Barcelona have pleaded for patience from Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, as they attempt to hijack his move to Chelsea.

While the London club have agreed a £50m-plus fee with Sevilla and have the principles of a deal done, Barcelona have not yet made a formal bid, due to the need now to sell players.

The centre-half has been willing to go to Chelsea, but his preferred option is Camp Nou. Barcelona are attempting to play on this, as they accelerate their moves to try and sell players.

It has again been pressed upon Frenkie de Jong that the club “needs” him to go. The Dutch midfielder has remained obstinate in his stance, especially as he is owed €17m in deferred wages.

Miguel Delaney has the latest on Kounde’s potential transfer:

New York City FC are aware of interest, their head coach said. Nick Cushing admitted Valentin Castellanos has admirers. The 2021 MLS Golden Boot winner is tipped to join Girona, possibly on a loan deal after joining NYC’s sister club Manchester City. And if the Argentinian forward does go to Italy, it would leave Leicester City on their own as the only club in Europe’s five major leagues not to sign anyone this summer.

The Premier League’s spending this window has topped £1bn, but no arrivals are imminent at the King Power Stadium. A club widely admired for their transfer business in recent years have done none, beyond releasing third-choice goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic. Welcome to the paradox of Leicester. They have signed no players and yet they have too many. Brendan Rodgers may have imagined a revolving door, as perhaps five came in and eight went out, when he had the scene for an overhaul. Instead, the exit has been jammed, also preventing anyone from entering.

They may be encountering an increasingly familiar problem for Premier League purchasers who have stockpiled players in recent years: others, especially abroad, are reluctant to pay the prices and the wages to rid them of the unwanted. In accidental fashion, Leicester have become the division’s continuity club.

More on the Foxes’ summer of inactivity:

Cristiano Ronaldo has not played any part in Manchester United’s pre-season campaign yet, under new manager Erik Ten Hag. Personal reasons saw him stay home while the team was on tour and there have been rumours over a transfer away - though United’s line has been that he’s not for sale.

Now the Athletic report that the forward is flying back to England to undergo talks with the club, having “informed them of his wish to leave if a suitable offer arrives.”

It is not yet certain whether he’ll immediately return to training on Tuesday but a meeting with the manager is imminent.

Ten Hag has repeatedly said he expects Ronaldo to stay and play a big part in the season ahead.

Nicolo Barella is still the prime target for Tottenham in what remains of the transfer window, according to Italian outlet Il Messaggero.

They say that Antonio Conte is pushing sporting director Fabio Paratici to land both he and Inter Milan teammate Milan Skriniar this summer, even after signing Bissouma, Perisic, Richarlison and several others - with a number of players yet to depart who no longer seem to feature in the head coach’s plans.

Liverpool have also been mentioned previously as interested but Inter want €90m to sell him - around £77m.

Fellow Italian midfielder Nicolo Zaniolo has also been mentioned as a possible target for Spurs.

Jurgen Klopp believes Sadio Mane is in such crazily good shape that he could play into the 2030s after predicting the former Liverpool forward can carry on until he is almost 40.

The German also praised Bayern Munich’s new signing for the way he handled his departure from Anfield by saying it is a model for how transfers should be conducted and insisting he retains complete respect for the Senegalese.

Mane, who turned 30 in April, joined Bayern for £35 million last month, ending a six-year stay at Liverpool in which he scored 120 goals.

Klopp felt it was key Mane gave him enough notice of his plans, saying to Viaplay: “Sadio told me that he wants and the agent told me he wants a new challenge.

“And if that happens early enough, like it was in this case, and in the right way and the new club is ready for negotiations then it should be like it was now, when you say thank you with the biggest respect ever. I could not have more respect for Sadio.”

Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo has been in the sights of Arsenal and thought to be close to a loan-to-buy deal at least twice over the last six months - but now another team has come late into the frame.

Di Marzio reports that Valencia are keen to sign him for Gennaro Gattuso, the new head coach, but his salary is a problem which may render the transfer prohibitive.

Arsenal remain in the wings hoping to do a deal, while Juve could move for the aforementioned Paredes if they do offload Melo.

A deal done north of the border.

Cal Roberts switches from Notts County to Aberdeen on a permanent transfer.

After the miss in Minnesota came the brace in Blackpool. An open goal was squandered but two were scored. A change of continent may have brought a change of luck for Dele Alli. After perhaps the worst miss of his life came his first goals in an Everton shirt, albeit in unofficial capacity. They should have arrived earlier. His twin strikes came not in the Twin Cities but on the Fylde Coast. Everton, embarrassed 4-0 by Minnesota on Wednesday, beat Blackpool 4-2 on Sunday.

Time will tell which is the more accurate marker for his and their season. Certainly the more memorable result came in the Midwest, not England’s west coast, just Alli’s glaring miss in the United States – the ball hitting his heel when he had a tap-in – is more likely to linger in the mind than two close-range finishes, one still simpler, at Bloomfield Road. It lent itself to the kind of clip made for social media, as though designed as an encapsulation of the decline of a seemingly once-in-a-generation talent.

Maybe it is a microcosm, maybe an irrelevant error in a pre-season friendly. “I was kicking myself after the chance I had in the other game but it was a chance to put that right,” Alli said after a belated return to the scoresheet.

Rich Jolly looks at whether the Everton man is ready to rebound:

Looking like Chelsea might miss out on key defensive target Jules Kounde, with Barcelona still pushing for him to wait for them instead.

As such, 90min are reporting on the Blues’ list of alternatives to go alongside summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly in the back line.

Villarreal’s Pau Torres, Inter’s Milan Skriniar, RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol and Bayern Munich pair Dayot Upamecano and Benjamin Pavard are all on the list of potential additions for Thomas Tuchel now instead.

Nordi Mukiele might have been another possibility but he’s set to move to PSG instead, the report claims.

Teenage striker Sekou Mara has signalled his intention to become “one of the best” after signing a four-year deal with Southampton.

The Paris-born 19-year-old, a France Under-21 international, has completed his move from Bordeaux, subject to international clearance, after the two clubs agreed terms in principle last week.

Mara told the club’s official website: “I’m really happy to sign for Southampton and to be a Saint for the next years. Southampton have given me a good opportunity to progress.

“I’m a young player and I have to work. I think Southampton is the best club for me to develop myself and progress to be one of the best. I’m impatient to begin with this team and score goals.”

More on Saints’ latest signing: