Transfer news live updates: Latest on Zinchenko, Ronaldo, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and more

Southampton have confirmed they have reached an agreement in principle to sign Bordeaux forward Sekou Mara.

The Athletic reported earlier that the Premier League club was close to completing a deal worth €11million plus €2million in add-ons.

Mara’s switch is subject to a medical, work permit and international clearance, and the 19-year-old is expected to finalise his transfer on a five-year deal in the next week.

Full story.

Watford are in advanced talks with Villarreal over the sale of Kiko Femenia.

The transfer, expected to be a permanent deal, is said to be very close to agreement and will end the Spaniard’s five-year stay at Vicarage Road.

The Athletic highlighted on Wednesday that Watford were in the market for a new right wing-back and Femenia’s departure will intensify that search.

It might only be a pre-season friendly but Jurgen Klopp reckons Darwin Nunez’s four-goal haul against RB Leipzig will do his new striker the world of good.

Nunez was scrutinised during a first run-out against Manchester United in Bangkok but he made quite the impact off the bench, hitting four goals in the second half.

“We always think that if you pay a lot of money then the players feel no pressure or whatever,” Klopp said.

“They are all completely normal human beings and the first touch is not perfect then all of a sudden… this generation of players read social media, which is really not smart, but they do.

“All of a sudden you get in a rush and these kinds of things. That’s the best way (scoring goals) obviously to stop all these discussions. He’s a different striker to what we have or what we had, but he’s a really good one.”

Jesse Lingard played only 356 minutes of football for Manchester United last season after finding himself a peripheral figure at Old Trafford.

But this is a move that says as much about the ambitions of Forest as it does about the 29-year-old, write Paul Taylor and Mark Carey.

Tuck in below as The Athletic dissects the Premier League newcomers’ most intriguing move in the summer market yet…

Ravel Morrison has joined former Derby boss Wayne Rooney at D.C. United on a free transfer.

Morrison has signed a one-year contract at the MLS side, with the option of a further 12 months.

The 29-year-old midfielder left relegated Derby at the end of last season after his contract expired but has now reunited with his former manager.

More here.

Chelsea midfielder Tino Anjorin is set to return to Championship side Huddersfield on loan.

Anjorin is understood to have had other offers but was keen to continue working with Danny Schofield, who has been promoted to head coach following the departure of Carlos Corberan.

Anjorin made seven appearances after arriving midway through the 2021-22 campaign after another spell at Lokomotiv Moscow was curtailed by injury.

He was an unused substitute in the play-off final that Huddersfield lost to Nottingham Forest, but is now gearing up for the 2022-23 campaign with the hope of getting a full season of professional football under his belt.

Jesse Lingard has joined Nottingham Forest as a free agent after signing a one-year contract on Thursday.

The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Forest were making a move for Lingard, who left Manchester United after his contract expired at the end of June.

The 29-year-old midfielder has now completed a medical and will travel with Steve Cooper’s squad to Germany on Friday ahead of a pre-season friendly against Union Berlin the following day.

Full story.

Brighton & Hove Albion are interested in signing Austrian midfielder Florian Grillitsch.

The 26-year-old is a free agent after his contract with Hoffenheim ended this summer.

Grillitsch had been with the Bundesliga club for five years, having joined them from Werder Bremen.

He is a defensive midfielder who can also play at centre-back and this positional flexibility suits the style of Brighton head coach Graham Potter.

More here.

Norwich City’s squad trimming has continued with one exit and another imminent.

Young goalkeeper Jon McCracken has joined Bohemian FC on loan until the new year, where he will play in the League of Ireland Premier Division.

Meanwhile, former Nice captain Pierre Lees-Melou has travelled to France to complete his return to Ligue 1 with Stade Brestois.

The midfielder was signed for £3.5million last summer but always reluctant to feature in the Championship should relegation follow. Norwich have recouped some of that fee with his latest move, which is expected to be confirmed before the week is over. They will look to make a midfield signing to replace the Frenchman.

