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LIVE Transfer Talk: Man United scouting Portugal duo Dias, Luis

The transfer market for the major European leagues is closed -- but it's never too early to look forward to January! Click here to view the final list of transfers and keep up to date with the latest gossip below.

- Summer transfer tracker - all the big deals

TOP STORY: Man Utd scout Benfica duo

Manchester United are keeping tabs on two Portugal internationals, sending scouts to check out Benfica duo Ruben Dias and Florentino Luis.

The two players were in action for the defending league champions against Braga on Sunday, and Sport Witness (citing A Bola) reported that Old Trafford reps were in attendance at Benfica's road win.

Dias has been on the radar of several clubs over the past several seasons -- including both Manchester teams -- so it's not surprising to see United checking in. 

United wasn't the only club to have scouts at the match, with a bevy of Spanish and French sides checking in on the action. 

Of course, United have taken scouting trips to the Portuguese capital before. They were one of several top clubs strongly linked with midfielder Bruno Fernandes throughout the summer, but the deadline has passed with the Sporting Lisbon captain still at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

LIVE BLOG

23.00 BST: That will do it for the latest edition of our LIVE Transfer Talk blog. We hoped you enjoyed following along with us and remind you to check back shortly for the latest transfer rumours, reports and completed deals. Goodnight!

22.19 BST: Promising West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has spoken out about rumours over the summer that linked him with a move to Manchester United.

The 20-year-old England international signed a contract extension last year that would keep him at the London Stadium through 2024 but has not ruled out a future transfer to a big club.

"Don't get me wrong, I think I've got the ability to play for a club like that. But it's all about the timing and I don't think the timing is right for me at all. I've still got so much to learn," he told FourFourTwo, when asked about links with United.

For now Rice is a West Ham player and saying all the right things but it won't be long before the big clubs come calling again for the all-round central midfielder. How long will West Ham be able to hold onto him?

21.28 BST: Man United to make surprising January swoop for a soon to be free agent?

The Sun writes that United are prepared to make a big push to sign Tottenham's Christian Eriksen when the window re-opens at the start of the year. United were in for the Dane this past summer and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reportedly wants to circle back for the classy playmaker. Eriksen, whose desired landing spot is Real Madrid, will become a free agent at the end of the season.

Could United solve their playmaking void with a big-money move for the Dane? We'll see...

20.54 BST: Sticking with Liverpool for a minute, Goal.com claims that the Reds are one of the Premier League clubs monitoring Wigan starlet Joe Gelhardt.

The 17-year-old, who made his Championship debut last season for the Lactics, is one of England's top talents and is set to debut this season with the Under-18s.

According to the report from Goal, Liverpool, Everton, Wolves and Leicester are all monitoring the youngster. Liverpool currently have a vacancy at striker at the U23 level, as the club sold Bobby Duncan to Fiorentina on Monday.

20.02 BST: Liverpool are in safe hands in goal with £66.8 million signing Alisson but with Simon Mignolet gone (Brugge) and on loan (Besiktas) Loris Karius' future with the club very uncertain, could Liverpool soon look to find a young backup goalkeeper?

With veteran Adrian currently filling in for injured Alisson, a report from Turkish TV station Star TV has emerged that suggest that the Reds are monitoring Trabzonspor No. 1 Ugurcan Cakir as a potential long-term backup option. The 23-year-old was impressive at the weekend, making eight saves in a 1-1 draw with Turkish giants Fenerbahce, and earlier this year made his international debut for Turkey against Greece.

According to Star TV, Liverpool have reportedly made initial contact with Trabzonspor regarding Cakir, who is valued at around £14m.

19.27 BST: Well-travelled Hatem Ben Arfa is a free agent... again.

The diminutive French attacker, 32, has revealed on Instagram that he has turned down multiple clubs this summer because they did not "excite him." Ben Arfa, who tallied nine goals and six assists last campaign for Rennes, was linked with Fiorentina, Fenerbahce and West Ham this summer.

This is just the latest eye-raising moment from Ben Arfa's up-and-down career. Good luck explaining Hatem Ben Arfa to someone who doesn't know him... 

18.35 BST: Catching up another from after hours yesterday, Fiorentina have announced they have signed Brazilian striker Pedro, not that one, from Fluminense.

The 22-year-old striker scored 20 goals in 58 appearances for Fluminense and reportedly cost La Viola €14 million.

17.49 BST: Leicester youngster Fousseni Diabate is heading to France to play for Ligue 1 outfit Amiens, reports LeicestershireLive.

