How USMNT's Folarin Balogun closed in on a move to Monaco

Bayern Munich are set to sign Maccabi Tel Aviv goalkeeper Daniel Peretz in a deal worth €5million (£4.2m).

The 23-year-old Israel international is scheduled to fly to Munich on Friday morning for a medical with the Bundesliga side, and is expected to sign a four-year contract.

Peretz enjoyed an impressive season with the Israeli Premier League side last season, as he kept 25 clean sheets and conceded just 32 goals.

He also made his senior international debut, before joining up with the Israel Under-21 side for the European Championship this summer.

Peretz continued his goalkeeping heroics at the tournament as he saved three penalties — two against Germany and during a quarter-final shootout versus Georgia — helping Israel reach the semi-finals.

Bayern Munich have been in search of goalkeeping reinforcements as their No 1 Manuel Neuer continues his recovery from a leg fracture sustained last December.

The reigning Bundesliga champions won their opening league game of the 2023-24 campaign, with their next fixture against Augsburg on Sunday.

Al Ittihad have already signed Mohamed Salah's former Liverpool team-mate Fabinho.

Their first real statement arrival of the summer was Karim Benzema from Real Madrid, but they have since added N’Golo Kante from Chelsea and Jota from Celtic.

Former West Bromwich Albion defender Ahmed Hegazi captained the side to the league title last season, their ninth such honour and first since 2009.

Ex-Wolves and Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo is in charge.

They share the 62,000-capacity King Abdullah Sports City stadium with Al Ahli, but their biggest rivalry is perhaps with Al Hilal, which has been dubbed the ‘Saudi Clasico’.

Al Ittihad sit top of the early SPL standings on goal difference, having won both of their games so far.

Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder James Maddison was not pictured in training today ahead of his side's visit to Bournemouth on Saturday.

Maddison had a scan on Monday to assess a foot injury he sustained during last Saturday's victory over Manchester United.

The 26-year-old was seen leaving the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches and wearing a protective boot, though he told reporters they were just a precaution.

Maddison played the full 90 minutes against and was again impressive as Tottenham ran out 2-0 winners.

Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou is due to speak to the media tomorrow ahead of the Bournemouth game and is expected to give an update on Maddison's condition.

"It’s important for me to be in a Muslim country"

Mohamed Salah is the latest to be linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League, with Benzema's Al Ittihad again interested in a move for the Egypt international as we have just reported.

Karim Benzema spoke of his faith as he began a rush of players to Saudi Arabia this summer and officials say they are targetting Muslim players.

Ali Humayun explores its significance in a billion-dollar football revolution, its role in the game's growth and what awaits Muslims and non-Muslims

Ross Barkley could face his former side Chelsea on Friday evening.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who spent four years at Chelsea, joined top-flight newcomers Luton Town on a free transfer this month and is in contention to make his debut for the club when they make a trip to Stamford Bridge.

"He could indeed," Luton manager Rob Edwards said when asked if the England international was fit enough to be in contention.

"He's been training with us obviously now for a couple of weeks. We've been delighted with him. So he's certainly in the mix."

Barkley, capped 33 times by his country, was a free agent after leaving Ligue 1 club Nice this summer.

He has made 232 Premier League appearances for boyhood club Everton, Chelsea and Aston Villa and played for England at the 2014 World Cup.

As we have just reported, Monaco and Arsenal remain in negotiations over Folarin Balogun.

While his club future may be up in the air, earlier this year he made a decision on his international future by swapping allegiance from England to the USMNT.

The forward, who played for the U.S. at under-18 level before switching to England, could have represented either country as he was born in Brooklyn, New York but moved to London when he was two years old. He was also eligible to represent Nigeria.

Read more below on his decision to choose the USMNT...

Monaco and Arsenal remain in negotiations over Folarin Balogun.

The Ligue 1 side had a verbal proposal for the 22-year-old USMNT international rejected following a pre-season friendly between the clubs earlier this month before a written offer was also knocked back.

Monaco’s sporting director, Thiago Scuro, has a strong relationship with Edu, his opposite number at Arsenal, and talks are ongoing between the clubs.

Monaco are in need of striking reinforcements following Switzerland international Breel Embolo's ACL rupture, an injury that will likely sideline him for “several months”.

Balogun spent last season on loan in France with Stade Reims, scoring 21 Ligue 1 goals in 37 appearances.

Fulham head coach Marco Silva has ruled out a move for Juventus forward Moise Kean.

Kean, 23, has been linked with a move to the Premier League following the departure of Aleksandar Mitrovic to Al Hilal.

But Silva poured cold water on the rumour when speaking just now, saying: "Moise Kean is not a solution for us.

"I don't like to speak about players, but I want to clarify this situation."

Kean has previous experience in the Premier League, having scored twice in 29 appearances for Everton during the 2019-20 season before embarking on loan spells at PSG and back at Juventus.

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke says that forward Wilfried Gnonto has apologised to him after he refused to play for the club earlier this month.

Despite withdrawing from the squad for the games against West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City earlier this month, the 19-year-old has since returned to training and made amends with his manager who warned him that he will be “given a second chance but not a third”.

