Liverpool ready £100m for Barcola: Football News Roundup, 5 August 2026

The transfer window is doing its usual August thing: big fees, bigger ambitions, and one very expensive teenager turning down the champions. Liverpool's pursuit of Bradley Barcola is the headline, but Forest fancying Reijnders at £55m might be the story that actually raises eyebrows in the pub.

Premier League

Why Liverpool are ready to make Barcola third £100m signing

Liverpool are prepared to pay £100m for Bradley Barcola, though PSG want closer to £145m for their France winger. It would be Liverpool's third nine-figure deal of the window. Barcola's undoubted talent, but that gap between offer and asking price says this one drags on a while yet.
Source: BBC Sport

Rejecting Arsenal & emulating Hazard, Monga makes debut in Man City win

Jeremy Monga made his Manchester City debut after turning down Arsenal, the champions, for a £10m move instead. He's eighteen and already being compared to Eden Hazard. Bold call from the kid, bolder still from City to hand him minutes this early.
Source: BBC Sport

Forest target Reijnders in fresh gossip

Nottingham Forest are eyeing a £55m move for Manchester City's Tijjani Reijnders. That would be a statement signing for a club Forest's size, no question. Whether the fee is realistic for them is the real debate, and it's one worth having.
Source: BBC Sport

'Shark' De Zerbi hopes to drag Spurs up from the depths

Roberto de Zerbi has called himself a shark in the transfer market and has overseen a big spending spree at Tottenham already. Whether shrewd business in August translates to results come May is the question that always follows spending sprees like this.
Source: BBC Sport

La Liga

Chelsea nearing £16.3m deal for Rayo defender Chavarria

Chelsea are closing in on left-back Pep Chavarria after Rayo Vallecano rejected an initial lower offer. The fee has risen to around £16.3m. A month of haggling for a full-back fee that size feels like business as usual these days.
Source: BBC Sport

Barcelona sign Brazil forward Kerolin from Manchester City for club-record £1.25m

Barcelona have signed Brazil forward Kerolin from Manchester City for a club-record fee, the largest ever received for a sale by a WSL club. It's a modest number by men's game standards but a landmark one for the women's transfer market.
Source: The Guardian

Fulham sign Garcia and Palacios from Real Madrid

Fulham have signed Real Madrid academy products Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios on five-year deals. Craven Cottage isn't the usual landing spot for Madrid graduates, which makes this one of the quieter but more intriguing swoops of the window.
Source: BBC Sport

Ligue 1

Liverpool explore deal for PSG winger Mbaye

Liverpool are exploring a move for PSG's Ibrahim Mbaye, just eighteen but already with forty-two first-team appearances for the French champions. Liverpool have made a habit of teenage gambles this window. This would be the boldest yet.
Source: Sky Sports

Football transfer rumours: Folarin Balogun to Spurs?

Folarin Balogun, the Arsenal academy graduate, is being linked with a move to fiercest rivals Tottenham. It sounds unlikely on paper, but stranger crossings have happened in this business. Would it really be so shocking if it went through?
Source: The Guardian

Serie A

Miami rues Leagues Cup ban for in-form Suárez

Luis Suárez has been banned for Inter Miami's entire Leagues Cup campaign, right as he's scored seven goals in his last four games. Timing doesn't get much crueller than that for Miami, who now have to find goals from elsewhere.
Source: ESPN

Chelsea suffer defeat to Juventus in lacklustre Hong Kong friendly

Chelsea lost a second straight pre-season friendly, beaten by Juventus after Edon Zhegrova's stunning strike in Hong Kong. It's only pre-season, but Xabi Alonso will want signs of life before the fixtures start counting for real.
Source: Sky Sports

World Cup

Parkinson gets England Under-20s call before World Cup

Erica Meg Parkinson, 18, has been named in England's Under-20 World Cup preparation squad, joining twenty-four players for a training camp in Portugal. Making a prep squad and making the final cut are two different things, but it's a proper start.
Source: BBC Sport

New contract in hand, Pochettino will now face a different pressure as USMNT boss

Mauricio Pochettino has signed a new four-year contract with the USMNT, giving him a full cycle to build toward the next World Cup. The pressure now shifts from short-term results to long-term project. Can he resist Europe's pull that long is the fair question.
Source: ESPN

First USMNT fixtures after new Poch deal revealed

With Pochettino signed through 2030, the USMNT's first fixtures under the new deal have been revealed: Peru, Chile, Mexico and Canada. The Mexico clash is the one that'll get the most attention, but Canada's the one that tells you where this team really stands.
Source: ESPN

Plenty here for anyone building a fantasy dream side: Barcola, Reijnders and a fresh-faced Monga all worth a punt if you're drafting for the season ahead. See if you can put a better XI together than half these clubs are managing in the transfer market right now.