Welcome to the Times of Malta football transfer blog. With the 2019-20 football campaign just weeks away, clubs around the European continents will be stepping up their efforts to try and strengthen their squad ahead of the upcoming season...
8.15pm That's it for tonight. Thanks for staying with us, we will be back tomorrow. Good night.
8pm Brazilian footballer Filipe Luis, free of any contract after four straight seasons with Atletico Madrid, has agreed to play for Brazil's Flamengo until 2021, the Rio de Janeiro club said Tuesday.
A member of the Brazilian team that won this year's Copa America, Luis was forced out of the South American tournament during the quarter-final against Paraguay.
Luis, 33, who confirmed his latest move on social media, started his playing career at Brazilian club Figueirense before going abroad to play for Deportivo de La Coruna in Spain.
7.40pm Newcastle have announced the signing of Joelinton from Hoffenheim.
The 22-year-old becomes the Magpies’ first signing of the summer, putting pen to paper on a six-year deal which will keep him at St. James’ Park until the summer of 2025.
He moves to the club for a reported £40m fee, which is a Newcastle club record, and will wear the No 9 shirt.
7.20pm Callum Hudson-Odoi is close to agreeing a new five-year deal with Chelsea, worth £180,000 a week, Sky Sports News said.
The deal will be a major coup for manager Frank Lampard, fending off four separate bids from Bayern Munich for the 18-year old winger – the most recent being a transfer fee of £22.5m.
Negotiations have continued over the past six months, with the crucial breakthrough and verbal agreement between Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia and Hudson-Odoi representatives reached in the last 48 hours.
7pm Newly-promoted side Sirens have announced the signing of Brazilian forward Wellington Petinha.
For the Brazilian forward this will be his third stint with a Maltese Premier League club after last season he was on the books of Qormi.
Earlier in his career he was also on the books of Tarxien Rainbows.
6.30pm La Repubblica claims Manchester United are on the verge of signing Sergej Milinkovic-Savic from Lazio for €75m plus bonuses.
It’s significantly lower than the €120m president Claudio Lotito claims to have rejected last season, but by his own admission, there were fewer resources to keep the Serbian this time around.
According to the online edition of the Italian newspaper, a deal is practically done for €75m plus various add-ons.
Milinkovic-Savic has also agreed a five-year contract with the Premier League giants.
6pm Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has denied disrespecting Wales star Gareth Bale as he discussed the expected transfer of the 30-year-old forward from the La Liga giants.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of Real Madrid’s friendly with Arsenal at FedEx Field - home of the NFL’s Washington Redskins - Zidane said it was Bale who chose not to play in Madrid’s 3-1 friendly defeat to Bayern in Houston on Saturday.
“I did not disrespect anyone, least of all Gareth,” a frustrated-sounding Zidane said. “I said that the club is working to facilitate Bale’s departure, nothing more.
“The other day, Gareth did not dress for the game, he did not want to because the club was negotiating his departure,” he added.
5.30pm Lazio have signed winger Jony Rodriguez from Malaga on a permanent basis.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that Lazio had deposited Jony’s four-year contract with Lega Serie A.
The deal has long been a formality, with the 28-year-old passing his medical two weeks ago and even scoring in a preseason friendly.
The Aquile have paid Malaga a reported €2.5m for the Spanish left-sider.
He played for Alaves last season, scoring five goals and providing 12 assists – the third highest-tally in La Liga.
5pm Neil Lennon says Celtic are in a strong position to keep Kieran Tierney at the club after Arsenal had two bids for the player rejected.
Sky Sports News is reporting that the Gunners' latest bid of up to £25m includes too many add-ons and is dependent on them qualifying for the Champions League.
"It's as you were really. I've had no information other than there was two bids that came in from Arsenal that were rejected," Lennon said.
4.25pm Kostas Manolas says he left Roma for Napoli because he feels his new club stand a better chance to end Juve's dominance.
Manolas had been linked with top clubs in England and Spain but ultimately stayed in Serie A, signing for Napoli in a €36m deal, with Amadou Diawara heading the other way to Roma.
“I'll chose Napoli because they’re a team who are close to Juventus and can make a leap in quality,” the defender told Sky Sport Italia.
“The club are signing some good players because they want to win things. Ending Juve’s dominance is possible, but we must do our jobs."
4.05pm Hoffenheim striker Joelinton is in the North East for a medical ahead of his move to Newcastle.
The Brazilian is set to join Newcastle on a record-breaking transfer, which currently sits at £21m for Miguel Almiron back in January.
The imminent arrival of Joelinton is set to smash that figure, with a fee in the region of £40m agreed.
Hoffenheim revealed last week that their player was deep in talks with a Premier League team.
