Premier League
By Staff Writer — 31 August 2026
Julian Alvarez, Cody Gakpo and Enzo Fernandez are among players who could have new clubs by Tuesday
The summer transfer window may have been open since 15 June but several Premier League clubs are still scrambling to get key deals over the line before Tuesday’s 23:00 BST deadline.
From Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez to Cody Gakpo and Ismaila Sarr, some of football’s biggest names could yet be on the move.
But they will have to battle the clock to earn their dream moves before the market closes.
With that in mind, BBC Sport’s football reporters have picked out the high-profile moves which could go through during what promises to be a busy ending to the window.
Julian Alvarez’s potential move to Arsenal could be the biggest deal to watch, with the Atletico Madrid striker’s future now hanging in the balance.
The 26-year-old is caught between his desire to leave Atletico and the club’s refusal to sell him to Barcelona. But they would do a deal with Arsenal.
The Gunners have had a long-term interest in Alvarez and have been monitoring the dramatic situation, with Atleti looking for a fee of 150m euros (£128m).
Alvarez has missed multiple training sessions and did not travel to face Sevilla on Saturday, with Simeone saying he wasn’t well enough.
Simeone, meanwhile, has attempted to keep the door open, saying he will “do everything” he can to make Alvarez feel important when he returns to training.
Enzo Fernandez missed Sunday’s Premier League win over Brighton and his future is under increasing uncertainty, having been linked with a big-money move to Manchester City.
Enzo Maresca worked with the Argentina midfielder at Chelsea and needs to bolster his ranks following the departures of Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Nico Gonzalez and Tijjani Reijnders this summer.
Any potential move would likely be a club record deal, surpassing the £116m paid for Elliot Anderson earlier this summer.
Fernandez potentially leaving for Manchester City could open the door for fellow midfielder Lamine Camara to arrive at Stamford Bridge from Monaco as his replacement.
It could be Chelsea’s 13th deal coming in, with exits exceeding 30 players as the Blues are expected to surpass the Premier League player sales record they set at £300m last season.
There is further intrigue around departures with Mykhailo Mudryk looking for a loan move and still a lack of clarity on the futures of Pedro Neto and Tosin Adarabioyo. The likes of Dario Essugo, Deivid Washington and Shim Mheuka could also leave.
Manchester City have opened talks with Liverpool about signing attacker Cody Gakpo and the Netherlands international is open to the move.
But Liverpool would only be willing to sanction the transfer if they can bring in one more attacking player, in addition to Bradley Barcola.
Spurs are also interested but City are willing to offer a deal worth around £85m and sources indicate that City is Gakpo’s preferred destination.
With Gakpo’s future up in the air, Liverpool have turned their attentions to Crystal Palace’s Ismaila Sarr after having two bids for Yankuba Minteh rejected by Brighton.
The Seagulls want more than the £60m offered by Liverpool and it remains to be seen whether Iraola’s side go back in for him.
Like the Gambian, Sarr is a right-sided winger and the Reds initially enquired about the Senegal international last week, but that was rebuffed by Crystal Palace.
Tottenham are in advanced talks to sign Iliman Ndiaye from Everton, with Richarlison set to move in the opposite direction.
Although a deal for Ndiaye is largely agreed between the two clubs, it remains unclear whether he will make the switch to north London, with Manchester City among the clubs to have expressed an interest.
Everton are open to selling Ndiaye, 26, after he rejected multiple contract offers and held talks with Saudi club Al-Hilal earlier this summer.
Meanwhile, Everton have agreed terms in principle to re-sign striker Richarlison after he told Spurs head coach Roberto de Zerbi “too many times that he wants to leave”.
Everton are growing increasingly confident of completing a loan deal to bring Jack Grealish back from Manchester City, although the precise terms of any agreement remain complicated as the England international enters the final year of his contract at Etihad Stadium.
Grealish has prioritised a return to Everton, where he spent last season on loan, over the option of rejoining his boyhood club Aston Villa, who have also expressed an interest.
Just a few hours after the unveiling of Nico Gonzalez, Matthias Jaissle made it clear he would continue to push for further deals in the final throes of the window.
Another forward is on the German’s wishlist and Newcastle have a longstanding interest in Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo, whose creativity and ability to play in a number of positions across the frontline is a huge draw. The 21-year-old also fits the age range Newcastle have targeted this summer.
This would be a complicated deal to do in the final days of the window, but it was a little telling that Lille manager Davide Ancelotti left Fernandez-Pardo out of his squad for the weekend’s game against Paris St-Germain and has decided to exclude him from training until the window shuts.
Unless there is a very late, and unexpected, development around Marcus Rashford, it feels as if Manchester United’s deadline-day business will centre around Joshua Zirkzee and the smaller deals they can do.
Fiorentina wanted to take the Netherlands forward on loan, with an option to buy.
United, ideally, would prefer to sell, or at least get a loan with an obligation.
With no agreement possible, Fiorentina are now looking elsewhere.
However, Juventus are keen on Zirkzee, although a move for the 25-year-old hinges on Canada forward Jonathan David leaving for Atletico Madrid.
Zirkzee’s exit might open the door for a left-back or a reinforcement in the forward department, although that too might initially be a loan.
