It’s that time of the year again – the <\/span>transfer window\u00a0is now open until September 1 and it’s sure to be a busy period with clubs looking to make big signings ahead of next season. <\/span><\/p>\n Here are today’s latest developments from Simon Jones and the Daily Mail Sport team…<\/span><\/p>\n Fulham have asked to be kept informed on a number of Real Madrid players, as has been widely reported, but among them is Thiago Pitarch.<\/p>\n At 18 years and 226 days, Pitarch became the club’s youngest player to start twice in the Champions League knockout stages, surpassing Brazil forward Vinicius Jr’s record by 10 days.<\/p>\n He impressed in Madrid’s 3-0 win over Manchester City in March and has arrived back in training determined to impress Jose Mourinho and fight for a first team place.<\/p>\n Fulham have asked to be kept informed on a number of Real Madrid players, among them Thiago Pitarch<\/p>\n<\/div>\n However, Alvaro Arbeloa is hoping that Mourinho decides a loan and season in the Premier League could prove more beneficial to his development. Fulham do face competition from other Spanish sides too.<\/p>\n Chelsea are closing on agreement over a deal for Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix worth around \u00a355m.<\/p>\n As Daily Mail Sport<\/span> reported on Monday, talks accelerated over a meeting in New York at the weekend.<\/p>\n Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali and Palace chairman Steve Parish, who were in New York for the World Cup final, met at the Aman Hotel near Central Park on Sunday. <\/p>\n Chelsea are closing on agreement over a deal for Crystal Palace defender Maxence Lacroix<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Daily Mail Sport <\/span>revealed Chelsea had revisited their interest in the 26-year-old early this summer.<\/p>\n The France international cost Palace \u00a318m from Wolfsburg but has been an outstanding performer in the Premier League and Europe.<\/p>\n Crystal Palace are continuing talks to sign centre-back Chrislain Matsima from Augsburg.<\/p>\n As negotiations carry on with Chelsea over the structure of a fee on the sale of Maxence Lacroix, Palace are looking to bolster their defensive options.<\/p>\n They have discussed Chelsea’s Axel Disasi as an alternative too, but that is now seen as unlikely. The Frenchman had interest from Roma also. <\/p>\n They have already added versatile Oscar Mingueza on a free after he left Celta Vigo.<\/p>\n Arsenal have completed the signing of winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for \u00a334million.<\/p>\n The fee is a record for the Belgian Pro League.<\/p>\n Arsenal have completed the signing of winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for \u00a334million<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The 24-year-old, formerly of Norwich City, scored 17 goals and added 23 assists in 36 league appearances last season.<\/p>\n Newcastle United have agreed a \u00a335.5million deal for Monaco midfielder Aladji Bamba.<\/p>\n The 20-year-old travelled to Tyneside for a medical on Thursday morning ahead of completing his surprise move.<\/p>\n The France U20 international has only had one season in Monaco’s first team and has made only 12 competitive starts in all competitions but is rated as an outstanding prospect.<\/p>\n The clubs have agreed an initial \u00a330m guaranteed payment plus \u00a35.5m in add-ons. There is also a 15 percent sell-on clause in the agreement.<\/p>\n Bamba, who plays as a defensive midfielder, made five Champions League appearances and 18 in Ligue Un last season.<\/p>\n Newcastle sold Sandro Tonali to Tottenham last month and have been in the market for a second young midfielder after signing 18-year-old Sean Steur from Ajax. Another target, Freiburg’s Johan Manzambi, opted to join Aston Villa instead last week after they had agreed a \u00a349m fee. They also enquired about Tottenham\u2019s \u00a350m-rated Lucas Bergvall but insist stopped short of a formal offer.<\/p>\n Newcastle United have agreed a deal to sign Monaco defensive midfielder Aladji Bamba (left)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It underlines a change in strategy for Newcastle of signing players to develop which carries a degree of risk. It also gives added importance to keeping experienced players such as Bruno Guimaraes though he remains eager to leave for Arsenal.