3.45pm Manchester City have no interest in negotiating the sale of Leroy Sane to Bayern Munich – despite Sky Germany reporting that Bayern have held positive discussions with the player’s representatives in the last 24 hours.
Sky Germany have been told that there has been movement in the last day or so, but City sources have told Sky Sports News there have been no talks between the clubs and they haven’t received a bid.
3.15pm Nordsjaelland winger Andreas Skov Olsen is set to complete a reported €5m transfer to Bologna.
The move has been in the offing for some time but is only going through now.
Sportitalia writes Skov Olsen arrived in Bologna earlier today to undergo a medical, before signing his contract.
The 19-year-old caught the eye for Denmark at the European Under-21 Championship, posting a goal and assist.
2.45pm Milan striker Andre Silva has passed his medical ahead of a €30m transfer to Monaco.
Calciomercato.com and RMC Sport both report Silva completed tests on Tuesday morning and that he is now ready to sign a five-year contract with Monaco.
Milan will receive €30m from his sale and are set to reinvest that money in Atletico Madrid forward Angel Correa.
The Portuguese spent last season on loan at Sevilla, but they did not take up their €35m option to buy.
He will now be coached by countryman Leonardo Jardim in the principality.
2.15pm Bournemouth are interested in Huddersfield midfielder Philip Billing.
Billing, 23, has played for Denmark’s U19 and U21 squad and joined Huddersfield back in 2014.
The player scored five goals in 81 appearances for the Terriers.
1.50pm Inter have reignited their interest in Edin Dzeko with the club not willing to match Manchester United’s £75m valuation of Romelu Lukaku, according to reports on Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Nerazzurri are also interested in Lille’s Rafael Leao, who Everton have made an offer for.
1.30pm Bruno Fernandes has expressed his desire to play in England amid interest from Manchester United.
Sky Sports News reported that United are keen on bringing the Sporting Lisbon midfielder to the club this summer.
Speaking to reporters ahead of travelling with the rest of the Sporting squad to New York, Portugal international Fernandes said: "I don't care about the market, I've talked about this many times.
"The only thing I can do now is that I need to catch the plane so I don't miss it. Will this be the last match for Sporting? I don't know, it's the coach who decides.
"I told I'd like to play in England, but I don't care about it right now."
12.55pm Manchester City are in talks with Velez Sarsfield about Thiago Almada, the 18 year-old Argentinian already being dubbed ‘the new Messi.’
City have identified the midfielder as an emerging talent and he is understood to have a release clause of around £16m.
12.35pm If Gareth Bale leaves Real Madrid this summer it will not be on loan, his agent Jonathan Barnett has told Sky Sports News.
“There will be no makeshift deals to get him out of the club," he said.
“Gareth is one of the best players on the planet. I can guarantee you he will not be going on loan to any club.”
12.15pm Genoa midfielder Stephane Omeonga has joined Belgian side Cercle Brugge on loan with an option to buy.
Omeonga impressed during a six-month loan spell at Hibernian, scoring one goal in 17 appearances.
However, the Scottish club were unable to negotiate his return and he will now head home to play for Cercle, who finished 13th in the Belgian top tier last season.
11.50am Despite Fiorentina’s efforts to keep Federico Chiesa, it is reported the winger now wants to join rivals Juventus.
New Fiorentina owner Rocco Commisso has continually asserted that Chiesa would be staying put.
However, Gazzetta dello Sport’s Nicolo Schira writes the 21-year-old is ‘not convinced’ about the Viola project.
Schira adds he is eyeing a move to Juve, following in the footsteps of Roberto Baggio and Federico Bernardeschi.
11.30am Lille president Gerard Lopez has revealed the future of in-demand winger Nicolas Pepe is close to being decided, with Manchester United reportedly nearing a £70m deal for the player.
The 24-year-old has been linked with a host of top European clubs this summer after scoring 23 goals in 41 appearances last season.
“In terms of departures and arrivals, if a player leaves, we will go and get what we need,” Lopez told French newspaper La Voix du Nord.
“For Nico, it is almost done and he could have left last summer. It is true that there are big offers and big clubs in for him, so I think [he will leave].
“Aside from that, you never know in football.”
11.05am We start off the day with news from the Maltese transfer market.
On Monday, we reported that Emerson Marcelina was planning to return to Maltese football and was planning to hold talks with two Premier League clubs mainly Floriana and Gżira United.
This morning it emerged that Floriana are not in the running as they have already ended their transfer dealings with the capture of Senegal defender Moustapha Beye.
Last season, Marcelina was at Floriana with whom he played 24 league games scoring two goals and registering one assist.
11am Good morning everyone and welcome to our transfer blog.