Man United tell Kane to force move, Gundogan to join Barca, Newcastle close in on Tonali

Headlines:

Manchester United submit new Mason Mount offer but still short of Chelsea valuation

Arsenal agree £65m fee with Chelsea for Kai Havertz

Ilkay Gundogan set to join Barcelona after turning down new Man City offer

Newcastle close in on £45m-rated AC Milan star Sandro Tonali, dubbed 'the new Pirlo'

21 minutes ago

Manchester United have told Harry Kane to try and force a transfer if he really wants to move to Old Trafford.

The Sun claim that United have told Kane to come out with a transfer request, or strongly worded statement, to try and engineer a move away from Tottenham.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is confident of keeping the striker at the club for the next season, despite him entering the final year of his contract.

23 minutes ago

Newcastle and AC Milan will enter the final stage of negotiations over a deal for Sandro Tonali.

The Italy midfielder is set to join the Magpies in a blockbuster deal worth around £60m.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano says a new round of talks will take place over the final fee and the structure of the deal.

He is also understood to be signing a six-year contract until 2029.

27 minutes ago

Ilkay Gundogan has signed a contract with Barcelona and set to be unveiled by the club imminently.

The Germany international, who is out of contract this summer, will leave Man City.

City had offered the 32-year-old a new one-year contract with the option of a further 12 months but Barca are understood to have presented a more tempting three-year, and more financially-rewarding, package.

City are comfortable with the situation and the player would leave with their blessing.

The development comes on the same day City are understood to have agreed a £30million deal with Chelsea to sign Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

The champions are set to pay an initial £25million for the 29-year-old with a further £5m to follow in potential add-ons.

21st Jun 2023, 18:40

That's it for today on talkSPORT.com's live blog.

It has been a hectic Wednesday which has seen Chelsea duo Kai Havertz and Mateo Kovacic edge closer to joining Arsenal and Manchester City respectively.

And you can be sure there will be more big transfer news on Thursday, which will also see the EFL fixtures released.

21st Jun 2023, 18:34

Southampton have confirmed Russell Martin as their new manager on a three-year deal until 2026.

The 37-year-old ex-Norwich defender will arrive at St Mary's tasked with promotion after the Saints were relegated from the Premier League.

Commenting on his delight at taking over at Southampton, Martin told the club's website: "It's a privilege to accept this opportunity at Southampton, a club with such a long and rich history.

"My aim is to get this club back where it belongs - in the top flight of English football.

"I am ready for this challenge and will give everything to achieve this aim and to give the supporters a team that makes them proud.

"I'm thrilled to be here and cannot wait for the work to begin."

21st Jun 2023, 18:12

West Ham fans have been banned from attending their first Europa League away game next season.

The Hammers have been punished by UEFA after their supporters threw objects from the stands at Fiorentina captain Cristiano Biraghi in the Europa Conference Leaugue final.

Play had to be suspended after Biraghi was left a bloody mess after being struck on the head by an item.

A UEFA statement read: "The control and disciplinary body decided to ban West Ham United FC from selling tickets to away supporters for its next two UEFA competition matches.

"The second of which being suspended for a probationary period of two years as from the date of this decision, for throwing of objects."

West Ham have also been fined £43,000 over the incident, while they have been hit with a further £8k fine after their pitch invasion following their 2-1 win.

21st Jun 2023, 17:49

Ilkay Gundogan's switch to join Barcelona this summer is reportedly a done deal.

talkSPORT revealed earlier on Wednesday how the Manchester City skipper was set to sign a two-year deal at the Nou Camp.

The German midfielder will become a free agent when his contract at the Etihad expires at the end of the month.

And now transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has declared that Barca have been given the green light from LaLiga to register the 32-year-old as a new player.

It has been claimed that Gundogan's deal will contain the option of a further 12-month stay.

21st Jun 2023, 17:34

Newcastle are close to agreeing a £60million deal for AC Milan and Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali.

As talkSPORT reported this morning, the Magpies came to the table with an initial £45m bid for the 23-year-old star - dubbed 'the next Pirlo'.

Talks continued throughout the day and it is now claimed they clubs are close to signing off an improved £60m fee for the 2021/22 Serie A title winner.

