Transfer news LIVE: Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea close on targets as Sancho nears Man Utd exit

Barcelona have warned their LGBTQ+ fans they could face “severe punishment” in Saudi Arabia should they engage in any acts of a sexual nature in the Gulf country this week.

The club issued a lengthy statement on their website, telling supporters to be cautious in their behaviour in the country, where same-sex relations are illegal.

The Daily Mail are reporting that West Ham United are keen on Wolves captain Max Kilman and are considering a brazen bid to wrestle him away from the midlands.

It seems they have very little chance of being successful with Kilman a crucial part of Wolves’ defence and the club are under no financial pressure to sell.

The 26-year-old defender has been an ever present for his club so far this season so if this deal happens it’ll likely be in the summer at the earliest.

Manchester United have failed in an attempted swap deal involving Facundo Pellistri. They hoped to send him to Sporting Lisbon in return midfielder Morten Hjulmand, according to the Daily Express.

Danish international Hjulmand plays as a holding midfielder for the Portuguese club and could have been a boost to United’s depth in that area.

It is tempting to wonder if Jadon Sancho considers the fate of his two immediate successors. Borussia Dortmund tend to have one big summer sale, an annual scramble among the elite to take the prized asset from football’s premier finishing school. In 2023, Jude Bellingham was the deluxe departure, in 2022 Erling Haaland, in 2021 Sancho himself. Bellingham and Haaland can be bracketed together in a trio again: along with Kylian Mbappe, they may be the finest players on the planet.

Sancho? He has spent four months training with Manchester United’s Under-18s, eating packed lunches as he has been exiled from the canteen at Carrington. An imminent return to Dortmund on loan is the best-case scenario to try and salvage his season; perhaps his career. Haaland and Bellingham have reached new heights since leaving Signal Iduna Park: for Sancho, a 2019-20 Bundesliga season that yielded 17 goals and 16 assists looked similarly auspicious but remains an ever more distant peak. It nevertheless showed a level of potential and production that Antony has never emulated.

Eagle Football Holdings is exploring selling its 45 per cent stake in Crystal Palace, in a move that could have repercussions for the direction of the club as well as the Premier League.

Internal talks on the prospect deepened over the last two weeks, although they are still at an early stage and no formal negotiations with outside parties have yet begun.

Should group chairman John Textor ultimately decide to sell the stake, which is the direction of talks right now, it could lead to wider changes. Early soundings have indicated that most buyers would only consider the move if they could take majority control of Crystal Palace, and that would almost certainly mean buying out Steve Parish’s 10 per cent stake, due to his outsized voting rights.

Sevilla are in talks with Manchester United over the loan signing of midfielder Hannibal Mejbri.

Both parties feel a loan move would benefit the player and allow him to get more game time than his few appearances off the bench this season.

United triggered the one-year option in Hannibal’s contract and are planning to assess his future in the summer with interest also coming from Everton.

He has started four games in all competitions this season though injured midfielders Casemiro and Mason Mount are close to returns which could limit his game time.

Wolves’ pursuit of a striker during the January transfer window is ongoing with Che Adams rising to the top of the list alongside the likes of West Ham’s Danny Ings.

The midlands club are one of three Premier League sides interested in bringing in Adams whi is in the final six months of his contract with Southampton.

The Saints are weighing up whether to cash in now or utilise Adams’ skillset for the promotion push and potentially see him leave for free this summer.

Wolves’ big priority is to recruit a striker in this window having allowed Sasa Kaladjic and Fabio Silva to leave on loan. PSG’s Hugo Ekitike is another striker on their list should a move for Adams or Ings not materialise.

Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders insists no-one is irreplaceable after influential full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was ruled out for at least three weeks with a knee injury.

The England international tore a lateral ligament after hyper-extending the joint in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Arsenal and is not expected to feature until the end of the month at the earliest.

Liverpool’s winter break means he may only miss three matches – both legs of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham and the Premier League match at Bournemouth – and he could be back for the January 31 visit of Chelsea.

With the team already without central defender Joel Matip and both left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas and Joe Gomez deputising on that flank, it leaves them short at the back.

But it is Alexander-Arnold’s pivotal contribution to the way the team operates, stepping into midfield in his now well-established hybrid role, with two goals and eight assists this season which makes his absence so difficult to cope with.

Liverpool’s Fabio Carvalho has completed a loan move to Hull City.

The 21-year-old will spend the remainder of the campaign in the Championship after returning to Liverpool last month following a temporary spell in Germany with RB Leipzig.

He made 15 appearances in the first half of 2023/24.

Paris Saint-Germain’s main focus might still be on trying to get Kylian Mbappe to sign another extension ahead of a possible free transfer departure in summer, but they are also looking at incoming deals in midfield.

Two different reports suggest they want a Champions League calibre option for the centre of the park this month.

Sky Germany claim they are going in on Bayer Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, with talks between the clubs already reportedly starting.

Separately, the i say Newcastle are aware of interest in Bruno Guimaraes from PSG, but do not want to sell.