Which big-money moves are still likely to happen before the window shuts ….?
With the close-season transfer window now only open until Sept 2, time is fast running out for clubs to get in those new recruits they have been tracking since the end of last season, and so we at Caughtoffside are here to keep you up to date on the ten biggest deals that may still take place before that cut-off date at the start of next month:
Wayne Rooney: Manchester United to Chelsea
Fee: £40 million
The west London club have been monitoring the coveted England international all summer long, although so far the Blues have seen bids of £26m and £30m rejected by United for the 27-year-old.
However, with Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho said to be preparing a third offer in the region of £40m for the striker, there could still be the possibility of Rooney playing at Stamford Bridge in the upcoming campaign.
Equally, United’s reluctance to allow one of their star players to move to a rival will most probably see the player remain at Old Trafford going forward.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Slim now
Luis Suarez: Liverpool to Arsenal
Fee: £50m
The Reds have already turned down two club-record bids from Arsenal for their 26-year-old forward, although the second of those, valued at £40m plus £1, was enough to allow the two parties to enter into talks over personal terms on a potential move to the Emirates.
However, the Merseysiders have also been adamant that the Uruguay attacker will not be sold to the Gunners this summer, no matter how big an offer the north London club submit for Suarez.
But with Liverpool also fast realising that it will be hugely counter productive to keep an unhappy player at Anfield next season, the club will instead hold out for a British-record transfer fee before allowing Suarez to make his move south.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Strong, but it will go right down right to the wire in a game of brinkmanship
Gareth Bale: Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid
Fee: £85m
The most talked-about and longest-running transfer saga of the summer, and also likely to be the biggest of them all.
Los Blancos and their counterparts from White Hart Lane spent all last week thrashing out a potential world-record transfer deal for the Wales international during face-to-face talks in Miami.
And with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy having already accepted that the wide man will be departing the capital this summer, all the north London club are interested in now is securing the best possible deal for themselves.
However, with still plenty of time between now and when the window shuts on Sept 2, expect the big-money transfer to finally be sealed towards the end of this month.
Likelihood of deal taking place: 99.9 per cent
Leighton Baines: Everton to Manchester United
Fee: £15m
The Red Devils may have failed with their initial £12m bid for the England left back, but that rejection has not put new Manchester United boss David Moyes off from returning with a second offer for the coveted 28-year-old, which is expected to arrive at Goodison Park imminently.
And with Toffees manager Roberto Martinez having already drawn up a short list of possible replacements for his attack-minded full back, the Merseysiders will now attempt to get as good a deal as possible for their star man.
But with a contract that only runs until 2015 and a player who wants to leave, Everton know that they will only be able to ask for £15m for Baines this summer.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Extremely high
Marouane Fellaini: Everton to Manchester United
Fee: £22.5m
With Manchester United manager David Moyes still struggling to be able to persuade FC Barcelona to part company with Cesc Fabregas, the Scot has since switched his focus to Everton’s giant Belgium international instead.
Moyes, who knows the attack-minded midfield player well from his time working with the 25-year-old on Merseyside, knows Fellaini would jump at the chance to move to Old Trafford this summer.
And with a £22.5m release clause in his current Toffees contract allowing the player to speak to any interested club that is competing in next season’s Uefa Champions League, Fellaini’s move to the Red Devils is not expected to be a complicated one once the Premier League champions lodge a bid of that amount with Everton.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Much rests on the outcome of United’s long-running pursuit of Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas: Barcelona to Manchester United
Another one of these seemingly never-ending summer transfer sagas, this time involving the return of Spain international Fabregas to the Premier League, two years after he left Arsenal to join the Liga giants.
So far, United have failed to persuade the Catalans to allow the 26-year-old to leave Camp Nou, although the Premier League champions are still understood to be hopeful of sealing a £40m deal for the midfield player.
However, no transfer will take place until the new Spanish season has got under way next weekend, after which it will have become clearer whether or not Fabregas does have a future at Barca or not.
Likelihood of deal taking place: 50-50
Christian Eriksen: Ajax to Liverpool
Fee: £15m
The Reds have been linked with the coveted Denmark international for some time now, although as yet still no deal has taken place to bring the 21-year-old to Anfield for next season.
Initially, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers was focussing on landing Henrik Mkrtchyan, only for the Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfield player to instead decide to move to Borussia Dortmund.
And that has resulted in the Northern Irishman having to turn his attentions back towards Eriksen, who only has a contract at the Amsterdam ArenA that runs until next summer.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Hanging by a thread
Luiz Gustavo: Bayern Munich to Arsenal
Fee: £14m
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is known to be on the look-out for a new defensive midfield player to replace Alex Song in the role after the Cameroon international joined Barcelona last summer.
And the Frenchman has earmarked Bayern’s highly rated Brazil international for the role after shining for the Bundesliga champions in last season’s Uefa Champions League triumph.
The 26-year-old is only contracted at the Allianz Arena until next year, meaning the north Londoners can get their man for a cut-price £14m this summer.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Good
Ashley Williams: Swansea City to Arsenal
Fee: £10m
At the start of the summer, the Gunners were heavily linked with a move for the powerful Wales international, who enjoyed a fine campaign at the heart of the Swans back four last time out.
However, with manager Arsene Wenger having since been devoting most of his energies towards bringing Luis Suarez to the Emirates, talk of Williams also making the same move had appeared to die down of late.
But Arsenal are understood to still be keen on signing the 28-year-old before the transfer window closes on Sept 2, with a bid of £10m expected to be enough to be able to convince the South Wales club to allow their skipper to leave the Principality this summer.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Strong
Daniel Agger: Liverpool to Barcelona
Fee: £25m
The Spanish champions turned their attention towards the Reds’ Denmark international after failing with a bid of £34.5m for Chelsea centre-back David Luiz last week.
However, despite having an initial offer of £15m for Agger rejected out of hand by the Merseyside giants, Barca are still expected to return shortly with an improved bid in the region of £25m for the 28-year-old.
And if that were to materialise, then it is believed that Liverpool would be happy to allow the central defender to move to Camp Nou this summer.
Likelihood of deal taking place: Up to Agger really if he wants to quit the Reds