Atletico Madrid has set a firm deadline of Friday for the transfer saga surrounding Julian Alvarez. The club's chief executive, Miguel Angel Gil Marin, declared that Alvarez will “never, ever” be sold to Barcelona, but did not dismiss the possibility of the Argentine forward moving to another club before the transfer deadline. Currently, Arsenal is monitoring the situation closely, as Alvarez is their top target for the upcoming season.

In other transfer news, Liverpool has reached an agreement with Paris Saint-Germain for Bradley Barcola, finalizing a deal worth £100m, which includes £20m in add-ons. This comes after PSG lowered their initial demands for the forward. Additionally, Liverpool is also pursuing Ismaila Sarr from Crystal Palace, having moved on from Brighton’s Yankuba Minteh. However, Liverpool’s manager, Andoni Iraola, has not guaranteed that forward Cody Gakpo will remain with the club, as he has attracted interest from Tottenham and Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Manchester City continues discussions to sign Enzo Fernandez. On the other hand, Chelsea has agreed to a £7.5m deal for Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez following a series of errors from Robert Sanchez during their recent 3-2 victory against Fulham. If Chelsea proceeds with selling Fernandez, they may turn their attention back to Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, as he was notably left out of Xabi Alonso’s squad for the upcoming match against Luton in the Carabao Cup.