Transfer news live: Liverpool agree fee for defender, Man Utd target Baleba, Isak’s Newcastle future

“Premier League is the right step for Gigio in my view, we’re working on it,” said Enzo Raiola.

“There are zero talks with Italian clubs. We are still shocked by PSG behaviour with Gigio.”

Manchester City are keen on the keeper, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Liverpool have agreed a £26m fee with Parma for Italian defender Giovanni Leoni.

The 18-year-old centre-back is set to become their sixth major summer signing and take their spending in this window past £300m.

Leoni will begin a medical on Merseyside on Thursday and will discuss personal terms, which are not expected to be a problem after he made it clear his preference was to join Liverpool.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the latest transfer news and updates.

We’ll have all the latest gossip, rumours and done deals throughout the day so let’s go into it…

Real Madrid will unveil new signing Franco Mastantuono at midday today.

Prior to his presentation, Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez will welcome Mastantuono for the protocol signing event, as he puts pen to paper on a six-year deal following his arrival from River Plate.

Gianluigi Donnarumma’s agent has confirmed that his preferred destination is the Premier League after being exiled from PSG.

Fabrizio Romano reports Manchester City are keen on the Italian, who has not spoken to clubs from his homeland.

As reported in the Independent’s ‘Inside Football’ newsletter on Friday, Spurs have ramped up interest in the 27-year-old after the injury to James Maddison, amid a widespread belief that the saga might finally come to a head by the start of the Premier League season. That would coincide with the expiration of Eze’s release clause for this window.

Arsenal have long been interested in Eze, and are viewed as the Crystal Palace player’s first preference, but the fact that no proper transfer bid has yet materialised means there is a chance for Spurs to move forward.

It was as early as the first days of June that Eddie Howe and his staff feared this summer was going to be “a big problem” for Newcastle United.

The reason then was not yet failed purchases, the departure of sporting director Paul Mitchell or even Alexander Isak. Or at least, just Isak. Newcastle had already known about the Swede’s ambitions to leave for months. Now, the same fears were growing about Tino Livramento and Anthony Gordon, with the added concern that any unrest could lead to more agitation in the dressing room. The mood was so foreboding that Howe’s staff even asked others in football about potential solutions.

It was a huge shift from the satisfaction felt mere weeks before, and the end of a season that was the club’s best in decades. The Carabao Cup closed that long wait for a trophy, bringing a sense of release around the club. The final-day qualification for a second Champions League campaign in three seasons then seemed to take that further; to embolden everyone, and afford the club the financial assurance to really press on. There was no longer a PSR need to sell stars like Isak.

If nothing else, Ruben Amorim does not try to sugarcoat things. The manager who had said he had perhaps the worst team in Manchester United’s history stood in the middle of the Old Trafford pitch and said: “Today, after this disaster season.” The disaster season: piercing as some of the criticisms of a campaign where United had fared worse than had seemed possible, few were as pithy as Amorim’s description. The rest of his message marked a real shift in tone. “I want to tell you the good days are coming,” he added.

That was May. In Amorim’s own timescale, therefore, the good days are arriving, beginning now. There is a sense they have to: not merely for Amorim, who was probably guilty of smiling exaggeration when he said on the pre-season tour of the United States that he wanted to stay for 20 years but is actually in the last two of his contract, but for the club.

The transfer window continues to rumble on with plenty of deals yet to materialise, which could shift the trajectory of many teams, notably Arne Slot’s side and Newcastle, with Alexander Isak’s future still in doubt.

Here, the Independent’s sports staff preview the new campaign and make their picks for the 2025/26 Premier League season:

Jack Grealish has joined Everton on loan and revealed that he consulted Wayne Rooney about his move to Merseyside as he looks to follow in the footsteps of two of his idols.

When asked why he chose to wear the No. 18 shirt, Grealish said: “There is a reason. There were other numbers but my two favourite English players ever are Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne and I know they both wore No. 18 here.

“So, as soon as I knew this deal was close, I had a look and number 18 was free, so that was perfect for me and it was the only number I was going to take from that point. I spoke to Wayne before I came here and I mentioned that to him – about the No 18 – so I hope he’s happy as well.”