Thursday Transfer Gossip Column: Raphinha, Tielemans, Gordon and More

Below you will find a comprehensive round up of the latest transfer rumours as the summer window enters its final two months.

Sporting Lisbon’s Matheus Nunes has emerged as a major target for Chelsea, with the 23-year-old midfielder expected to cost in excess of £40m (The Mirror).

Arsenal and Manchester United target Youri Tielemans is said to prefer a move to the Gunners, who are preparing an improved bid £35m bid this week (The Sun).

Arsenal are also looking further afield in the midfield market, with Lazio’s Sergej Milinković-Savić emerging as a serious contender (Daily Mail).

Manchester United are still non the wiser as to when Cristiano Ronaldo will return to training as the squad prepare for the pre-season tour of Asia, with the 37-year-old citing ‘family reasons’ as the reason for his absence (The Times).

Anthony Gordon has been the subject of strong interest from Tottenham and Newcastle in recent weeks, but Everton are prepared to offer the 21-year-old a bumper new deal in an attempt to ward off potential suitors (Daily Mail).

As the saga of Leeds’ Brazilian winger Raphinha rumbles on, Leeds have urged Barcelona to make a fresh approach with the club eager to resolve the transfer (SPORT).

Tottenham are hopeful of closing a £15m deal for Middlesbrough’s talented right-back Djed Spence in the coming weeks (The Telegraph).

Nottingham Forest, who are eager to replace the outgoing Djed Spence after he returned to his parent club, are interest in Liverpool’s Neco Williams as well as Bayern Munich’s Omar Richards (The Athletic).

Chelsea face stiff competition from Bayern Munich in the race for Juventus’ Mathjis De Ligt, with CEO Oliver Kahn refusing to rule out a move for the Dutchman (Metro).

Kahn did however rule out a move for want-away forward Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming a move for the 37-year-old failed to fit within the “club’s philosophy” (Mail Online).

Barcelona are again interested in making a move for Ajax’s Nico Tagliafico having missed out on the Argentine in January (The Guardian).

Arsenal are keen to offload as many as six players including big-money signing Nicolas Pepe and Bern Leno, with the latter said to be close to a move across London to Fulham (The Sun).

West Ham and Newcastle target Jesse Lingard is set to fly to the US to hold talks with two Major League Soccer sides following his release by Manchester United last month (ESPN).