The summer transfer window was unlike any other, see all the major deals and check out how we graded the biggest signings. And just because the window is shut until January, that doesn't mean the rumours won't keep coming. Here's the latest gossip and speculation.
TOP STORY: Juve could be pushed to part with Chiesa
Juventus could part ways with Federico Chiesa if they fail to qualify for next season's Champions League, according to Calciomercato.
The Serie A club received a number of enquiries for the services of the 24-year-old winger throughout the summer, with Chelsea one of the clubs keen on acquiring his services. But after a poor start to the season that sees Juve seven points behind the top four after 15 games, the Italy international could be allowed to leave for a fee in the region of €100 million next summer.
Juve have an obligation to sign the Italy international for €40m after his two-year loan finishes from Fiorentina in 2022. But that won't stop them from actioning it early and letting him go for a profit if an offer arrives.
Chiesa was a standout performer at Euro 2020, but he is enduring some mixed form as he continues to adapt to Massimiliano Allegri's tactics, with three goals in 17 appearances. And with a number of clubs already monitoring the situation in Turin, interest will soon begin to resurface if Juventus find themselves out of the Champions League spots at the end of the season.
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21.30 GMT: Leicester City are interested in signing Hwang Hee-Chan in January, according to Football Insider. The 25-year-old forward has impressed during his loan spell at Molineux this season with four goals in ten games, and while Wolverhampton Wanderers have the option to make his deal permanent for £13m, it is reported that RB Leipzig would be willing to do business with other clubs for a transfer fee in the region of £18m.
20.57 GMT: Calciomercato writes that Juventus are thinking about joining the race for Adama Traore.
The 25-year-old winger has endured a tough start to the season at Wolverhampton Wanderers, with no goals or assists in 14 appearances under new manager Bruno Lage. And after the Premier League club were reported to have lowered their demands to a transfer fee of €18m, Juve could now challenge Liverpool for his signature in January.
20.24 GMT: Xavi Simons could be set for a loan move to Rangers, with new manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst making contact with Paris Saint-Germain over a deal for the 18-year-old midfielder. That's according to TeamTalk, which writes that the Ligue 1 club will allow him to leave on loan in January if he signs a new contract at Parc des Princes.
19.51 GMT: The Mail reports that Joe Gomez is not a target for Aston Villa, despite reports this week linking the Liverpool centre-back with a loan move. Manager Steven Gerrard reportedly will be backed in January after a positive start to life at Villa Park, but they will look to target other areas of the team as the former Rangers manager targets his first signings at the club.
19.18 GMT: A number of Premier League sides have tested the waters for Gabriel Barbosa, according to Ekrem Konur. The 25-year-old striker's sublime form for Flamengo has caught the attention of clubs, having contributed to 17 goals in as many league games, but it is reported that the Brazilian side have dismissed any interest in the player contracted to the club until December 2024.
18.45 GMT: Despite rumours of a potential move for Alexis Sanchez to River Plate, Nicolo Schira writes that the player's salary of €7m a year is too high for the Argentine Primera Division side. The 32-year-old winger has been linked with an exit from Inter Milan for a number of months, but it is reported that he wants to continue his career in Europe.
18.11 GMT: Arsenal have received contact from a number of clubs interested in signing forward Folarin Balogun on loan.
Football London reports that Saint-Etienne and several English Championship sides are keen to pursue a move in January. The 20-year-old has made just three appearances this season for the Gunners, and is interested in the opportunity to prove himself with regular game time.
17.36 GMT: Barcelona are weighing up a move for Cesar Azpilicueta, reports Marca. The 32-year-old defender will be out of contract at the end of the season after joining Chelsea back in 2012, and it is reported that new manager Xavi Hernandez has placed him high on the priority list as a potential replacement at right-back for United States international Sergino Dest.
17.00 GMT: After the bright start Maxwel Cornet made at Turf Moor, Burnley are preparing to return to Ligue 1 for reinforcements, with Angelo Fulgini said to be on Sean Dyche's radar.
Foot Mercato reports that the Premier League side are readying a bid of €15m to tempt him away from Angers in the January transfer window. And with the Ligue 1 club looking to mend their financial situation, it is reported that they would be willing to allow the departure of the 25-year-old midfielder.
