Manchester City want to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz. So do Bayern Munich.

In a normal summer, football’s most in-demand stars will take their time before deciding on their next destination.

They will go on holiday, switch off, and then return to assess their options. Time is a useful negotiating tactic from a player’s perspective and stock can rise without kicking a ball. Alternatively, time can allow a player to shine in a summer tournament and their value rockets in the short break before the start of the new campaign.

2025 is not a normal summer, however. For the first time a huge new club tournament in June and July will rip up the normal conventions of the transfer market – FIFA have already changed long-established contract rules and opened a temporary transfer window to allow changes to squads in time for the Club World Cup.

That means clubs like Manchester City must decide whether to do business before going to the US to defend their world title, or after – without a pre-season.

Take Florian Wirtz, for example. The FIFA rule changes mean City could theoretically sign Wirtz, register him before the tournament, and use the games in the USA to blood their new signing and give him valuable training time under Pep Guardiola. If he is going to sign, he would be a huge asset to the Club World Cup bid.

Bayern Munich have the same idea, however, with reports in Germany this week suggesting they have opened talks with Bayer Leverkusen over the in-demand midfielder. And Leverkusen haven’t given up hope of keeping their star man.

City are in the race to sign Wirtz and hope to win that particular battle. Real Madrid may also become more relevant if and when Xabi Alonso is confirmed as their new manager. All three contenders are in the Club World Cup – so maybe Wirtz will be in the USA one way or another.

The obvious priority for City will be to sign Wirtz and secure their Kevin De Bruyne replacement before flying out to the States. City like doing their big business early in transfer windows such as when they quietly announced Erling Haaland before the 2022 window even opened.

On the few occasions they have waited to sign a top target, it has been a calculated move – Ruben Dias and Josko Gvardiol come to mind. They may not get that luxury with Wirtz, who seemingly has his pick of the top Club World Cup contenders.

If City win the race, they have a world-class talent on their hands to boost their world title chances. If they don’t, they have time to switch attention to other targets without having to rush later in the summer.

It is a transfer ‘saga’ that will benefit everybody if it doesn’t drag on.

Manchestereveningnews.co.uk

The Gunners defenders are the first choice centre-backs under Mikel Arteta

It is another season of coming so close for Arsenal. Victory over Newcastle United at the weekend would confirm second-place in the Premier League – barring a massive final day goal swing.

It would be the third season in a row that the Gunners have finished as runners-up, having been the closest challengers to Manchester City in each of the last two seasons.

This time it was Liverpool who beat them to the title, although the Reds are 15 points clear of Mikel Arteta’s men, so they were hardly pipped to the crown.

Arsenal did reach the semi-finals of the Champions League – one stage better than last season – but Arteta has admitted that his side have gone backwards in the Premier League.

Speaking last week he said: “In the Premier League we’ve gone a step backwards. With the points that we have created it’s clear that we haven’t done as good as last season, that’s obvious. Yeah, for sure in the Champions League we have because we’ve done better than last season but not what we want because we want to win it.

“For sure it has hurt, if it doesn’t hurt then it means you don’t love winning as much as I do that’s for sure. But you need to understand as well certain things that happened to understand.”

The Gunners face a busy summer transfer window, with a striker the biggest priority given injuries to Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus this season that hit them hard at the worst possible time.

But keeping hold of their best players is also crucial.

There have been reports circling that French defender William Saliba is keen to get assurances that north London is the place for him to win silverware in the not too distant future. Real Madrid have persistently been linked with signing the 24-year-old, who will be entering the final two years of his current contract at the Emirates Stadium.

Saliba has become one of the best defenders in the Premier League and Arsenal will need to keep hold of him to have any chance of winning the Premier League next season.

He has built up a good partnership with Brazilian Gabriel Magalhaes, but there are question marks over his future in north London too.

Gabriel has reportedly had an offer from Saudi Arabian side Al Nassr that would triple his Arsenal salary, and reports state that he would be open to a move at some point in his career. He, like Saliba, has two years left on his contract.

The nightmare scenario for Arteta and Arsenal would be both leaving in the same transfer window. That being said, with both entering the final two years of their contracts with the Gunners, this is the optimum time to sell for Arsenal to get the most money.

Football.london

Manchester United have touted the Magpies midfielder as an ideal candidate for Ruben Amorim

Manchester United want to splash £100m this summer on a proven Premier League midfielder.

Ruben Amorim’s side has not been able to build any momentum domestically, with winning the Europa League seen as make or break in a campaign that has promised so little.

Set to take on Tottenham in the showpiece event next week in Bilbao, the Red Devils will be awarded a bumper sum should they win the competition, and already have eyes on one Newcastle United star whom they could splash the cash on.

Newcastle United expect summer interest from Manchester United for midfield gem

Eddie Howe’s side have been terrific this season and look to be on course for European football, as well as having ended their 70-year wait for a top-flight trophy. Alexander Isak remains the star of the show, but plenty of players have shone for the Magpies.

One man in particular is liked by high-ranking officials at Manchester United, and with there still a chance Amorim’s men do win the Europa League, some cash flow could now be spent on a summer pursuit of the Italian international at Old Trafford.

A wild claim from Corriere dello Sport says Tonali could be the subject of a £100m bid from Manchester United, with the 25-year-old also known to be on Juventus’ radar.

After returning from his recent footballing ban, Tonali has slotted seamlessly into Newcastle’s midfielder alongside Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes, with the Magpies currently 3rd in the Premier League table.

The Red Devils reportedly have ambitious plans for the summer, based on them winning the Europa League, with the former AC Milan man an ideal midfielder to help suit Amorim’s new-look 3-4-2-1 system.

FourFourTwo understands Tonali is not currently attracting any attention from Manchester United and they will instead look for cheaper alternatives this summer.

Sandro Tonali has enjoy a brilliant second half of the season at Newcastle

“I think we need to push again,” Tonali said after scoring recently against Chelsea in the Premier League. “We need to keep pushing because the Champions League is so difficult. Every game matters, every point matters now.

“We need to play game for game. Now we need to work, rest and work for Arsenal. We need to play the same as [v Chelsea]. We need to play to win every game and play the Champions League again next season.”

Those words don’t exactly suggest he is a man looking to move elsewhere anytime soon, and we here at FourFourTwo expect him to stay at St James’ Park for now.

Newcastle United return to top-flight action on Sunday as they face Arsenal at the Emirates.

Fourfourtwo.com