Barcelona are still refusing to commit to paying Frenkie de Jong the €17million from his restructured contract, perpetuating the impasse over his potential move to Manchester United.

The Independent has been told that the Catalan club have continued to try and lean on the emotional aspect of the situation in talks, and what would represent “the good of the club”. De Jong has understandably remained resolute in his stance, and is insisting he will stay.

Manchester United have agreed the broad outline of a deal with Barcelona, with the English club even committing to pay €10m more of the total fee up front, rather than as part of clauses. That has not yet changed the stance as regards the deferred wages, with the Camp Nou hierarchy themselves standing firm.

Sources have insisted that the tension arises from the fact that, although Barcelona do not technically owe De Jong money as of now, he would be entitled to it if he fulfilled his restructured contract.

The midfielder agreed to an altered deal to help the club through the Covid crisis and their financial issues. Since De Jong’s first choice had been to stay, and he is effectively being pushed out so Barca can spend elsewhere, the player’s camp naturally believe he should be entitled to the wages.

A potential shock return to Madrid could be on the cards as Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly convinced Diego Simeone to sign him for Atletico.

Ronaldo has made no secret of his desire to leave Manchester United to play Champions League football and Atleti fit the ball, despite the 37-year-old being a legend for fierce rivals Real Madrid.

The market for Ronaldo has not been as robust as the Portuguese might have hoped for with Chelsea and Bayern Munich having ruled themselves out and the forward rejecting a lucrative offer from an unnamed Saudi Arabian club.

Spanish outlet Diario AS are now claiming he could be about to return to the Spanish capital with Atletico.

A big move on the continent as Bayern Munich have agreed a £68m deal with Juventus to sign centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, according to reports from Sky in Germany among others.

The Bundesliga champions will pay an initial £59.5m plus a further £8.5m in add-ons with the contract lasting until the summer of 2027.

The Netherlands international is still only 22 years old and is expected to complete his medical in Munich shortly, with Fabrizio Romano also confirming the move.

Arsenal’s signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City is moving ever closer to reaching reality.

According to Fabrizio Romano, a £30m deal has been agreed and it’s all about personal terms now - with talks ongoing. Zinchenko is mostly a left-back for City but generally plays further forward for Ukraine.

So Arsenal would have options with the versatile 25-year-old

Arsenal centre back William Saliba has impressed on loan in Ligue 1 for the past few seasons but has targeted a breakthrough at the Emirates stadium this season as he looks to seal a spot in France’s World Cup squad.

And Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed the 21-year-old is part of his thinking this term, while urging him to seize his chance.

Speaking during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the United States, Arteta declared: “He is in the plans. We cannot guarantee first-team football to anybody in this team – you can ask that question to anybody.

“What we guarantee is that the ones we really see and think are going to take us to the next level, they’re going to be playing a lot of minutes.

“He’s a proper talent and he’s shown in the last year what can do. But in football it’s about what you do the next day – what everybody did three months ago or a month ago, it doesn’t really matter. It’s about what you do tomorrow and he’s going to have the chance to play.”

Nottingham Forest are on the verge of signing Huddersfield duo Lewis O’Brien and Harry Toffolo.

Reports suggest that Forest will pay the club they beat in May’s Championship play-off final £10m each for the pair with 23-year-old O’Brien a combative midfielder who came through the Terriers’ academy and left-back Toffolo, 26, a signing from Lincoln two years ago.

Huddersfield are currently without a manager following the departure of Carlos Corberan.

AC Milan have reportedly opened talks with Tottenham to sign Japhet Tanganga with Spurs open to allowing the full-back out on loan following the arrival of Clement Lenglet.

Sky Sports News reported the interest of other clubs in the Premier League including Bournemouth and Southampton.

Tanganga is a product of Spurs’ academy and fulfils a vital homegrown player spot in their squad.

Robert Lewandowski said a desire for a new challenge motivated his decision to leave Bayern Munich and sign for Barcelona, while also fulfilling his “dream” of playing in LaLiga.

Barcelona have confirmed an agreement with Bayern Munich over an initial £38 million transfer of the 33-year-old Poland international, who is expected to sign a three-year contract with the option of an additional year.

Although the deal is not yet complete, Lewandowski has joined Barcelona on their pre-season tour of the United States and has met his new team-mates. It brings a protracted transfer saga to a close after Lewandowski announced plans to leave Bayern at the end of last season.

Lewandowski, who won eight Bundesliga titles in as many seasons with Bayern as well as the Champions League in 2020, becomes Barcelona’s fourth transfer of the summer, following Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has renewed his contract for another year at AC Milan, despite facing the prospect of a lengthy rehabilitation from knee surgery.

At the end of May, Ibrahimovic – fresh from winning the Serie A title – had a planned procedure on his left knee to repair damage and instability caused by a previous anterior cruciate ligament injury.

The 40-year-old is expected to be out for up to eight months, so is not likely to be fully fit until midway through the 2022-23 campaign.

Nevertheless, AC Milan confirmed on Monday the veteran Swede, who scored eight goals last season as they won the Scudetto for the first time in 11 years, is set to further extend his stay at the San Siro.

“AC Milan is pleased to announce the renewal of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract until June 30 2023,” a club statement read.

Deliberate heading could be completely banned from football for children under 12 in England in two seasons’ time.

The Football Association announced on Monday it had been given approval by the game’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board, to trial the removal of heading in selected grassroots competitions and leagues which come forward to take part in the coming season.

If successful, the FA will apply to IFAB for a law change to remove heading at under-12 level and below from the 2023-24 season.

It follows the introduction of guidance in 2020 which advised coaches against practising heading in training in football for children aged 11 and under, with a graduated introduction of light heading into training from under-12s up to under-16s level.

A recommended limit of 10 high-force headers per week in training was also introduced into professional football and the adult grassroots game before the start of last season.