<\/p>\n Newcastle remain the market for another goalkeeper after moving on from Manchester City’s James Trafford, who is destined for Leeds.<\/p>\n They did hold a meeting over Brighton’s Carl Rushworth who has been the subject of offers from Coventry City and was also on Leeds’ radar.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 Newcastle have agreed a \u00a330m deal with AS Monaco for Aladji Bamba<\/p>\n \u2708\ufe0f The 20-yr-old midfielder is due on Tyneside this morning<\/p>\n \u2014 Craig Hope (@CraigHope_DM) July 23, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Southampton risk pricing Shea Charles out of a move to the Premier League as they push for over \u00a330million for the Northern Ireland international.<\/p>\n Fulham are the latest club to be rebuffed after they offered in the region of \u00a324million for the 22-year-old.<\/p>\n The Cottagers believed they could strike a deal on the understanding Saints would accept \u00a325m plus add-ons. However, the Championship side are demanding more.<\/p>\n Charles, who they bought from Manchester City in 2023, made 38 appearances last season and scored what looked to be the winning goal in the play-off semi-final against Middlesbrough only for the club to be excluded from the showpiece Wembley final as a consequence of ‘Spygate’, as exclusively revealed by Daily Mail Sport.<\/p>\n Leeds United had made the early running for Charles.<\/p>\n They also made three offers to Southampton which were subsequently rejected and are likely to consider other options.<\/p>\n Manchester City also hold a 15percent sell-on.<\/p>\n Saints are trying to build for the new season against the backdrop of head coach Tonda Eckert facing a suspension after he was charged with misconduct by the Football Association for his role in the Spygate scandal. He had until Tuesday to respond to the charges.<\/p>\n West Brom are also keen on Saints forward Cameron Archer.<\/p>\n Leeds\u00a0United are in talks to sign England international goalkeeper James Trafford from Manchester City.<\/p>\n Trafford, who went to the World Cup this summer, only rejoined Manchester City from Burnley last summer but managed just four Premier League outings. <\/p>\n Leeds are on the hunt for a new No 1 goalkeeper after Karl Darlow left for Manchester United.<\/p>\n Trafford came through City’s academy but, after making no first-team appearances, left for Burnley in 2023 after a series of loans. <\/p>\n He rejoined last summer in a \u00a331million deal – a record sum for a British goalkeeper. <\/p>\n As Daily Mail Sport reported in April, Trafford was back on Newcastle United’s agenda to be their number one but they were aware it as becoming increasingly difficult amid competition and valuation last week.<\/p>\n Leeds are acting are losing Darlow. Illan Meslier has also joined Arsenal while Torino want Lucas Perri. <\/p>\n They have asked about Zion Suzuki at Parma but are hopeful Trafford will join as he looks to cement his place as Jordan Pickford’s main rival to the England number one jersey.<\/p>\n Aston Villa and Spurs have also shown interest in Trafford but he sees an opportunity at Leeds to build his future.<\/p>\n Newcastle have also met Brighton goalkeeper Carl Rushworth\u2019s representatives who remains subject of offers from Coventry City and was also on Leeds\u2019 radar. <\/p>\n Leeds United are in talks to sign England international goalkeeper James Trafford (right)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Liverpool goalkeeper Armin Pecsi has joined TSV Hartberg in Austria on a season-loan.<\/p>\n The 21-year-old, who made his senior international debut for Hungary last month, arrived at Anfield a year ago m.<\/p>\n He has been a regular for Liverpool’s U21s and was also included in the senior side’s matchday squad on five occasions.<\/p>\n Chelsea are stepping up their interest in Bayer Leverkusen winger Kerim Alajbegovic after offloading Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa and Nicolas Jackson expected to follow.<\/p>\n The exciting Bosnia international has had interest from Leeds United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Atalanta.<\/p>\n Leverkusen sold the 18-year-old to Red Bull Salzburg last year but, after an impressive season, took up their option to buy him back this summer for \u00a37million.<\/p>\n However, the winger made such an impression in Austria, and on World Cup duty with Bosnia, where he scored a spectacular long-range goal in their group-stage win over Qatar that his valuation is now closer to \u00a330m.<\/p>\n Atalanta were considered to be in pole position earlier this month but Chelsea and Xabi Alonso were made aware of the opportunity and are now looking to strike a deal.<\/p>\n They have recognised the youngster’s potential to add another pacy dimension to the first team set-up alongside new signing Morgan Rogers with Garnacho going and Nicolas Jackson expected to follow the Argentine to Villa.<\/p>\n Chelsea are stepping up their interest in Bayer Leverkusen winger Kerim Alajbegovic<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Leeds United are finalising terms with New England Revolution for the sale of Jack Harrison.<\/p>\n As Daily Mail Sport reported earlier this month the Revolution have been pursuing the 29-year-old this summer but were trying to navigate the required personal terms and fee.<\/p>\n The winger, who started his senior career with New York City, spent last season on loan at Fiorentina and has two years left on his contract at Elland Road.<\/p>\n Leeds are continuing negotiations with Manchester City over a fee for James Trafford.<\/p>\n The England goalkeeper is also expected to have a release clause in any contract he signs at Leeds.<\/p>\n City are also looking for a replacement should they agree terms.<\/p>\n Chelsea have confirmed Harrison Bettoni has joined from Wigan Athletic on a four-year contract 2030.<\/p>\n The 18-year-old attacking midfielder was part of Wigan\u2019s first team last season and appeared 27 times during a breakthrough campaign.<\/p>\n Chelsea beat off stern competition for his signature from Manchester City and AC Milan.<\/p>\n Click below for all the transfer developments over the last few days… <\/span><\/p>\n WEDNESDAY<\/span>:\u00a0West Ham star Crysencio Summerville set for \u00a360m Saudi Arabia move despite Roma’s late attempt to hijack deal<\/span><\/p>\n TUESDAY:<\/span><\/span> Fulham plot \u00a324m bid for Southampton’s Shea Charles… after Leeds have three bids rejected <\/span><\/p>\n MONDAY:<\/span> New York meeting key to Chelsea’s Maxence Lacroix move<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n SUNDAY:<\/span> Roma ponder new bid for \u00a350m-rated Crysencio Summerville <\/span><\/p>\n SATURDAY: <\/span>Revealed: The figure Middlesbrough are set to pocket from Morgan Rogers’ move to Chelsea<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s that time of the year again – the transfer window\u00a0is now open until September…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fulham keeping an eye on young Real Madrid talent<\/h2>\n
![\"Fulham](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/22\/110218653-15998043-image-a-10_1784842937884.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nChelsea close in on \u00a355m Maxence Lacroix<\/h2>\n
![\"Chelsea](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/19\/110214357-15998043-image-a-1_1784830141113.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nCrystal Palace locked in\u00a0Matsima talks <\/h2>\n
Gunners get their man <\/h2>\n
![\"Arsenal](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/13\/110205611-15998043-image-a-34_1784809120353.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nMagpies swoop for \u00a330m star <\/h2>\n
![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/11\/110203215-15998043-image-a-5_1784801108515.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Saints stand firm on Charles fee <\/h2>\n
Leeds in talks with City over Trafford move <\/h2>\n
![\"Leeds](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/11\/110203705-15998043-image-a-23_1784804151074.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nYoung Reds stopper leaves on loan <\/h2>\n
Blues ramp up pursuit of Leverkusen teenager<\/h2>\n
![\"Chelsea](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/07\/23\/11\/110203453-15998043-image-a-22_1784801962532.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nHarrison poised for MLS return<\/h2>\n
Bettoni heads to Stamford Bridge <\/h2>\n
<\/h2>\n