16.23 GMT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he almost joined Napoli before returning to AC Milan in 2019, as he wanted to emulate the feat of Argentina great Diego Maradona by winning Serie A with the Naples club.
The 40-year-old Swedish striker joined Milan for a second time in December 2019 after leaving LA Galaxy. However, the Swede was initially tempted by the prospect of guiding Napoli to their first Scudetto since the Maradona-inspired wins of 1987 and 1990.
"Watching a documentary about him, I decided to join Napoli and do what Diego did: win the league," Ibrahimovic told Corriere della Sera. "I was tired of America and thinking of retiring. But (my agent) Mino (Raiola) said: 'You're crazy, you should go back to Italy.'
"It was all done with Napoli, but then (Napoli owner Aurelio) De Laurentiis fired (coach Carlo) Ancelotti. I asked Mino: 'Which team is in the worst shape, that I can change?' He replied: 'Yesterday Milan lost 5-0 to Atalanta'. So I decided."
15.42 GMT: Calciomercato claims that Juventus have pulled out of the race to sign Monaco midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.
Tchouameni, 22, has impressed in Ligue 1 and has a host of top clubs following him. Monaco want around €40m to complete a deal, with Chelsea now deemed to be the frontrunners to secure his signature.
Evidently Juve are keeping their cash to spend on signing €80m-rated Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic and will look at cheaper midfield targets if they need to strengthen there.
15.00 GMT: Donny van de Beek's future at Manchester United looks grim, but will the playmaker get another chance? Rob Dawson and Tom Hamilton examine.
In the space of 16 months, he has gone from being indispensable for Ajax and making a strong claim for the No. 10 position in the Netherlands national team to a peripheral figure at Manchester United and out of the Dutch reckoning.
His time at United since his £35m move from Ajax can be summed up by three matches against Villarreal. First was last season's Europa League final, where he cut a disconsolate figure as one of the unused substitutes. Then in the Champions League in September, cameras caught his frustrations as he was again left on the bench while his side chased a winner.
Against the same opposition in November, Van de Beek was handed a rare start in Michael Carrick's first game in charge following the dismissal of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It's too early to say whether it marks the start of a new beginning or another false dawn.
"He was perfect for the system at Ajax, but I don't think United and Donny are a good fit," ex-Netherlands midfielder Rafael van der Vaart told ESPN.
Those who know Van de Beek are adamant that this turbulent spell will not throw him off his rhythm but could instead motivate him to take his game to the next level. After all, he is, at his core, still the same brilliant player who helped inspire Ajax to their Champions League run in 2019, the player who scored against Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur and was then pursued by Real Madrid, only to ultimately sign for United. But for whatever reason, it's been an uneasy marriage. To date he has made just four Premier League starts across nearly a season and a half, and has managed just 61 minutes in the top flight this term.
14.40 GMT: Arsenal have made another contract offer to keep Eddie Nketiah at the club, but Sky Sports claims he's turned it down.
Nketiah, 22, has only played twice in the EFL Cup this season and wants to move on in search of regular football. The England U21 international can leave for free in the summer and has Leeds, Newcastle and various clubs in Germany on his trail.
13.57 GMT: Napoli star Lorenzo Insigne is available on a free transfer next summer and Tottenham are keen to land him, reports Calciomercato.
Insigne, 30, is looking at a €1.5m reduction on his €5m-a-year salary if he signs a new contract at Napoli, but Inter Milan and Tottenham are circling.
The Italy international is reportedly considering a new challenge and Antonio Conte's presence at Tottenham may help convince him to move to London.
13.15 GMT: Bild's Christian Falk has a few Manchester United updates that should raise some eyebrows.
First, the outlet claims new United interim manager Ralf Rangnick wants to land Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland. The Norway international has a €75m release clause which comes into effect in 2022 and Rangnick is reportedly close with the Haaland family and helped him sign for FC Salzburg from Molde in 2019.
