Liverpool are facing serious competition from Real Madrid in their quest to sign AS Roma goalkeeper Allison. The Brazilian has been hailed as the revelation of the season by some quarters of the Italian media, and nearly joined Liverpool last month. While negotiations were not made public and none of the clubs spoke about the move, it is believed that Liverpool did table a bid for his signature. The Reds are expected to return for his signature in the summer except any of their current under-pressure goalkeepers step up their game and make the number one spot at Anfield his own. However, Liverpool now faces genuine competition from Real Madrid according to Goal.com. Madrid failed to sign a goalkeeper this month, but they remain interested in Chelsea’s Thibaut Courtois as well as Manchester United’s David de Gea, but if they fail to land any of the Premier League duos, Allison is their 3rd choice. Per the reports, they could have moved for Allison last month, but they confident of signing Athletic Bilbao’s number, but ultimately failed to sign the young Spaniard.

Manchester United have identified Barcelona defender, Samuel Umtiti as their number one summer target and the Red Devils have no problem meeting his release clause. The French defender has been a revelation since joining Barcelona and was considered the club’s best defender before suffering an injury that has kept him out of action for some time now. Surprisingly, he has just £56 million as his release clause, a sum that is too small for his reputation especially when one considers that Virgil van Dijk cost Liverpool £75 million. According to Goal, Jose Mourinho has asked the Red Devils to bring the French man to Old Trafford after this season and they have started working on the deal. Manchester United succumbed to a 2-0 loss to Tottenham at Wembley on Wednesday, a display that was marred by some shambolic defending from Phil Jones, and Mourinho knows he cannot win the Premier League without a good defence. Chris Smalling has also come in for some criticism with many fans of the Red Devils considering him an average defender, while Victor Lindelof is still not settled at the former Premier League champions.

Bayern Munich can brace themselves for an interesting battle to keep hold of their youngest ever debutant, David Alaba as Barcelona have made him their number one summer signing. The Catalans did not have the busiest winter transfer window, but offloading Arda Turan and signing Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool means their fans can consider the transfer window a successful one. However, they are not resting on their laurels and they have begun plans for the next transfer window. Reports in the German media are claiming that Barcelona want to bring Alaba to the Camp Nou next summer as they look to add one more body to their defence. Per the reports, they are ready to sell the duo of Thomas Vermelean and Lucas Digne to make room for the Austrian. Barcelona however, do not feel Jordi Alba is doing badly and unless Alaba can prove to be a better left back, he would have to settle for a place in central defence. Alaba has been a mainstay in the Bayern defence since he made his debut for them as a 17 years old in 2010. He has survived several managers including Pep Guradiola and Carlo Ancelotti and still remains a fan favourite at the Allianz Arena.

Real Madrid could have swooped for new Arsenal attacker, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang this month, but they do not trust his attitude. The Gabonese attacker sealed a £55 million move to Arsenal on transfer deadline day after falling foul of several team rules at Borussia Dortmund. However, the attacker claimed in an open letter to his former club’s fans that he was sorry for his problems and that he already wanted out of the former German champions since last summer. Real Madrid are currently struggling for goals especially in the league and they have fallen more than 10 points behind league leaders Barcelona. Los Blancos wanted Aubameyang to come in and help them score the goals they desperately need, but several of the club’s leaders were left fearing for the future if Aubameyang continued his bad-boy behavior at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid’s loss would certainly be considered a gain by Arsene Wenger after losing Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United. Aubameyang was the top goal scorer in the Bundesliga last season, and Wenger would be hoping he can score that many goals for the Gunners in England.

Liverpool had a busy deadline day last night as they sent out two of their flops on loan although they welcomed no new signing. The likes of Daniel Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho had been sold earlier in the window and it appeared as though deadline day at Anfield would be a quiet one, but it all changed at the last minute after Swansea pulled out of their move for Lazar Markovic, leaving the Reds with no choice  but to arrange a loan move for the Serbian. Markovic finally joined Belgian side, Anderlecht for the remainder of the season, but he was not the only player to leave them. Jon Flanagan had a solid breakout campaign in the 2013/2014 season, but he has failed to live up to the expectation his performances that year set for him. His career has not progressed and a loan move to Burnley last season failed to reignite it. He has, however, left Anfield and moves to Bolton Wanderers for the next six months and he would be hoping he can reignite his career at the former Premier League campaigners.