The 23-year-old winger, who immediately impressed on arrival at the King Power in 2018, has stalled a bit and last season played on loan in Turkey with Sivasspor. A deal between the clubs was struck just before the 11 pm French deadline and is waiting ratification from the French FA. Stay tuned.

17.17 BST: Here's one that slid under the radar yesterday. Juventus signed North Korean Han Kwang Song on loan to their Under-23 side from Cagliari.

The 20-year-old forward will join up with Juve's U23s, who play in Serie A, for the rest of the season. Han became the first North Korean to score in Serie A when he struck vs. Torino in April of 207.

16.30 BST: Senior figures at the Premier League's biggest clubs want to see the summer transfer window in England stay open longer to align with the rest of the major leagues in Europe, sources have told ESPN FC.

Manchester United's Paul Pogba and Tottenham's Christian Eriksen were linked with moves to Real Madrid, despite the domestic window having closed on Aug. 8.

The issue will be discussed next week at the Premier League chairmen's meeting on Sept. 12, with 11 of the 20 clubs needing to support an extension of the transfer window, and a final vote could be delayed until November for the issue to be reviewed.

15.47 BST: It is fair to say Bobby Duncan's €2m move from Liverpool to Fiorentina wasn't the smoothest and his agent Saif Rubie has expressed his delight at the 18-year-old move on Instagram.

15.22 BST: Juventus. Free transfer. You know the deal.

Chelsea forward Willian has a contract which expires in the summer and the Old Lady are hovering, says the Daily Mail, hoping to add to their large collection of free gifts.

Ditto, Paris Saint-Germain defender Thomas Meunier.

JUST PAY FULL PRICE ALREADY!

14.18 BST: European clubs from the "big five" leagues spent over €5 billion during the summer transfer window for the first time, according to a Deloitte report.

Clubs from the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 broke the previous record by €0.9bn, which was set last summer, as they spent a total of €5.5bn.

13.35 BST: Neymar didn't move to Barcelona, or Real Madrid, or Juventus. And Le Parisien reports that PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi would only have let the forward go for €300m.

L'Equipe says that a text message from Lionel Messi started the whole saga off, so we have the Barcelona No. 10 to thank for all this.

13.04 BST: Sevilla sporting director Monchi says La Liga clubs must reflect on having the transfer window in Spain end in September when the season is already underway. Premier League clubs voted to end the summer window on Aug. 9, before the start of the campaign, instead of Aug. 31.

Monchi described the situation of the late transfer window in Spain as "madness," with three rounds already played in La Liga before Sept. 2.

12.00 BST: Jese Rodriguez says he spoke to former Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of his loan move to Sporting Lisbon from Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spanish forward joined the club where Cristiano began his professional career on transfer deadline day.

"I'm very happy for the opportunity Sporting is giving me," Jese told Sporting. "It's a historic club in Portugal. I have a friend named Cristiano Ronaldo who always spoke very well about this club, where he grew up. It's a historic club. I'm going to give my all, score goals and set them up. I have experience in playing at great clubs in big leagues. I'm going to work hard to give victories and joy to the team."

Asked about his conversation with Ronaldo, he said: "He told me it was a very important club for him, he has a lot of affection for Sporting CP. He spoke very well about Sporting."

11.22 BST: PSG have a new No. 1 goalkeeper -- until they make a move for David De Gea or Gianluigi Donnarumma when the window opens again of course...

10.26 BST: The Times reports that Arsenal's summer sales have saved them around £900,000-a-week in wages -- or £45m a year.

Roma will pay Henrikh Mkhitaryan's £180,000-a-week wages for his year-long loan spell, while Petr Cech, Aaron Ramsey, Danny Welbeck, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal, Mohamed Elneny, Alex Iwobi, David Ospina, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Carl Jenkinson have all departed.

09.54 BST: Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan signed for Roma on a season-long loan deal yesterday, meaning he joins Man United's Alexis Sanchez in Serie A after their 2018 swap deal.

09.20 BST: Two deals you may have missed from overnight: Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig have signed AS Roma attacker Patrik Schick to a one-year loan with an option to buy for €29m.

The 23-year-old had been linked with several Bundesliga clubs but joined Leipzig, who will pay €3.5m to loan the Czech international to a permanent deal.

Meanwhile, AC Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt have completed a swap for Ante Rebic and Andre Silva.

