Wonder if there would still be football transfer gossip the day after England won the World Cup. Just a thought.

Anyway it may never come up, but we can make an educated guess. World Cup triumph, second Brexit referendum, nuclear war, the death of Mick Hucknall. Whatever the magnitude of the events elsewhere on earth, it seems hard to imagine a morning when there won’t be a story in the Mirror about Cristiano Ronaldo possibly leaving Real Madrid.

And, historic penalty shootout win against Colombia or not, today is no different. What’s more, this is no average story about Cristiano Ronaldo possibly leaving Real Madrid. This is time it’s for real. Or, at least, 95 per cent for real.

The Mirror claims the Portuguese superstar now appears “ALMOST CERTAIN” to sign for Italian champions Juventus (they used the capital letters in case we didn’t notice what they’d written).

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CR7 has reportedly been offered a £26.5m-a-year contract – a substantial increase on the measly £18.5m he earns at the Bernabeu – and the chances of a transfer are rated “as high as 95 per cent” by “some sources close to the Turin club”.

So the key, really, is to identify who these sources are and how “close to the club” they are actually are. Maybe it’s Ian Rush – he played for Juve once. Or Alex Mannninger.

Arsenal and Spurs chase Benjamin Pavard

As for players who are still actually in the World Cup, French breakout star Benjamin Pavard is being linked with a move to Arsenal and/or Tottenham.

Corriere dello Sport says the north London duo will take on Napoli to sign the 22-year-old defender, who has spent the last two seasons under the radar somewhat playing for Stuttgart.

The Italian newspaper also alleges that Manchester United have made a £50m move for AC Milan defender Alessio Romagnoli, having already made an offer for his central defensive partner Leonardo Bonucci. Both bids have been rejected by the Rossoneri, who have advised United to increase their offer for Romagnoli.

Arsenal manager Unai Emery wants to make a £30m move for Barcelona’s Portuguese midfielder Andre Gomes, reports the Independent. The 24-year-old was linked with Tottenham and West Ham this time last year, but is now evidently prepared to move to one of London’s smaller clubs to reignite his career.

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Meanwhile, Manchester City are finally set to complete the signings of Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez and Napoli midfielder Jorginho for a combined fee of £108m, says the Mirror. However, the term “finally” appears a very fluid one in this context as we have been repeatedly told the same thing for the past two months.

Elsewhere, Liverpool have made a move to sign Besiktas’ 29-year-old Croatian defender Domagoj Vida, who is also a target for Everton (Express), the Toffees are close to signing Rennes’ 23-year-old Algerian centre-back Ramy Bensebaini for £13.3m (Star) and Man Utd left-back Luke Shaw has returned early from his summer holiday to train alone (Mirror). What a sad tale – guess he prefers solitude to spending time with his manager Jose Mourinho.