Then Bild says the German boss is also a big fan of Chelsea's Timo Werner. That should come as no surprise given that Rangnick was the one who signed Werder for RB Leipzig from Stuttgart in 2016, but United's interest would be a different issue given he is contracted to their Premier League rivals.
And finally, it claims a current Leipzig star, Christopher Nkunku, is now on United's radar. The 24-year-old has 13 goals in 19 games this season, having left PSG for the Bundesliga in 2019, and is starting to attract a lot of attention around Europe.
Leipzig midfielder Amadou Haidara has also recently been linked with United, so it seems Rangnick isn't casting his scouting net very far...
12.24 GMT: Tottenham are looking to sign Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic, according to Sport1.
Perisic, 32, has a contract which is due to expire in June 2022 and is in talks over an extension. However, former Inter boss Antonio Conte is reportedly keen to bring the Croatia international to the Premier League with his new club.
11.46 GMT: Barcelona CEO Ferran Reverter says the club will be able to make signings in January as they eye attacking reinforcements for Xavi Hernandez's side.
Reverter was in England last week, along with director of football Mateu Alemany, with sources confirming to ESPN they met with Manchester City to discuss a move for Spain international Ferran Torres.
"We're always open to different operations on the transfer market, in terms of ins and outs," Reverter said in a news conference on Wednesday when asked about his Manchester trip. "When the window opens [in January], Barcelona will be there, but I can't say much more than that."
As well as Torres, sources have also told ESPN that Barca have sounded out City forward Raheem Sterling, and Chelsea duo Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, as they target players not playing regularly for their clubs.
Barca's financial situation hamstrung the club last summer, when they were forced to target free transfers, but Reverter insists the Blaugrana are now in a position to make signings.
"We can sign [players] in January and in the summer, but we have to be very careful about how we do it," he added. "But [there is] no doubt that Barcelona will be able to sign in January, although everyone knows it is a very difficult window to work in."
11.15 GMT: Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has played down the prospect of spending significant sums in the January transfer window.
The Gunners committed £140m on six summer signings as Arteta embarked upon a major overhaul of his squad with Aaron Ramsdale, Nuno Tavares, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Martin Odegaard all arriving at Emirates Stadium.
The club currently have five players about to enter the final six months of their existing contracts, the most high-profile of which is striker Alexandre Lacazette, who hinted at an exit when speaking to French outlet Telefoot last month by claiming "my agents are now looking left and right a bit, but not before Janaury."
Arteta alluded to the complexity of this and other situations -- Eddie Nketiah is also out of contract next summer and was close to a move to Crystal Palace in the summer -- when asked whether supporters could expect a major outlay on new players in January.
"We are in discussions, we have talks every week about it: how we can improve the team, what things can happen in the January transfer window can affect our squad," said Arteta on Wednesday morning. "As you know, we have certain players with a little bit of uncertainty in the summer so we have to plan what is going to happen now and what is going to happen in the summer. A lot had to be done as well.
"We know and we don't expect big things happening but we are going to be very alert in the market to see if we can improve the team. And as well, we have to be prepared because things can happen, injuries arise in this period and you have to be prepared."
Calum Chambers, Mohamed Elneny and Sead Kolasinac are the other three players on deals which expire at the end a season which Arteta hopes will end in Champions League qualification for Arsenal.
10.34 GMT: Borussia Dortmund have a new player (kind of)...
09.50 GMT: The Daily Telegraph says that former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is a candidate to take the full-time job at Manchester United manager next summer.
Mancini, who won Euro 2020 with Italy this summer, has a tough job to navigate at the World Cup playoffs in March in order to secure a place in Qatar in November. Italy face North Macedonia but then could meet either Portugal or Turkey in the final.
If Italy fail to qualify for the World Cup, that could open the door for a club job and the 57-year-old is reported to be interested in returning to the Premier League.
United have made former RB Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick interim manager until the end of the season after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking, but could add him to their shortlist.
09.12 GMT: Pep Guardiola has told Jack Grealish that the start to his Manchester City career has been "better than maybe he believes."
Grealish has admitted he has found life at the Etihad Stadium "difficult" after leaving Aston Villa to become English football's first £100m player in the summer. He returns to Villa Park for the first time with City on Wednesday and ahead of the game, Guardiola has assured the 26-year-old he has been happy with his form since his arrival.
