Newcastle United have made Italy international Giorgio Scalvini their top defensive transfer target with the Magpies hoping they can sign the 21-year-old Atalanta centre-back for about £30m. (Times - subscription required), external
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has set a deadline of less than two weeks for the club to agree a deal for Sporting's Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 27, with RB Leipzig's 22-year-old Slovenian forward Benjamin Sesko and Aston Villa and England's Ollie Watkins, 29, alternative options. (Mirror), external
Barcelona will make a fresh approach for Liverpool's 28-year-old Colombia winger Luis Diaz after another target, 22-year-old Spain winger Nico Williams, signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford, 27, is a back-up option for Barcelona if they fail to sign Diaz. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish), external
Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny, 35, came out of retirement to join Barcelona last season and is set to sign a two-year contract with the Spanish champions. (ESPN), external
Everton's 35-year-old Senegal midfielder Idrissa Gueye, whose contract expired on Monday, has signed a new one-year deal with the option of another year. (Footmercato - in French), external
Tottenham are among the clubs showing interest in Genoa centre-back Koni de Winter, 23, with the Belgium international valued at £21.5m by his Italian club. (Talksport), external
Napoli are considering rivalling Manchester United and Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah for the signing of Fiorentina's 25-year-old Italy striker Moise Kean, whose release clause of 52m euros (£45m) expires on 15 July. (Calciomercato - in Italian), external
Burnley and Crystal Palace are among the Premier League clubs interested in 25-year-old Napoli and Sweden midfielder Jens Cajuste, who spent last season on loan at Ipswich Town. (Sky Sports), external
Crystal Palace have also made an offer to sign Ajax left-back Borna Sosa, with the 27-year-old Croatia international among several options Oliver Glasner's side are considering to add depth to the squad. (Athletic - subscription required), external
Inter Miami remain in talks with 38-year-old Argentina striker Lionel Messi over an extension to his current contract, which expires at the end of 2025. (ESPN)
The Athletic
Striker scouting for West Ham United: Analysing Calvert-Lewin, Mitrovic and other No 9s
By Roshane Thomas and Mark Carey
West Ham United’s perennial pursuit of a striker continues, with Niclas Fullkrug the only recognised centre-forward available to head coach Graham Potter.
A quick look at West Ham’s first-team squad page on their club website shows Michail Antonio’s profile but his contract expired on June 30, ending his 10-year spell in east London. Although the club are yet to formally announce his departure, Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay have been tasked with finding a replacement.
There is a long list of failed attacking signings at West Ham and the striker position remains the club’s Achilles’ heel. Fullkrug is the latest example of their toils: signed for £27million ($37m) from Borussia Dortmund last summer, the 32-year-old has struggled with injuries.
So, who could the club target to give them another No 9 option? The Athletic has taken a speculative leap and analysed several strikers that would fit the bill, including one previously linked to West Ham but coveted by the Premier League’s top clubs.
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al Hilal)
At 30, his best years could be behind him, but Mitrovic’s goalscoring record remains impressive. Since joining Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in 2023, he has registered 68 goals in 79 appearances in all competitions.
He has a similar skill set to Fullkrug but Mitrovic’s injury record is better. The Serbia international scored 111 goals in 206 appearances during his five-year spell at Fulham, including a Championship-record 43 goals in the 2021-22 season.
Mitrovic hasn’t featured for Al Hilal at this summer’s Club World Cup due to injury but his Premier League experience would be favourable to West Ham.
It is not uncommon for the club to target older players. Last summer, West Ham had a verbal offer of £15m rejected by Al Ittihad for midfielder N’Golo Kante, then 33. Defender Craig Dawson joined aged 30 from Watford in 2020 and became a fan favourite.
Mitrovic’s ability to find the net has not waned since his switch to Saudi Arabia. He remains a reliable focal point up front and, as we can see from the table below, he has continued to plunder goals at an excellent rate.
Potter had success at Brighton & Hove Albion with Danny Welbeck as his lone striker. The forward was still productive, despite turning 30 shortly after they linked up in 2020.
Although Potter wants to work with a younger core this season, Mitrovic’s track record would be hard to ignore if he could be tempted back to the Premier League.
Emanuel Emegha (Strasbourg)
West Ham lacked the speed to launch fast breaks last season, so Emegha, Strasbourg’s 22-year-old forward, could be an interesting addition.