The departure of centre-back Christoph Zimmermann to Darmstadt was confirmed on Wednesday, while Christos Tzolis’ loan to FA Twente should also become official by the weekend.

The pre-season friendly action (I say friendly — see Wolves!) continues tonight with Liverpool taking on RB Leipzig.

Our Liverpool correspondent James Pearce is geared up for your questions, from Jurgen Klopp’s likely selection to the latest in the transfer market. Get involved below…

Sevilla defender Jules Kounde has been left out of Sevilla’s pre-season squad for a training camp in Portugal.

The 23-year-old centre-back has been heavily linked to Chelsea and Barcelona. Sevilla will play against Sporting Lisbon on Sunday. and Angers next Wednesday.

(Photo: Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

An independent report has found the sale of public land from Manchester City Council to the Abu-Dhabi based owners of the reigning Premier League champions was “too cheap” and “difficult to justify”.

The research, carried out jointly by the Centre for Research on Accounting & Finance in Context (CRAFIC) and the Urban Institute, concludes the relationship “has the potential to become an ethical, political and economic liability”.

Research focuses on the Manchester Life scheme, launched in 2014, a £1billion deal between the city council and the club’s owners to regenerate swathes of brownfield land.

However, the report claims this land, comprising nine sites, was sold to City owner Sheikh Mansour at a price well under market value, and on unusually long 999-year leases. The typical lease length is between 150 and 250 years.

More here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Chris Richards has arrived in London to complete his move to Crystal Palace after a total agreement was reached with Bayern Munich on Thursday morning.

It is understood Palace will pay an initial €12million (£10million) for Richards.

This fee could rise to €20million (17million) when add-ons are taken into consideration.

The final stages of Richards’ Palace medical are now expected to be completed imminently.

Richards has already agreed personal terms on a five-year deal with Palace and has spoken with the club’s manager, Patrick Vieira, about the role he will play in the team.

More here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Brentford are close to signing Ben Mee on a free transfer, but will be without Ethan Pinnock for their opening game of the season against Leicester City after the 29-year-old sustained a knee injury.

Pinnock was due to travel with the club on their pre-season tour of Germany but suffered the issue in training and was forced to stay behind.

The defender will not need an operation, but there are concerns he could be ruled out for several weeks. Pinnock missed Brentford’s final five matches of last season after suffering a hamstring injury in their 2-1 victory over Watford on April 16.

(Photos: Getty Images)

Manchester United’s opening goal against Crystal Palace in Melbourne was born from clever work from their full-backs.

It was one of three well-taken goals and demonstrated how Erik ten Hag wants his full-backs to play this season.

Carl Anka analyses.

Wolves’ pre-season tour briefly descended into chaos on Thursday as a series of flare-ups in their behind-closed-doors friendly against Levante led to four red cards.

Wolves pair Yerson Mosquera and Daniel Podence were both shown red cards before half-time in the private game against the La Liga side, who also had two players dismissed to leave the potential of a nine-versus-nine clash after the break.

But, to add to the bizarre events in the morning fixture, referee Jorge Tarraga Lajara allowed both sides to be restored to 11 players for the start of the second half.

More from Steve Madeley here.

(Photo: Getty Images)

England’s 2-1 victory over Spain was a classic example of what football tactics are all about.

Games are clearly settled by players — no manager could ever have prescribed Georgia Stanway’s long-range thunderbolt — but they are shaped by the decisions of those in the dugouts.

Sarina Wiegman and Jorge Vilda have large squads, and are capable of using various systems, and at six key points on a dramatic evening in Brighton, their choices had a significant impact on Wednesday night’s quarter-final.

Michael Cox reports.

The Athletic’s Steve Madeley is in Benidorm, watching Wolves trail 1-0.

They play RB Leipzig later today, before a game against RB Salzburg in Austria next Wednesday.