,000-a-week salary is unsurprisingly a stumbling block for Villa, who are keen on a permanent deal after he spent the second half of last season on loan. If this one falls through, there’s a strong chance the Spaniard ends up in Turkey.

17) 🔽 Ederson – Manchester City to Galatasaray

You could say there are already too many No.1s at the Etihad before the interest in Gianluigi Donnarumma, and City appear open to selling Ederson. Galatasaray offered around £8.5m, which is unsurprisingly not enough to be accepted. Ederson will not be keen to remain on City’s bench, from where he watched James Trafford’s poor tribute act against Spurs.

16) 🔽 Max Beier – Borussia Dortmund to Brentford

Beier would indeed be a Wissa replacement though and Bild are claiming Brentford are ready to pay €70m [£60m], because it’s now apparently a requirement for Premier League teams to pay at least double what Bundesliga strikers are worth.

15) 🆕 Conrad Harder – Sporting to Chelsea

After an injury to Liam Delap, Chelsea are evaluating their options in the striker department. One option is Danish international Harder, who has been strongly linked with RB Leipzig. AC Milan have also made a higher proposal than the German side, while Rennes are also there. One to watch.

14) 🔽 Senne Lammens – Antwerp to Manchester United

United certainly need a goalkeeper and Lammens looked like the prime candidate to come in. However, they’ve turned their attention elsewhere after weeks of negotiations with Antwerp, with a deal previously reported as ‘almost done’.

13) Gianluigi Donnarumma – PSG to Manchester City

Donnarumma will leave PSG. Where he ends up is less certain. The Italy keeper has said his goodbyes to PSG fans, with City the frontrunners in a one-horse race. Obviously, this all depends on what happens with Ederson, while Stefan Ortega is just chilling.

MORE ON DONNARUMMA: Keeper’s flaws mean Man Utd makes more sense than Man City

12) 🔼 Yoane Wissa – Brentford to Newcastle

The good news for Newcastle: Brentford have signed a forward in Dango Ouattara. The bad news: Ouattara is viewed as Bryan Mbuemo’s replacement. Worse news: reports suggest Brentford have significantly increased their valuation of Wissa, perhaps to as much as £60million. The player isn’t happy and broke his silence on Instagram, confirming that promises have been broken. Newcastle are still there but will not pay £60m.

11) 🆕 Joe Gomez – Liverpool to AC Milan

Milan have been moving from centre-back target to centre-back target, and their current focus is on Liverpool’s Gomez. A transfer for the England international would open the door for Marc Guehi to move to Anfield.

10) Alexander Isak – Newcastle to Liverpool

Isak went for the nuclear option with his first public statement since going on strike. Did it move the dial? Not really. Newcastle’s response did not exactly close the door on a move but it turned the screw on Liverpool somewhat and now Isak needs to hope that the Reds are prepared to break the bank for him, which they appear set to do with a £140m bid ‘ready’.

Newcastle have signed Nick Woltemade as his replacement, though it remains to be seen whether the Magpies are still intent on bringing in two new strikers before opening the doors for Isak to leave.

David Ornstein provided a key update on Sunday as well, noting that Liverpool are potentially waiting for Newcastle to contact them: “I’m not sure about this notion of new bids coming in. Maybe Liverpool sit back and see if Newcastle come to them and open the door.”

F365 SAYS: Alexander Isak to Liverpool is on after we read between Ornstein’s Woltemade lines

9) 🆕 Senne Lammens – Antwerp to Aston Villa

There’s going to be some goalkeeper movement in the final hours of the transfer market, with Manchester United reigniting their interest in Villa No.1 Emiliano Martinez. Unai Emery has reportedly identified Lammens as his top target, with Porto’s Diogo Costa also under consideration. It all seems very likely that Lammens ends up at Villa, and Martinez at United.

8) 🆕 Emiliano Martinez – Aston Villa to Manchester United

United have reignited their interest in Martinez, casting doubt over a deal for Senne Lammens. This was a big story at the start of the transfer window, went quiet for months, and is now going to be one of the biggest stories of deadline day.

7) 🔼 Marc Guehi – Crystal Palace to Liverpool

Liverpool have made an opening bid for Guehi, believed to be worth £35m. Palace seem willing to cash in as their captain’s contract expires at the end of the season. It’s going to be a mad deadline day, isn’t it?

6) 🆕 Ederson – Manchester City to Fenerbahce

Galatasaray are going to be fuming after their arch-rivals made an offer for Ederson, who was once again on the bench for City’s trip to Brighton. As things stand, this move is more likely.

5) 🔽 Nicolas Jackson – Chelsea to Bayern Munich

Chelsea and Bayern have an agreement and the striker is in Germany to complete the transfer. However, it’s now a complete and utter mess after Liam Delap got injured against Fulham. Chelsea – who are considering their options, such as recalling Marc Guiu – now only want a permanent move and everything is up in the air.

4) 🔼 Facundo Buonanotte and Julio Enciso – Brighton to Chelsea

Chelsea are still in for Julio Ensico despite also advancing in talks for his Brighton team-mate. Buonanotte was reportedly close to joining Leeds United, who had a flight and medical ready for the playmaker. Unfortunately for them, Chelsea are doing Chelsea things. He won’t even be loaned or sent to sister club Strasbourg and a move to Stamford Bridge would be an initial loan. It’s all quite bizarre. Poor Leeds is our main takeaway.

3) 🔼 Jakub Kiwior – Arsenal to Porto

Will be confirmed when the deal just above it in these rankings has all its formalities completed. Arsenal’s woeful ability to sell players will sting them again here. Kiwior has proven himself as a top player, especially against Real Madrid in the Champions League, but it looks like the Gunners will pretty much break even with a £23m sale.

2) 🔼 Piero Hincapie – Bayer Leverkusen to Arsenal

The Ebere Eze hijack repeated itself as Arsenal’s arse was kicked into gear by Spurs’ interest in Hincapie, who is now very close to completing a move to the Emirates. The signing will be an initial loan with an obligation to buy, ensuring the deal goes on the books next year instead. It’s another defender for Mikel Arteta, who has an addiction. In fairness, he’s losing Kiwior and most probably Oleksandr Zinchenko, who is in talks with Marseille.

1) 🔼 Rasmus Hojlund – Manchester United to Napoli

This one is a case of when, not if. Napoli will pay a €6m loan fee and a €44m buy option will become an obligation. He goes down as one of United’s worst-ever signings.