Football transfer rumours: Bayern to rival Barcelona for Max Aarons?

With Chelsea’s porous defence perpetually under the microscope, it might be better for a Blues defender to be out of their team than in it. Perhaps that’s what Antonio Rüdiger reckons anyway, having been left out of Frank Lampard’s team for their opening three Premier League matches and having reaped the rewards in being instantly propelled on to the radar of other clubs who might give him a game. Tottenham are the latest suitors, according to our old chums “Sky Sources”, who add that he’d be unlikely to be allowed to leave on loan so Spurs might have to pony up for a permanent deal.

Max Aarons may have fallen into the Championship with Norwich in the summer but now he could be bound for the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich, no less, interested in the right-back’s services. Aarons, who has already been the subject of rejected interest from Barcelona in the current window, is now on Bayern’s radar after the Ajax full-back Sergiño Dest shunned the European champions’ advances last weekend.

Related: Manchester United make offer for Alex Telles and consider Jadon Sancho bid

While the football pyramid fractures amid Covid-assisted financial meltdown, Chelsea continue to dance in the ballroom of the Titanic, and are considering a major bid for long-term target Declan Rice, worth £40m, this week. West Ham, notably inactive in this summer’s window, want to keep Rice but the Sun reports that Chelsea want to subject the Hammers to one last test of their resolve before the window shuts.

In another of the summer’s groundhog tales, Manchester United are still pursuing Jadon Sancho. ESPN tells us that United are still hopeful of some movement, or at least deal-restructuring, on Dortmund’s €120m asking price. If the Sancho deal does come off, they will then be minded to let Daniel James go and have some fun with Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds on loan. If it doesn’t, Ole Gunnar Solskjær might dip into the Championship for Watford’s Ismaïla Sarr. Also exiting Old Trafford might be Diogo Dalot, with Milan interested in a loan deal for the Portuguese right-back.

Arsenal received a chastening reminder of how far they still have to go at Liverpool on Monday night but transfer market chin-strokers at Sky claim they are better placed than ever to secure Lyon’s midfielder Houssem Aouar and the Atlético defensive midfielder Thomas Partey, with both clubs needing the cash as deadline day looms.

Sheffield United continue to be impressed by the cut of Rhian Brewster’s jib and are reported to have offered Liverpool £17m in the hope that the England Under-21 international might kickstart their stalling season. The Blades are also prepared to include a buy-back clause in the deal, according to the Sun.

And Newcastle are on the cusp of securing a deal for the Peruvian midfielder Rodrigo Vilca, for £250,000. The 21-year-old, who plays for Deportivo Municipal, will play his last game for the Lima club on Wednesday according to reports in Peru, before following in Nobby Solano’s footsteps and heading to Tyneside.