The Italy international had been linked with a move away from the club and submitted a formal transfer request last week. However, after talks with his manager is set to be reintegrated into the side.

Farke also confirmed that Colombia international Luis Sinnisterra has returned to training after sorting out his contractual issues.

He said: “At the beginning of the week he (Gnonto) came to see me, to explain his thoughts. He apologised, he made a mistake.

“We must not forget we’re speaking about a 19-year-old boy. I had an understanding that he was distracted by offers. He is an Italy international and he has concerns about the national team.

"What is not acceptable is that he is not professional, saying he’s not ready to play when we ask him to play. You have to show some steel or resilience. Not to play is not acceptable.

“When a player behaves like this, you have to make sure as a club you’re not blackmailed. You send a message to the players who are here and the outside world that no-one plays games with Leeds United. We don’t rely on one player. This is the way you should lead a club.

“If Willy has learned his lesson — he has apologised — then I’m always open to give such a young player a second chance. He also 100 per cent knows there is no third chance. Right now it’s up to him to win all the love, the trust and support back. The ball is in his court.”

Leeds are next in action against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Saturday.

Aymeric Laporte’s move from Manchester City to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League may seem a surprising move to some.

The 29-year-old had hoped for a move to a bigger club and his dream would have been either Barcelona or Real Madrid, but they were not ready to make a move.

As our City correspondent Sam Lee explains, there was some interest and there were some offers from elsewhere, but none were especially convincing as far as Laporte was concerned.

Read more below on the centre-back's Saudi move and his time at City...

Mauricio Pochettino has not yet ruled out a return to the Chelsea first-team for Romelu Lukaku.

The 30-year-old has been training with the youth team after returning from a loan spell back at Inter Milan last season and was not included in Chelsea's pre-season tour squad.

Chelsea have struggled in front of goal so far this season and a serious injury to Christopher Nkunku has led to talk that Lukaku could be in line for a place in Pochettino's first-team squad.

The Argentinian coach said earlier on that there had not been a conversation with Lukaku over a return, saying: "The situation didn't change, but in football all things can happen. I don’t know what will happen in the future but until now, the situation didn’t change.

"The situation was really clear before we arrived here. That was a wish between the club and the player to try to find a solution (in the market). At the moment, we are really relaxed. If something changes we will inform you, but at the moment nothing has changed.

"In football, all things can change. I saw Klopp say, 'I’m not going to be in this business when a club pays £100m', then they offered £100m (for Caicedo) and he said, ‘Oh, I made a mistake’. That is the same situation.

"In football, the dynamic is really fast and can change. We need to move on. At the moment, today, nothing changed. If something changes, we'll adapt to the situation."

Pochettino also confirmed that Chelsea are "trying to something" with regards to adding another attacking option to the Chelsea squad.

"We need a bit of help now, but it’s going to be (better) when all the players are fit," he said. "We're trying to find the right profile.

"The most important thing is the profile of the player we need to add to the squad, who won't be a problem (after everyone is fit). That is why it's not easy."

Aymeric Laporte has completed his €27.5million (£23.5m) move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr.

The 29-year-old defender struggled for minutes at Manchester City last season, making only 12 Premier League appearances, and was not included in the squad for Saturday's 1-0 victory over Newcastle.

Laporte had also seen his competition at City increase over the summer, with Josko Gvardiol — a fellow left-footed centre-back — arriving from RB Leipzig for €90million (£77.6m, $98.6m).

Al Nassr have already signed Sadio Mane, Marcelo Brozovic, Seko Fofana, Otavio and Alex Telles amid the Saudi Pro League’s summer of big spending. They also brought in Cristiano Ronaldo last December following his exit from Manchester United.

Everton manager Sean Dyche has confirmed that striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin will miss the visit of Wolves this weekend, while midfielder Alex Iwobi will be out for "a few weeks".

Calvert-Lewin, 26, is seeing a specialist tomorrow because the swelling in his facial injury needs to settle down. Iwobi, meanwhile, picked up a hamstring injury during that match and faces a spell out on the sidelines.

New signing Jack Harrison has not trained with the group since joining on loan from Leeds United but is "back out on the grass".

On transfers, Dyche said that Everton do not "have a pot of gold".

"They (new signings) don't come cheap or walk in here for nothing," the 52-year-old added. "So you need to find ways of constructing deals that another club would agree to, a player would agree to and an agent would agree to.

"The deals we're trying to do are the ones we can do. That (signing Youssef Chermiti from Sporting Lisbon) was one we could do."

Manchester United defender Brandon Williams has joined Ipswich Town in a season-long loan deal.

The 22-year-old is set to be reunited with former United youth-team coach Kieran McKenna at the Championship side. Williams spoke on the Ipswich Town manager's influence on his career, telling the club website: "We have had a great relationship.

"He has always had the standards of a coach at the top level and has had a big influence on me."

Williams, who made his United first-team debut in 2019, has made 51 appearances for the Old Trafford club and previously spent a season on loan at Norwich City.

Ipswich Town have begun the Championship season strongly, winning their opening three fixtures. They host Leeds United on Saturday as they aim to extend their unbeaten start to the 2023-24 league campaign.