Football's transfer window: all the latest confirmed deals, comment and pursuits
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Liverpool have rejected a £15m bid from Crystal Palace for the Scotland international winger Ben Doak.
The 19-year-old is currently enjoying a successful loan at Middlesbrough, where his performances in the Championship have attracted interest from numerous clubs. Palace are the first to make a move for the gifted Doak, who Liverpool signed from Celtic for a compensation fee of £600,000 in March 2022, but their offer is way below the Anfield club’s valuation.
Anfield sources point to Tottenham's £30 million deal for Wilson Odobert and West Ham’s £25 million purchase of Crysencio Summerville from Leeds as a more realistic measure of Doak's worth.
Meanwhile Mohamed Salah has reiterated to Sky Sports that all the available evidence would lead him to believe this is his "last year” at Liverpool.
Asked if he believes that, he replied: “So far, yes. It’s the last six months. There is no progress there. We are far away from any progress. We just need to wait and see.”
However, he refuses to be "concerned or stressed" by the situation and is determined to enjoy what could be his final six months at Anfield by winning the Premier League for a second time.
"The thing in my head is 'OK, if it's my last six months, or last year, what do you want to see in the future? Do you want to look back and say I was concerned about the contract or I was stressed or do you just want to say 'OK, I had an unbelievable season'.
"That's in my head now. All the time now. If I feel that kind of distraction, I remind myself 'You want to look back and you had an unbelievable season'. So that's what I want to do." We are far away from any progress so we just need to wait and see.
With Liverpool heading into the weekend six points clear with a match in hand, Salah has redefined his priorities.
"In my interviews over the last seven or eight years, I always say (I want to win the) Champions League," he added. "But this is the first time I'm saying I really want to win the Premier League with Liverpool. It's probably because we didn't celebrate the one we won in the way we wanted (because of coronavirus restrictions) and also, coming back here too, it's my last year in the club so you want to do something special for the city."
Manchester United winger Amad Diallo is close to securing a new deal with the club, who are also triggering a one-year extension to keep defender Harry Maguire, manager Ruben Amorim has said.
"Amad is near, and we are happy to continue with Harry," Amorim revealed, "we will trigger our option. (Maguire) needs to improve as a leader because we are starving for leaders on the pitch."
Southampton have formally completed the signing of Brazilian defender Welington, who had previously signed a pre-contract agreement with the club.
The 23-year-old left-back agreed personal terms with Saints in the summer, staying with São Paulo until the expiry of his contract at the end of the Brazilian season.
Celtic have held talks to re-sign their former defender Kieran Tierney on a pre-contract deal from Arsenal. The 27-year-old left Celtic in 2019 for a reported £25million fee but Arsenal are now ready to let him leave at the end of his contract - as his career in English football has been blighted by injuries.
Amid interest from Celtic and a host of other clubs in Europe, it remains unclear whether Arsenal will let Tierney leave on loan in January before making any move permanent in the summer.
But there is a lot of goodwill towards Tierney in north London – as the Scotland international is considered a model professional – unfortunately unable to reach his highest level due to injury.
Meanwhile, Wolves are looking to offer Brazilian star Matheus Cunha an upgraded contract with the likes of Arsernal hovering. The Gunners want to sign a new forward this month following the hamstring injury suffered by Bukayo Saka.
Cunha has emerged as a target for Mikel Arteta if they can't prise Nico Willians from Athletic Bilbao but Wolves are determined to fend off their interest by offering the Brazilian an improved deal at Molineux.