A headline member of the midfield ranks at La Liga heavyweights Real Madrid was in the early hours of Saturday drawn on arch rivals Barcelona’s failure to land chief transfer target Nico

Joao Pedro has only just signed for Chelsea – but former teammate Troy Deeney believes the Brazilian could soon be attracting interest from other top clubs in Europe. The Brighton forward was wanted by several Premier League clubs this summer, but ultimately joined Chelsea for a fee of £60million.

Nico Williams has formally rejected a move to Barcelona by putting pen to paper on a surprise contract extension with Athletic Club. Personal terms had been agreed between Barcelona and Williams, whose release clause of €62 million ($72.