Transfer news LIVE: Alvarez open to Arsenal switch, Baleba’s Man Utd medical, Barcola to Liverpool latest

Julian Alvarez was met with a chorus of jeers by aggrieved fans on his return to Atletico Madrid amid his attempts to force a move away from the club.

All eyes were on Atletico’s team sheet to face Villarreal on Sunday to see whether Alvarez would be involved as the club played their first home match of the season.

And while the 26-year-old was named on the bench, this did not mean things had been smoothed over – especially with the Atletico faithful, who sent him a brutal message as soon as he stepped onto the turf.

Guess who’s back in town – spread the word around. The boys are back, the boys are back. On the banks of the Thames, overlooking Tower Bridge, Richard Keys and Andy Gray toast their return to these shores and our league with a bottle of chilled champagne and tea served from good old English teapots into good old English teacups. With their exile in Qatar over, the deposed kings of early 2000s Sky Sports Premier League coverage have come home to reclaim what is theirs, delivering forthright opinions and hard truths with a vengeance. According to the tagline of their new podcast, Keys and Gray are “back and now they’re unleashed”.

Manchester City have agreed a €100m deal to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille, potentially providing an answer to Enzo Maresca’s mission to find a replacement for Rodri.

The Golden Ball winner joined Barcelona in a sizeable blow for the new City manager, who had spoken ahead of his league opener against Bournemouth about the job of filling such a void.

“How do we solve that problem? We try to find the new Rodri, it is what it is. [Before] Rodri arrived here, he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or, he didn’t win the Champions League, he didn’t win the Club World Cup. He joined the club, then he achieved many important things,” Maresca said.

“Now the target for us is to try to find the new Rodri. I was thinking on Thursday night, when David Silva was here, everyone was worried and Kevin [De Bruyne] arrived. When Sergio [Agüero] was here, everyone was worried [when he was going to leave] and Erling [Haaland] arrived. Fernandinho? Rodri arrived. It is just about this. When they leave, you need to be good at recruiting the next one.

“They are all similar, David, Kevin, Fernandinho, Rodri, Erling – it is normal, it is change, it is not a problem, go again and try to do the right things.”

Jacob Devaney has joined Hibernian on a season-long loan from Manchester United.

Hibs also have an option to make the 19-year-old midfielder’s move to Easter Road permanent.

While most focussed on Spurs being Spurs, Mamadou Sangare proved exactly why Brentford spent the big bucks on Mamadou Sangare in yesterday’s curtain-raiser at the Gtech.

An absolutely scintillating performance, picking up two assists as he dazzled the Bees fans.

Club-record signing for a reason, it looks like – could he be this season’s breakout superstar?

Bradley Barcola was left out of another Paris Saint-Germain squad as the France international continues to be linked with a move to Liverpool and Arsenal. The 23-year-old was not involved in PSG’s victory over Aston Villa in the Super Cup or the defeat to Lens in the French Super Cup and has been left out of Luis Enrique’s 21-man squad for their Ligue 1 opener against Rennes.

Liverpool are in the market for a winger they and PSG remain far apart in their valuations of Barcola, with the Champions League winners wanting £145m. Liverpool have also been linked with PSG’s 18-year-old forward Ibrahim Mbaye, who like Barcola is not part of the squad to face Rennes on Sunday. Arsenal, meanwhile, want to strengthen the left side of their attack and were recently explored a move for Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz.

Barcola has played a role in PSG’s back-to-back Champions League titles under Enrique but faces an uncertain future after the European champions strengthened their attack this summer. PSG have signed three attackers this summer in Spain’s World Cup winner Ferran Torres from Barcelona, Belgian winger Mika Godts from Ajax and France international Maghnes Akliouche from Marseille.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has called in Fifa as he attempts to argue that his Crystal Palace contract is invalid, according to the BBC.

The striker, who started the 2-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday, has entered the final 12 months of his deal but is reportedly arguing that a 12-month extension, triggered by Palace in 2024, should be void.

It Fifa rule out Mateta’s side, it would make the striker a free agent this summer. The France international previously pushed to join AC Milan in January but the move fell through due to a knee issue.

Julian Alvarez would welcome a move to Arsenal this summer – if his dream move to Barcelona falls through. That’s according to the Standard, who report that the Argentina international’s stand-off with Atletico Madrid is beginning to turn sour as he continues to push for a move away. Alvarez is not for sale this summer, according to Atletico, who play Villarreal this afternoon.

Alvarez has been in contact with Mikel Arteta and Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta, according to reports in Spain. AS report that Alvarez has come round to the idea of joining the Gunners if Atletico refuse to sell to Barcelona and the door to joining the Premier League champions remains open.

Arsenal want to a sign a marquee attacker this summer, but Juventus have closed the door on forward Kenan Yildiz joining the Premier League champions. Luciano Spalletti told reports that the Turkey international is not for sale and Juventus want to keep the 21-year-old for the upcoming season.

Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage wants Ismaila Sarr to stay at Crystal Palace amid interest from Galatasaray.

The Turkish giants made an offer for the Senegal winger which was rejected by Palace, who deemed it far below their valutation.

“We don’t want him to leave, he is under contract with us for three years and he will be with us on Monday,” Sage said. “That’s the most important information for me and for you.”