Transfer rumours: Ronaldo asks to be released by Man Utd; Juventus close in on Firmino

Cristiano Ronaldo is so adamant on leaving Manchester United this summer that he has asked the club to release him from his contract. Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich have both distanced themselves from Ronaldo, whose contract has one year left to run plus the option of a further 12 months, in recent days.

Juventus are trying to finalise an agreement to sign Roberto Firmino from Liverpool, which would bring an end to their pursuits of Timo Werner, Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay.

Werner and Depay have both been offered to Newcastle United in recent weeks, as have Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe and PSG playmaker Julian Draxler.

Barcelona remain confident of signing Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso from Chelsea, having already poached long-term target Jules Kounde from under the Blues' noses.

Arsenal have no intention of reigniting their interest in Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, who is likely to join Valencia on an initial loan instead.

A knee injury to Paul Pogba means that Weston McKennie will not be allowed to leave Juventus this window. The USMNT midfielder had been linked to Tottenham and Southampton.

Manchester City are assessing alternate options to Marc Cucurella after baulking at Brighton's £50m asking price, and Benfica left-back Alex Grimaldo has emerged as a target.

Frenkie de Jong has informed his Barcelona teammates that he will be staying at Camp Nou this summer despite Manchester United's confidence of eventually completing a deal.

PSG made one final late move to try and sign Gianluca Scamacca, but he knocked it back as he had already given his word to West Ham.

Leeds United and Leicester City's hopes of signing Charles De Ketelaere are all but over after AC Milan finally agreed a fee with Club Brugge for the young forward.

Listen now to 90min's Talking Transfers podcast, with Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey, Harry Symeou & Toby Cudworth. On the latest show they discuss Cristiano Ronaldo holding talks with Man Utd over his future, Barcelona attempting to sign Jules Kounde ahead of Chelsea, Man City rewarding Phil Foden with a new contract and more. Available on all audio platforms and the 90min YouTube channel.

If you can't see the podcast embed, click here to download the episode in full!

Red Bull Salzburg will knock back any bids for striker Benjamin Sesko this summer, his preference in the future will be to sign for Real Madrid.

Nottingham Forest have held talks with Real Betis regarding a summer move for William Carvalho, though Los Verdiblancos have blocked an approach for Alex Moreno.

In terms of incomings, Real Betis believe Arsenal will give up on trying to sell them Hector Bellerin and will instead release him from his contract.

Elsewhere in Arsenal's defence, Marseille are continuing to badger the Gunners over William Saliba, but he is set to remain at the Emirates Stadium.

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