"My opinion is he's played much better than maybe he believes," Guardiola told a news conference on Tuesday. "Maybe at Villa, everything started with him and he was free, you know, now he's in a new position and maybe has not been so determined or so clinical in the final third.
"Maybe because he respects his mates, maybe because it's a new environment, and that's normal, it's a process. He needs time. All the players who come here, for the first season, always struggle. But what he sees and what he has to do, is so easy for him with the quality he has. Just be free here and be who you are, that's all, no more. I don't say to the players what they have to do -- they play."
08.53 GMT: Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has denied talk of a rift with manager Marcelo Bielsa.
England international Phillips, who has been linked with interest from Liverpool and Manchester United, was substituted at half-time during Saturday's 0-0 draw at Brighton, which he started at centre-back.
However, after playing the full 90 minutes in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, he told Amazon Prime: "I will play any position the manager asks me. If he wants me to play centre-back I will play centre-back, if he wants me to play goalkeeper I'll play goalkeeper. I respect him so much I will never fall out with him.
"I saw a lot of things on social media and TV that me and the manager had fallen out, it's never been the case and I wanted to put that to bed."
08.00 GMT: Ralf Rangnick could be forced to wait until mid-December to officially start his role as Manchester United's interim manager due to a delay in securing a work visa, sources have told ESPN's Mark Ogden.
The former Schalke, Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig coach, who has resigned from his position as sporting director at Lokomotiv Moscow to move to United, arrived in England on Tuesday and must now isolate until receiving a negative result following COVID-19 PCR test.
But United have confirmed that Rangnick will have no involvement before or during the club's Premier League clash with Arsenal on Thursday, with caretaker manager Michael Carrick to select team and tactics for the game.
United announced last Friday that Rangnick will manage the team until the end of this season before assuming the role of senior football advisor at Old Trafford on a two-year contract following the recruitment of a permanent successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was dismissed as manager on Nov. 21.
But due to his lack of coaching experience since relinquishing his role as RB Leipzig coach in 2019 -- Rangnick became head of sport and development at Red Bull after stepping down as coach -- the 63-year-old does not automatically qualify for a United Kingdom work permit to take charge at United.
As a consequence, the German must face a Football Association-appointed independent panel to secure the necessary visa to work in the Premier League, going through the English FA's Exceptions Panel to gain the Governing Body Exemption required to be granted a work permit following the UK's exit from the European Union earlier this year.
PAPER GOSSIP (by Adam Brown)
- Ekrem Konur writes that Real Madrid have no interest in approaches from Manchester United for Vinicius Junior. Despite the Premier League side registering their interest in the 21-year-old winger, Madrid have quickly dismissed the idea, and will not allow the Brazil international to leave in the January window.
- A plethora of teams are fighting for the signature of Renato Sanches, according to Ekrem Konur, who writes that six sides have already joined the queue for the Lille midfielder. Newcastle United were reported to be tracking the 24-year-old, but they are now set to face competition from Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona, AC Milan and Wolves.
- Andreas Christensen has been handed a contract ultimatum by Thomas Tuchel, writes the Mirror. The Chelsea manager wants the centr-eback to sign new terms as soon as possible as the club continue to deal with uncertainty over the contract situation of a number of defenders. The 25-year-old has been at Stamford Bridge for nearly a decade, having joined from Brondby back in 2012, but his deal expires in 2022.
- There's been a lot of talk over the future of Karim Adeyemi in recent months, but The Mirror reports that Manchester United are the latest team to join the race for the in-demand 19-year-old winger. While he plays for FC Salzburg, his agents are reported to have met with the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, but after Ralf Rangnick's recent appointment as interim manager at Old Trafford, he can now consider the option of a move to the Premier League.
- The agent of Agustin Alvarez is in Milan this week as he prepares for talks with both AC Milan and Internazionale, according to Nicolo Schira. The 20-year-old midfielder has impressed with his performances for Penarol in the Copa Sudamericana, and that has seen interest from Europe begin to emerge from the Serie A after both Milan sides sent scouts to watch him in recent matches.