Chelsea prepare Ronaldo bid, Barca get Raphinha boost – Friday’s transfer round up

Robin Bairner

• 8 Jul 2022 23:00 BST
• 4 min read

The summer transfer market is really starting to get going now, with the volume of completed deals up each day as clubs ready themselves to step up their pre-season preparations.

Teams are scrambling to get transfers over the line as quickly as possible, with big clubs like Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea, who have made slower progress than they might have wished so far in the window, eager to get transfers completed.

Man Utd, though, are also still fighting to keep Cristiano Ronaldo at Old Trafford in a story that continues to dominate the football transfer news agenda.

Here are the five major talking points from 8 July.

Chelsea launch Ronaldo bid

Chelsea are ready to step up their pursuit of Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, who has not travelled with the squad on the pre-season tour of Thailand and Australia.

The Blues are preparing a bid in the region of €16.5 million (£15m) for Ronaldo.

De Jong transfer links to Chelsea strengthen

FootballTransfers reported exclusively on Thursday that Chelsea are ready to hijack Manchester United’s transfer bid for Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong. These links have grown stronger over Friday, with some sources even suggesting that the Dutchman is veering towards a move to Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona could have choice of Dembele and Raphinha

It’s been a good day for Barcelona. Firstly, they were given hope in their pursuit of Leeds winger Raphinha as his manager, Jessy Marsch, hinted that the Brazil international wants to leave the club. Secondly, it appears that Ousmane Dembele has agreed a new contract with them.

It’s likely to be one or the other, though.

Gabriel Jesus’ dream Arsenal debut

One deal that has been completed is Arsenal’s swoop for Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian made an instant impression for the Gunners as he scored two goals in a 5-3 victory over Nurnberg. You can see the strikes here.

Real Madrid dump Jovic

On a day that saw Angel Di Maria move to Juventus on a free transfer, perhaps the biggest deal of the day was Luka Jovic leaving Real Madrid on a free transfer. Just three years after arriving for €60m, Jovic has been released to join Fiorentina, despite having another three seasons to run on his deal.

His place among Real Madrid’s biggest transfer flops is sealed.