Transfer Deadline Day: Live Updates – Have Chelsea squandered nine figures? ; Arsenal pursue Douglas Luiz to the wire; Depay to stay at Barcelona; and more!

Bayern Munich may have a quiet deadline – the German transfer window has already closed – but the action is hot and heavy across Europe as Bayern Champions League rivals England and Spain are scrambling to finalize their rosters for the season. We’re here to bring you a rundown of some of the most exciting updates from the last day of the summer window.


WTF (8:00 p.m.)

I had to put this in…what purposes could justify this at Chelsea FC? Will they win trophies? Will Thomas Tuchel survive the season?

All this to have no chance of catching up with Manchester City in the long term.

— C. Smith

It’s over (6:00 PM EST)

It’s 11:00 p.m. in England and the Premier League transfer window is closed (League 1 too – it was the last of the day in the top five). We’ll be back to pick up more leftover pieces and late news in tonight’s Daily delicacies. Stay tuned and thank you for following us!

Whoa! (5:45pm EST)

This one is just for the name:


Arsenal try to reach a deal for a winger (5:35 p.m. EST)

FC Arsenal might only have room for one more to sign this window, and it looks like they’re targeting attacking wings with AstonVillaby Douglas Luiz. Fabrice Romenot previously reported that the Gunners “I will try until the end” with the player himself also interested, but Villa are unwilling to let him go.

This one seems to go all the way down to the wire.

Depay stays at Barca

Recently linked to Juventusit looks like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s move to Chelsea has settled things for Depay at Barcelona.

Medical failure to keep Bamba Dieng in Marseille?

Another young attacking talent in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille’s Bamba Dieng looked set to move on to Leeds United before his compatriot OGC Nice dove into. However, an eleventh-hour snag could awkwardly leave it out of all options:


Espanyol sign Martin Braithwaite (5:00 p.m. EST)

Well, that was quick. Barcelona’s unwanted striker had his contract terminated but secured a quick La Liga move:

Justin Kluivert loaned to Valencia

AS Roma had agreed a deal with Fulham in the Premier League for the 23-year-old winger, formerly of RB Leipzig – but work permit issues saw the deal fall through, much to the apparent annoyance of Jose Mourinho. He will now have the chance to resurrect his once-promising La Liga career.

Nottingham Forest continue their tear

What, a few weeks ago and several signings, Nottingham Forest were onto something like new addition #17 for the 2022/23 season? Count three more on deadline day for the newly promoted Premier League club:

Besides Loïc Badé (from Rennes, the club that sold Mathys Tel to Bayern) and Michy Batshuayi, there is also the former Tottenham Hotspur right-back Serge Aurier, also for Fabrice. Forest, of course, have been financially well managed for years to achieve this – and have also seen their side poached with more than a dozen exits after securing promotion. It’s a huge amount of change at once, but it’s a go-big-or-go-home game to stay in the English top flight.


Julian Draxler officially joins Benfica (4:30 p.m. EST)

Picking up some older pieces from across the continent now – the German national team winger/midfielder is finally officially out of Paris.

Barca terminate Braithwaite’s contract

By FCBarcelona, the club “publicly express their gratitude” for Braithwaite’s “commitment and dedication” in freeing up funds for the Catalan club to use elsewhere. He is one of several Barca departures on the final day to facilitate their latest batch of arrivals. Braithwaite was signed just over two seasons ago – outside of the transfer window, thanks to some Spanish rules that allowed Barca to poach (since relegated) Leganés to deal with their own injury emergency at the time.

Maxence Lacroix stays at VfL Wolfsburg

The talented 22-year-old centre-back is expected to be a hot commodity soon, but Niko Kovač’s side have managed to keep him in the Bundesliga for now, fending off a late push from the English Premier League side. Southamptonwho instead opted for Croatian central defender Duje Ćaleta-Car from Ligue 1 Olympique de Marseille:


Chelsea swap Marcos Alonso for Aubameyang

Sky reports this Chelsea F.C.FC Barcelona’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deal will include ‘in the region of £10m+ [left-back Marcos] Alonso.

Meanwhile, disgraced current Barca left-back Jordi Alba reportedly feels cheated (Catalunya Radio, via BarcaUniversal) by his club’s attempts to push him towards InterMilan and will instead insist on staying at the club.

And Barca may not be done offloading forwards now that they’ve added Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski:


Is Cristiano Ronaldo staying? (3:20 p.m. EST)

The latest from Fabrizio Romano, Ronaldo was ready to stay at Manchester United:

Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe reportedly made a real effort to sign him – according to Turkish outlet Ajansspor:

Fenerbahçe are about to detonate the transfer bomb of the century, not of the year. Fenerbahçe has mobilized all its means to attach Cristiano Ronaldo to its colors. According to the information we received, both parties agreed in principle.

But as far as we can tell, that’s not really true or it didn’t materialize.

The 26-year-old Brazilian midfielder was once a heralded talent but ended up languishing at FCBarcelona so what Juventus. Liverpool were desperate for reinforcements in midfield and after missing previous goals found a last-minute stopgap.

Barca, Barca, Barca…

After carrying out all the necessary maneuvers to register Joules Koundé and provide a financial boost a little further, Barcelona are already in the hunt for more signings. According to Fabrizio Romano, it looks like they have secured Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerinbut failed to secure talented attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir from Real Betis.

Bellerín is expelled from Arsenal; let’s hope he doesn’t meet the same fate in his new choice of club. By David Ornstein:

Arsenal have agreed to let Hector Bellerin join Barcelona. Free transfer – not a termination of contract. 27-year-old awaiting medical travel authorization after agreeing terms with #FCBarcelona. Take a pay cut and waive any payments owed by #AFC

In terms of outings, Barça dismiss striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Chelsea F.C.) and Bayern’s single goal and USMNT right-back Sergiño Dest (AC Milan):

Aubameyang reunites with his former Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel back in London.

The showcase of Bayern

For all the expenses incurred by the club, that’s a very respectable balance of just over €30m in the red. That’s a lot of long-term investment for a low cost – typical of well-organized Bavarians.

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