Riyad Mahrez have submitted a transfer request to Leicester City after Manchester City made a surprise £60 million bid for his signature. The Algerian who won the PFA Player of the Year in 2016 has been linked with a move to a top European side since he helped Leicester City win the Premier League in the 2015/2016 season. He came close to leaving the King Power Stadium last season but no club could meet Leicester City’s demand. He has been outstanding for them once again this season, proving to clubs that he is not a one-season wonder. Pep Guardiola had not planned to sign a new attacker this month after losing out to Manchester United on the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal, however, the injury to Leroy  Sane and Gabriel Jesus has forced him to return to the market. Leicester do not have to sell and certainly don’t want to sell this late in the transfer window as it would be hard for them to replace the Algerian, but Mahrez wants to leave and he has handed in a transfer request. The Algerian was missing in the Foxes training on Tuesday as he looks to force through the move, knowing he could potentially win another Premier League by the end of this season.

Newcastle United and West Ham are going head to head in their bid to sign Manchester City defender Eliaquim Mangala before the close of transfer window today. The Premier League duo are looking to bolster their squad ahead of a potential relegation scrap. Mangala has fallen further down the pecking order after the signing of Aymeric Laporte and knows his only chance of playing regularly this season is to go out on loan. He has been the fourth choice center-back before the arrival of Laporte, behind Vincent Kompany, John Stones, and Nicolas Otamendi. Pep Guardiola would not stand in the way of Mangala and only had good things to say about the defender when asked why he signed Laporte with Mangala still on their books. Guardiola admitted that Mangala has been helpful to them this season especially in the absence of one of the first choice defenders. Valencia, where Mangala spent last season on loan, are also interested in bringing him back as they chase a Champions League spot. Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez is desperate to add Mangala to his team after finally getting permission from Mike Ashley to spend some money in the transfer market. David Moyes has also been left without a choice but to make a new defensive signing following the injury to Winston Reid and James Collins.

Juventus are close to completing the free transfer of Emre Can from Liverpool on a free transfer and the Italians are optimistic that he would join them. The Italian club’s president was asked about the situation of things with Can and he claimed that talks were well on their way with the German and they hope to wrap things up sooner rather than later. Can has just under 6 months left on his Liverpool contract and has been reluctant to sign a new deal with the Reds who have been in talks with his representatives for the past 2 years. At the age of 24, he can sign a pre-contract agreement with any European side from this month, but the German has kept his options open even claiming that he could still sign a new Liverpool deal. Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Can could leave Liverpool after this season, but he insisted that the German would still be involved in his team’s game plan as long as he remains committed to the Reds. The German manager also dismissed any suggestion that Liverpool would sell Can this month, and also admitted that the Reds may not be making any further addition to their squad this month despite losing Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge has completed a loan switch to West Brom leaving former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez purple-faced. The England attacker has been out of favour at Anfield after falling down the pecking order. His chances of playing for the Reds have not been helped by injuries, poor form and the form of Roberto Firmino. He has been attracting the attention of some of Europe’s top sides including Sevilla and AC Milan. But he has decided to remain in the EPL. West Brom were delighted to have sealed the move after they paid Liverpool’s 2 million pound loan fee and had him pass his medical. Alan Pardew would be hoping he can stay fit and fire them to safety this season. Newcastle were the bookies’ favourites to sign the attacker but were not quick enough to conclude the deal allowing West Brom to steal a march on them. This is the latest episode in the Magpies bid to remain in the Premier League this season, and Rafael Benitez may resign his position if they fail to add a new attacker this month. Sturridge last started a game for Liverpool in their 1-1 draw against Chelsea last year, but he could make his debut for West Brom at the weekend.

With the transfer market just one day away from closing, Chelsea are yet to sign a target man. The Blues have spent the whole of this month trying to sign a new target man to help reduce the goalscoring burden on Alvaro Morata, but they have still not gotten a deal over the line. The likes of Burnley’s Ashley Barnes, Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and Edin Dzeko of AS Roma have been their targets. They have spent the last couple of weeks trying to sign the latter but they seem to have given up on his pursuit. The Blues have now turned their attention to Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud but Arsenal want to complete the move for Pierre Emerick Aubameyang first before allowing the French man leave. Dortmund in turn also wants to sign a replacement for Aubameyang before completing the switch. Giroud had been targeted by Dortmund, but the French man has told the Germans he is not interested in moving away from London, clearing the way for Chelsea to sign him. Reports this morning are now claiming that Antonio Conte would return for Tottenham’s Fernando Llorente should he fails to land Giroud. Llorente was close to joining Chelsea last summer, but Tottenham hijacked the deal and signed him for 12 million pounds. He has since netted just 2 goals for them this season.