That figure would match the club-record deal Newcastle agreed with Real Sociedad last summer to sign striker Alexander Isak.

21st Jun 2023, 17:18

Kai Havertz declared Jorginho swapping Chelsea for Arsenal was 'not right' in January, but now he's set to join him at Emirates Stadium.

Football's a funny old game, isn't it?

The German has agreed personal terms with the Gunners and a £65million fee has been agreed between the clubs, with the transfer expected to go through in the coming days.

But he told The Guardian in March about Chelsea's influx of new signings and Jorginho's Arsenal move: "You have the big picture where you think: 'What is happening?' And you should think that, you should think: 'This is not right'.

"Then you have the club. As a player, you don't notice the ownership change so much but we have a new team, new manager, new staff.

"A completely new changing room, so many personalities. You have to adapt, build a relationship. I played with Jorginho for two and a half years, he changed next to me, I loved being with him and then…

"He calls me one evening and says: 'I'm gone.' I was like: 'What the? How is this possible?'

"This is how quick things change. It's a human thing. You just have to accept it, it's football'."

21st Jun 2023, 16:46

Football's voice of reason and man of the people - the great Ian Holloway - has had his say on the 'obscene' transfer market and emergence of Saudi Arabia as football's latest big-money player.

The goatee-beaded Bristolian legend insists the transfer market needs to be regulated with fees only set to rise even more, but regrets that it's far too late now.

"The horse is out of the stable and he's galloped off in the field and it's a bit late to try and get him back in now - it's all a bit late - especially given the Saudi investment we're seeing now," Holloway told Lord Ping.

"Transfer windows are obscene, particularly if you look at Chelsea's last season and what it did to their team and their club.

"Yes, it needs regulation but it's hard to know how that's done without starting from scratch. Rules should have been laid down way before now. It is the craziness of it that people like.

"Being a football manager is like trying to manage chaos. I've never seen anything quite like it. But that's the fun of it. As long as the bosses are in control and make sure the clubs we love don't go missing and bust, I think we can all have a great time.

"As a manager, the transfer window was not a good time when you step up, you get payments once and it doesn't really help enough, if you can stay there three or four times you might have a chance of catching everyone up.

"We have the best league in the world, but I would do things differently."

21st Jun 2023, 16:32

Arsenal are ready to sell Thomas Partey this summer, with a move out to Saudi Arabia a 'concrete' option.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Saudi Pro League clubs are interested in the 30-year-old midfielder and are willing to pay around £34million to bring him to the Middle East.

However, it is claimed no decision has been made by the player yet.

Partey has two years remaining on his current Gunners contract but there have been no talks over a new deal with the club, and there have been no approaches from any clubs in Europe yet, either.

21st Jun 2023, 16:26

Jose Mourinho has been given a four-match suspension by UEFA for his behaviour at last month's Europa League final.

The Roma manager faced widespread criticism after he directed abuse at English referee Anthony Taylor.

UEFA also announced West Ham fans would be banned for their next away game in European competition, with a further match suspended for two years.

That related to Hammers fans throwing missiles onto the pitch during their Europa Conference League final tie against Fiorentina in Prague earlier this month.

The Italian club's defender Cristiano Biraghi suffered a cut to the head from an object thrown from the crowd.

21st Jun 2023, 16:02

VAR has been given a massive thumbs-down in a new fans' survey published today.

Almost two thirds [63.3 per cent] of football supporters said they oppose the use of VAR, with only 26.8 per cent saying they were absolutely or somewhat in favour of it.

The National Supporters Survey was commissioned by the Football Supporters' Association and covered 9,645 fans, running online in March and April.

Only one in 20 [5.5 per cent] of fans who had experienced the technology being used in stadiums rated their experience of it as good or very good.

The negativity towards VAR in 2023 contrasts with the 2017 FSA survey - prior to VAR's introduction - which found 74.6 per cent of fans favoured the use of video referees to support on-field officials with game-changing decisions.

More than three quarters of match-goers [79.1 per cent] and two thirds of TV viewers [65.4 per cent] now rate their experience of VAR as either poor or very poor, with almost 92 per cent saying decisions were taking too long to make.

Meanwhile, 80 per cent said fans should be able to hear discussions between the VAR and the on-pitch referee.