Using SkillCorner data and a metric known as ‘Peak Sprint Velocity 99th percentile’ (PSV-99, which reflects the top speed of a player and their ability to consistently reach or sustain it), Emegha ranks as Europe’s fastest centre-forward under the age of 25.
Emegha has scored 22 league goals from 55 appearances across his two seasons at Strasbourg.
With Potter in need of a prolific forward, Emegha’s goal-poacher profile would help accelerate the rebuild at London Stadium.
Using Opta data (via FBref), we can build a picture of Emegha’s skill set. His playstyle wheel (below) breaks down his game into defence, possession, progression and attack, weighted across Europe’s top five leagues. Much like other pizza charts from The Athletic, Emegha has been given a percentile rating between zero and 99 for each metric. The higher the number, the more frequently — or efficiently — the player performs this action compared with his positional peers.
From his wheel, we can see how Emegha, who has scored regularly for the Netherlands at youth level, consistently gets himself into good scoring positions (the blue spikes above).
Crysencio Summerville, who joined from Leeds United last year, showed flashes of his talent last season but beyond him, West Ham have not had much luck with players from the Netherlands. Goalkeeper Raimond van der Gouw made zero appearances during his single season at the club 13 years ago and Marco Boogers is better known for his tackle on Manchester United defender Gary Neville than his four games up front in 1995.
Jeroen Boere and Raymond Atteveld also struggled to make impacts during the 1990s but Emegha has the tools to be an exception.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin (free agent)
Of all targets listed, Calvert-Lewin’s arrival might be the most realistic.
The 28-year-old is available as a free agent following the end of his nine-year spell at Everton, where he scored 71 goals in 274 appearances. It would be an easy move for West Ham to make, given Calvert-Lewin and Potter have the same agent.
Calvert-Lewin enjoyed his best season in 2020-21, scoring 16 goals in 33 Premier League games to earn a place in the England squad that reached a European Championship final that summer. Since then, he has struggled to build any form due to a succession of hamstring injuries.
The former Sheffield United striker competes for a lot of headers and stays on the last line to receive the ball, as his playstyle wheel below highlights via his ‘Aerial volume’ ranking (91 out of 99) and his ‘Progressive receptions’ (75).
History tells us that Calvert-Lewin’s sole focus is to be an attacking threat, which means he is often less inclined to create for others, barring his flick-ons while contesting headers. He registered 22 assists during his time at Everton.
He is also unlikely to drop deep and dictate play but he has a willingness to spearhead the attack with shots to finish off moves (‘Shot frequency’, 80) and stay between the width of the goalposts (‘Box threat’, 75).
A change of scene could benefit Calvert-Lewin. Recent examples of West Ham players who rekindled their form after seasons of stagnation include Jesse Lingard, who joined on loan from Manchester United in the second half of the 2020-21 campaign, scoring nine goals in 16 appearances, and last season’s club player of the year, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who excelled in his debut season following a summer switch from Old Trafford.
A move to the London Stadium could give Calvert-Lewin’s career a similar jump-start.
Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Frankfurt)
The 23-year-old striker has been on West Ham’s radar for some time, first contacting his representatives over a potential transfer in 2023. Ekitike was still at Paris Saint-Germain that summer but West Ham did not make a bid, and he ended up joining Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Athletic has previously reported how Ekitike has interested Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool, and Frankfurt value him at €100m (£83.9m; $114m), making him by far the most hypothetical target on this list.
Nonetheless, he would bring some much-needed youth and energy to Potter’s squad. After struggling to make an impact at PSG, Ekitike had a breakthrough 2024-25 season at Frankfurt.
He registered 22 goals and 12 assists across 48 appearances, earning a place in the Bundesliga team of the year. He is a sought-after talent.
Ekitike thrived in the 3-4-2-1, 4-2-3-1 and 3-4-3 systems Frankfurt manager Dino Toppmoller deployed, enabling the former France Under-21 international to be the only centre-forward in Europe’s top five leagues last season to take more than 200 touches in the opposition penalty box. The striker has a huge double threat from a creative and attacking perspective.
His playstyle wheel above indicates an eagerness to carry the ball forward (‘Dribble volume’, 95 out of 99) and a consistent ‘Goal threat’ (92). Given Ekitike’s skill set, it is no surprise that West Ham identified him as Antonio’s long-term successor two years ago.
Whatever West Ham’s transfer strategy this summer, it seems likely that they’ll need to target a striker or two to complement their current one-man strike force.
However, securing a deal for the right man will be easier said than done.