Football transfer rumours: Sancho to Spurs? Ward-Prowse to Liverpool?

T he men’s Ashes begins on Friday and the Champions League – a competition that commenced on 21 June 2022 – has finally concluded. It must be time for summer sports aficionados to drift happily through the next few months accompanied by the sound of leather on willow and tennis-ball-on-racket. Right?

Wrong. There is always red-hot football transfer news to deal with, and nothing hotter than the news that Declan Rice’s proposed move to Arsenal from West Ham is ‘a done deal’, according to multiple sources. The West Ham manager, David Moyes, is eyeing up Fulham’s João Palhinha and Ajax’s Edson Álvarez as potential Rice replacements.

Rice’s imminent move to the Gunners means the Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, will miss out on one of his priority targets - but the Mail reckons that James Ward-Prowse is one of the next men on the list, with the Reds willing to pay Southampton £25m for the 28-year-old free kick specialist and midfield general.

Jadon Sancho, a player who fuelled a million transfer-gossip columns before his over-hyped move to Manchester United from Borussia Dortmund in 2021, has not done an awful lot at Old Trafford since then, and as a result is being linked with a move to Tottenham. Manchester United want somewhere in the region of £60m for the England international while Spurs would be willing to pay something like £50m.

Another Manchester United player that looks to be on the move in Erik ten Hag’s summer reboot is the much-maligned Harry Maguire: it’s said that Eddie Howe and Newcastle are willing to take the statuesque centre-back on loan, but United will only consider a sale to a top-four rival. Aston Villa are also reportedly keen on a loan for Maguire, with Unai Emery hoping to bolster his options in