Players on the move: Join Razeen Gutta for a weekly roundup of all the biggest deals taking place around South Africa and Europe.
Cristiano Ronaldo has returned to Manchester, albeit still with a desire to leave, and Atletico Madrid are reportedly interested. Meanwhile the PSL window has been extended with some big moves on the cards.
Europe
After missing the club’s pre-season tour, 37-year-old Ronaldo has returned to Manchester United’s training base this week and will hold talks with manager Erik Ten Hag over his future.
Sky Sports have reported that the club will consider offers for the Portuguese. However he remains “not for sale”.
His determination to leave and play Uefa Champions League football could very well lead to a departure though, with Atletico Madrid now said to be showing interest.
According to The Times, Diego Simeone’s side are attempting to offload Antoine Griezmann in their bid to bring Ronaldo back to Madrid, albeit to the home of his former club’s rivals.
Across Europe in Italy, another one of Ronaldo’s former clubs, Juventus, are reportedly interested in securing the services of Chelsea’s Timo Werner.
Juventus are trying to sign Alvaro Morata from Atletico on a permanent deal after his loan to them expired; and different reports have stated that Werner will be on their radar should that deal not take place.
Whether Chelsea would be willing to sell him remains to be seen. However one thing that the Blues are still aiming to do is rebuild their back line, with Jules Kounde still very much being eyed up by Thomas Tuchel’s side.
According to GOAL, though, Barcelona have also entered into talks with Sevilla for the defender — and the battle between the two sides is likely to depend on which team will match Sevilla’s valuation of the player. This is reported to be in the region of £60 million (+/R1.2 billion).
Next up, we turn our attention to newly promoted Premier League side Nottingham Forest.
Steve Cooper’s side have finalised signings of intent with former Manchester United man Jesse Lingard and Belgium international Orel Mangala, both joining the squad ahead of the new season.
Lingard joined the team on a free transfer after the expiration of his United deal, while Forest had to pay in the region of £13 million (+/- R260 million) for Stuttgart man Mangala.
South Africa
In local news, the PSL have announced this week that the transfer window in South Africa will be extended to 22 September, with Covid-19 cases stated as the reason for the extension.
Among the moves this week, Cape Town City have signed USA youth international Jordan Bender. The 21-year-old joined from Orlando City and said on arrival that he believes the club will provide “the perfect opportunity” to prove himself as a player.
Another big story floating around the rumour mill is the possibility of Bernard Parker making a move to Supersport United.
Having worked well with Gavin Hunt, the former Kaizer Chiefs man is being eyed up for a short-term deal by United, Soccer Laduma have reported.
Over at Mamelodi Sundowns, Bongani Zungu is all set to make a return to Masandawana.
Having returned from France last month, Zungu is now a free agent and has been training with the PSL champions — with the signing reportedly imminent.
Image source: @FootballEspana
