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Football transfer rumours: Gittens to Chelsea before first deadline closes?

The summer’s first transfer window will close on Tuesday night at 7pm UK time ahead of the Fifa Club World Cup so watch out for some last-minute jobs to fill up squads for Gianni Infantino’s folly. Will Manchester City get Rayan Cherki signed in time? Chelsea are after a keeper in Milan’s Mike Maignan and want to add Jamie Gittens of Borussia Dortmund to their winger collection. Both deals may go to the wire.

When Bournemouth were flying high in mid-winter there was a fun game to play. Less fun if you were a Cherries fan, of course, but the game was to fit their unearthed gems with the clubs they would end up at. Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid was unexpected but then again Illia Zabarnyi to PSG, actual European champions, may well trump that. The club are prepared to sell, at the right price, but have demanded a £59m fee for the Ukrainian.

Antoine Semenyo would have been more predictable, as he is wanted by Europa League duffers Tottenham and Manchester United. That may depend on either club’s success in landing Bryan Mbeumo.

One of the clubs interested in Mbeumo were Newcastle, and he’s said to have turned them down, as have a number of other players. No PSR troubles this time, so a panic setting in? The Toon in for West Ham maverick Mohammed Kudus? Sounds possible, though Chelsea also fancy him.

The boy of this summer – though he’s 30 in September – is Jack Grealish, unwanted by Manchester City, allowed to leave, and looking for a new challenge while trying to rediscover the old magic. Bayer Leverkusen is an interesting link, though how they might afford the wages of a player with two seasons remaining on his Etihad deal is another question.

Erik ten Hag must have liked what he saw in those Manchester derbies, and he would be coaching Jack in Germany’s industrial heartlands – Jack, being a Brummie, knows all about industrial heartlands. Well, maybe a bit. Anyway, should he blow out Bayer, there’s Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham in England. There’s Saudi interest, too, and also Milan, Napoli, Borussia Dortmund and Inter. An emotional return to Aston Villa? Sadly, the numbers don’t add up.

On the continent, Bayern Munich want a winger, and are not messing about in targeting PSG’s Bradley Barcola and Athletic Club’s Nico Williams. Will they be done in time for Bayern to play at the Club World Cup? Unlikely.

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