This summer, Frankfurt have sold attackers Luka Jovic and Sebastian Haller to Real Madrid and West Ham respectively, with Rebic's departure meaning they are now without the three forwards who were responsible for 41 of the club's 60 league goal last term.

Rebic has joined AC Milan on a two-year loan, with Portugal international Andre Silva heading the other way to Frankfurt on the same terms.

09.00 BST: Alexis Sanchez appears to be keeping his options open about playing for Manchester United again one day after joining Inter Milan on loan.

Sanchez told BBC Sport: "I'm very happy I went to Manchester United. I've always said that. It's the club that's won the most in England. When I went to Arsenal it was fantastic -- I was happy there -- but United were growing at the time, they were buying players to win something.

"I wanted to join them and win everything. I don't regret going there."

However, he did voice his frustration at not being a first-team regular at Old Trafford. He said: "I think that I'm happy when I play for my national team.

"I was happy at Manchester United too, but I've always said to my friends: I want to play. If they would let me play I'll do my best. Sometimes I'd play 60 minutes then I wouldn't play the next game -- and I didn't know why."

08.28 BST: Sevilla sporting director Monchi says La Liga clubs must reflect on having the transfer window in Spain end in September when the season is already underway. Premier League clubs voted to end the summer window on Aug. 9, before the start of the campaign, instead of Aug. 31.

Speaking on transfer deadline day on Monday, Monchi considered the situation of the late transfer window in Spain as "madness," with three rounds already played in La Liga before Sept. 2.

Conversely, The Times and Daily Telegraph in the U.K. both report that Premier League clubs are re-considering their decision to have an earlier summer deadline in order to re-align themselves with the rest of Europe's other top leagues.

08.00 BST: The transfer window across Europe's top leagues has now shut. Here are some of the biggest deals that were completed yesterday before the deadline:

- Paris Saint-Germain signed attacker Mauro Icardi on loan from Inter Milan with an option to buy him at a later date. The Argentina international signed a contract extension with the Italian club before penning a season-long loan deal with PSG that includes the option of a permanent transfer for around €70m.

- PSG also signed goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Real Madrid on a permanent basis, with Alphonse Areola moving in the opposite direction. The Costa Rica international established himself as the Spanish giants' first-choice goalkeeper after his arrival in 2014 from Levante and helped Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018.

- Arsenal midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan joined Roma on a season-long loan deal. The deal includes a fixed fee of €3m for the 30-year-old Armenia international. Sources have told ESPN FC that Roma have not secured an option to buy at the end of the season, but Mkhitaryan is likely to be made available for sale once the loan expires.

- Matteo Darmian became the latest player to leave Manchester United this summer, after signing a four-year contract with Parma in a deal worth €4m. The Italy full-back is the third first-team player to leave following the closure of the Premier League transfer window on Aug. 8, after loan moves for Alexis Sanchez to Inter Milan and Chris Smalling to Roma.

- Liverpool teenager Bobby Duncan completed a £1.8m permanent move to Fiorentina on a three-year deal. The deal for the 18-year-old England youth international, who is a cousin of former Anfield captain Steven Gerrard, includes a 20% sell-on clause.

- Fernando Llorente signed for Napoli on a free transfer. Sources told ESPN FC last week that the former Tottenham striker would move to Serie A on a two-year deal.

PAPER TALK (by Harry Kettle)

Sancho hints at England return? 

Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho has hinted at the possibility of a return to English football but also wouldn't mind a stint in La Liga, the Mirror reports.

The teenage marvel has quickly established himself as one of the most intriguing young English talents of the last decade, and he's done so away from the scope of the Premier League. Now, however, Sancho faces the question that fans want to know the answer to: will he return home?

In a recent interview the former Manchester City youth player stated the following when asked about the EPL: "I can't tell the future but I wouldn't mind. La Liga I wouldn't mind also, but I don't know yet."

Tap-ins

- The proposed Neymar-to-Barcelona deal never materialised and one reason could be the exorbitant price tag that Paris Saint-Germain put on the Brazilian. PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi told Le Parisien that he was willing to let Neymar walk if a club coughed up €300 million. No takers it seems -- at least this round. 

- Atletico Madrid right-back Kieran Trippier said that Tottenham Hotspur "got rid of me at the wrong time" and that he couldn't get a straight answer from his ex-manager Mauricio Pochettino or Spurs chairman Daniel Levy. Trippier exited north London for Madrid earlier this summer, and told the Sun that "I just didn't really get an answer" on his move. 

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