Manchester City are closing in on the signing of Anderlecht left-back Sergio Gomez but may yet move to sign a first team reinforcement in his position, The Independent’s Mark Critchley reports.

The 21-year-old is expected to become Pep Guardiola’s fifth summer signing following the arrivals of Erling Haaland, Kalvin Phillips, Julian Alvarez and Stefan Ortega.

Gomez is viewed as a development player by City, however, and though it is not beyond the realms of possibility that he stays if signed, the expectation would be a loan.

It is understood that City are still exploring additions at full-back to account for the departure of Oleksandr Zinchenko, who joined Arsenal in a £30m deal last month.

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Juventus have reportedly agreed to sell Adrien Rabiot to Manchester United for an initial £15million. The Guardian says the discussions over personal terms for the 27-year-old France midfielder are still at an early stage with approval still needed from his agent and mother. The paper notes he has achieved success with five Ligue 1 titles at Paris St Germain as well as another in Serie A, but he also has a uneven discipline record including fines for lateness.

The Red Devils are also said to be interested in Lazio’s Serbia midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who they have been linked with for a number of years. But the Telegraph reports intermediaries believe a deal can actually be done for the 27-year-old.

Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is facing up to three months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery to address a hamstring injury.

It is understood 30-year-old Shelvey will be out of action for around 12 weeks following the procedure at the weekend.

That means he could be unavailable to head coach Eddie Howe until Boxing Day at the earliest, with the Premier League breaking in mid-November for the World Cup finals.

Manchester United have ended their controversial pursuit of Bologna striker Marko Arnautovic amid a backlash from supporters.

Arnautovic had emerged as a surprise target for Erik ten Hag amid uncertainty over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Old Trafford and a lack of options up front following a hamstring injury to Anthony Martial.

The 33-year-old striker previously worked under Ten Hag during at FC Twente and was viewed as more physical alternative to United’s other options in attack who could provide short-term cover.

While Erling Haaland was swearing on live television, and Pep Guardiola was getting a little passive aggressive, David Moyes was becoming defensive.

The West Ham manager had been speaking about how his side had been preparing for the Norwegian’s runs all week. They had watched his game against Liverpool, and tried to apply the lessons from previous games against Manchester City.

It didn’t matter, though. They could do little about it.

Moyes was a little unwilling to go all in on all the gushing praise for Haaland, though.

He first of all said that his team should have cut out the Kevin De Bruyne pass that led to the new signing’s sublime second goal. He then refused to admit that the main difference was Haaland.

If the long and protracted Frenkie de Jong transfer saga has not already been messy enough, there is one way of making it a whole lot messier.

“De Jong should consider legal action v Barcelona and all players should be behind him,” Gary Neville tweeted last week. “A club spending fortunes on new players whilst not paying the ones they have under contract their full money is immoral and a breach. @FIFPRO should be all over bullying like this and stop it.”

Predictably, Neville’s tweet did not go down well among Barcelona’s support – with some even going as far as to pretend his infamous spell in charge of Valencia went even worse than it actually did – but you do not have to be a former Manchester United right-back to sympathise with the sentiment behind it.

For a financially-challenged club like Barça to push a player out so that they can fund a summer of extravagant spending is one thing. To do so while refusing to pay him wages that he is owed is another entirely.

Newcastle new boy Nick Pope has admitted his delight at not having to wait until the end of October to taste Premier League victory.

The 30-year-old England international was part of the Burnley side which collected all three points for the first time last season at the 10th attempt when they beat Brentford 3-1 at Turf Moor on 30 October, and was on the receiving end when the Magpies finally ended their drought with a 1-0 win over the Clarets on 4 December, their 15th game of the league campaign.

Pope, who joined Newcastle in a £10million summer switch, made his competitive debut on Saturday and helped Eddie Howe’s men brush aside promoted Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 opening day success.

Manchester United are interested in signing PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo as Erik ten Hag looks to strengthen his attacking options, The Independent’s Mark Critchley reports.

United are yet to hold talks with either Gakpo’s representatives or PSV but their interest in the player is known.

The 23-year-old becomes the latest name to be linked with Old Trafford as Ten Hag seeks to strengthen his squad in the final weeks of the summer transfer window.

Gakpo is a right-footed winger who has predominantly played on the left for PSV, who are managed by former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

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If there is a blueprint for winning at Old Trafford, it probably doesn’t involve selling your two best players. If the theory was that Brighton will emerge from the summer around £90million richer but poorer on the pitch without Yves Bissouma and Marc Cucurella, they conjured what – on paper, anyway – ranks as one of the best results in their history.

Although, perhaps, not even their finest against Manchester United since the start of May. A maiden win against Old Trafford was a second against United in swift succession; for 7 May, read 7 August. After a 4-0 victory at home, with the soon-to-be £90million pair, came a 2-1 victory away. United’s decline has to be factored into any evaluation but even February’s 2-0 defeat, when Brighton were the superior side for an hour, offered evidence that now they are a better team than United: not necessarily individually but definitely collectively.

Aston Villa have signed European champion and England international Rachel Daly on a three-year contract.

The versatile Lioness played left-back in Sarina Wiegman’s Euro 2022-winning side but can also play higher up the pitch, with Villa manager Carla Ward intending to use her talents up front.

Harrogate-born Daly, 30, makes her return to England after playing for the Houston Dash in America’s NWSL, with previous spells at Leeds, Lincoln Ladies and West Ham.