Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal ‘lead race’ to sign £50m target, Tottenham reach Gakpo ‘agreement’, Fernandez latest

Newcastle are close to agreeing a deal with Benfica to sign right back Amar Dedic.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international is due to arrive before next week’s Premier League opener and will become their first signing under new manager Matthias Jaissle.

Dedic, 23, previously worked with Jaissle at Red Bull Salzburg.

The fee for the right back, who replaces Kieran Trippier and will provide competition to Tino Livramento, is around £30m.

Dedic could be immediately thrust into action in Sunday’s opener against Liverpool as Livramento is still sidelined by the calf injury that forced him to miss the World Cup.

Tottenham Hotspur are set for a busy end to the transfer window, according to Miguel Delaney in his Inside Football newsletter. With Savinho set to be secured for a fee of £65m plus add-ons from Manchester City, they are still chasing Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo, and there may even be a right-winger as Roberto De Zerbi has been toying with playing Mohammed Kudus more centrally.

Spurs have been linked with Victor Osimhen, too, who has been offered to several Premier League clubs. Gakpo, a major target all summer, has reached an agreement with Tottenham over personal terms, according to reports in the Netherlands. Liverpool maintained that they would not consider letting Gakpo leave without a suitable replacement.

And Atletico Madrid have signed Tottenham captain Cristian Romero in a £34.2m deal. A great player on his day, a liability as a centre-back and captain on others, Spurs will be happy to get this deal done. Romero signs a five-year deal at Atletico.

Liverpool’s pursuit of Bradley Barcola is set to rumble on until late in the transfer window.

While signing a new winger is a priority for Andoni Iraola’s side, Paris Saint-Germain are refusing to budge from their huge £145m asking price.

PSG, though, have been active in this summer’s transfer market. They have signed Ferran Torres from Barcelona, pursued Yan Diomande before he signed for Real Madrid, while the agent of Mika Godts, the Ajax winger, has claimed that PSG have agreed to pay £47m for the 21-year-old.

Where does it leave Barcola, who is behind Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the pecking order at PSG? Liverpool are prepared to play the long game, but Arsenal could also reignite their interest.

Barcelona are set to make a third bid of around £60m for Rodri but are still set to fall £10m short of Manchester City’s valuation of the Ballon d’Or winner.

Those negotiations are running parallel to talks on Enzo Fernandez, where Chelsea themselves are insisting on £120m.

City are considering Fernandez and Morocco’s Ayyoub Bouaddi as midfield reinforcements while they are set to sell Tijjani Reijnders to Al Qadsiah for £51m.

Fernandez is set to stay at Chelsea after the club’s 5pm Friday deadline passed without any acceptable bids being received.

Unless Chelsea can be persuaded into a U-turn and be brought to the negotiating table, Fernandez will still be at Stamford Bridge when the transfer window closes on 1 September.

And Ruben Dias is in pole position to become Manchester City’s next captain – because Erling Haaland scores so many goals.

Arsenal have expressed an interest in signing Jarell Quansah and have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for the England international.

Mikel Arteta wants to add a defender to his squad following the injury to William Saliba and there is a gap between Arsenal and Aston Villa when it comes to the valuation of Ezri Konsa.

Quansah, who joined Leverkusen from Liverpool last summer, can play at both centre-back and right-back, so fits what Arteta wants from a member of his defence.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta has admitted that Ethan Nwaneri may have to leave Arsenal to find the regular football he needs to fulfil his potential.

Arsenal are also in contention to sign Brighton midfielder Jack Hinshelwood, according to The Sun. Hinshelwood can play across the midfield as well as at full-back.

While a deal for Myles Lewis-Skelly to Chelsea or Manchester United is considered highly unlikely.

Italian side Como have expressed their interest in signing Chelsea striker Liam Delap, according to the Mail.

Chelsea are set to demand £50m for the 23-year-old striker, who is also of interest to several Premier League teams.

Como will be playing in the Champions League next season under Cesc Fabregas and have also agreed a deal to sign Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah.

Meanwhile, Napoli have agreed a deal Benoit Badiashile on an initial loan.

TalkSport reported that Coventry are keen on signing 20-year-old defender Josh Acheampong, while the Independent understands Hull City have interest in Tosin Adarabioyo, but he wants to stay.

Moves to reduce the power of the Fifa presidency could in turn lead to the growing influence of Europe’s biggest clubs and how they decide to shape the game, writes Miguel Delaney in his latest Inside Football newsletter

As the consortium that has reached a “definitive agreement” to buy a 30 per cent stake in Liverpool continues to generate noise, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is described by industry figures as a mere “silent partner”.

It’s perhaps apt given the lack of actual explanation or intention behind this, despite all the commotion.

The entry of one of the world’s wealthiest men into football has naturally stoked a lot of emotion, not least from the supporter group Spirit of Shankly. They have written to Liverpool asking for clarity, having warned how previous changes in the running of the club have led to “decisions and behaviours that many would not want to see at Liverpool”.

For all the inevitable focus on the hard figures of the numbers, and the influence of Bezos’s own wealth, there’s a sense this is all about something much bigger. “It just looks like a power/political play over an investment decision,” one well-placed source says.

Holding part of an “asset” in a sphere of such increasing social and political importance gives you entry into another world, as the recent World Cup made clear. It has become a solid platform for the highest politics. That is one of many reasons why beleaguered Fifa president Gianni Infantino won’t resign.

Football itself is morphing, which is why there is such an unstable time at the top. That attracts the interest of figures like Bezos, who are likely to change it more. The world is increasingly centring on football, as its single global sport, so the world’s biggest conglomerates are getting involved. Such concentrations of interest and wealth are inevitable.

Tijjani Reijnders’s fleeting time at Manchester City is almost over. The Dutch international is on the verge of joining Saudi Arabian club Al Qadsiah in a transfer worth around £55m. Will he lift the “Pride of the Eastern Province” to Saudi Pro League glory? Who knows? Also: who cares?

Amid the summer transfer churn, perhaps it is not a particularly eye-catching or noteworthy deal. City will make a small profit on a player they bought for £45m last summer. City fans won’t shed many tears. Reijnders is far from the first Premier League player to accept Saudi Arabian riches, and he won’t be the last.

But there is something jarring and a little bleak about the road from AC Milan’s marauding midfielder to Al Qadsiah’s flagship signing in little over a year.

A deal for Myles Lewis-Skelly to Chelsea is considered highly unlikely.

Chelsea are generally happy with their squad, and will only now move in the event of “reactions” to the market.

There is still some puzzlement within Arsenal as to how reports of the 19-year-old being offered around has got out. Lewis-Skelly’s camp have not been in touch.

There is long-standing interest from Manchester United but the Old Trafford hierarchy do not have the finances right now to even test Arsenal’s willingness to keep their teenage star.