Palace poised to sign Atalanta defender Ahanor on loan
Forest closing in on Palace’s Muñoz in £22m deal
Nick Woltemade is close to a loan move from Newcastle to Juventus, a year after arriving at Newcastle in a club record £69m deal from Stuttgart.
The gifted Germany forward has struggled to impose himself amid the high-intensity gameplans choreographed first by Eddie Howe and now Matthias Jaissle at St James’ Park.
Juventus are one of a handful of clubs – a still interested Borussia Dortmund are among the others – to have inquired about Woltemade’s availability and Newcastle are in negotiations with the Turin club regarding a move involving a loan fee of about £5m.
Any switch for the 24-year-old appears contingent on a forward arriving at St James’ Park, with Lille’s Matias Fernandez-Pardo top of Jaissle’s shopping list and, given the slow pace of negotiations with Lille, Stuttgart’s Morocco international Bilal El Khannouss not far behind.
Woltemade is unlikely to be the only player leaving before Tuesday night’s deadline. The winger Jacob Murphy is wanted by Nottingham Forest, Nick Pope – Jaissle’s third-choice goalkeeper – is looking for a new club and Besiktas retain an interest in Joe Willock.
Pope, who started last season as Howe’s first choice and harboured then-realistic ambitions to be part of England’s World Cup squad, wants first-team football after falling behind the new signings Lukas Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen.
Willock has impressed Jaissle and, despite offers from Istanbul, an exit that looked inevitable under Howe may be postponed.
Everton are in talks with Monaco over a deal to sign the striker Folarin Balogun after agreeing to sell Beto to Fiorentina. The United States international has attracted interest all summer after impressing at the World Cup, where he gained notoriety for having his red card overturned.
Although born in New York, Balogun was brought up in London and started his career at Arsenal. He made 10 senior Arsenal appearances, and had loans at Middlesbrough and Reims, before being sold in 2023 to Monaco, where he was the player of the year last season after scoring 13 goals in 30 Ligue 1 appearances.
Balogun is regarded as a replacement for Beto, who is due to undergo a medical with Fiorentina after an offer of about £15m was accepted.
Crystal Palace are poised to sign the Atalanta defender Honest Ahanor on loan. The 18-year-old will join Chelsea on a permanent deal for £40m next summer but is due to gain experience of English football by spending this season at Palace.
Palace have signed Axel Disasi on loan from Chelsea so would not have been able to borrow Ahanor if he had completed his transfer to Stamford Bridge during this window.
Palace have had a disappointing start, losing their first two games under Pierre Sage, and face an uncertain end to the window. Nottingham Forest are closing on a £22m deal to sign the Colombia wing-back Daniel Muñoz but have had a bid for Dean Henderson rejected. Liverpool are monitoring the Senegal winger Ismaïla Sarr but Palace are determined not to sell Sarr or the midfielder Adam Wharton, who is of interest to Chelsea.
Hull City are interested in taking Dario Essugo on loan from Chelsea. The midfielder joined from Sporting last summer but is not part of Xabi Alonso’s plans.
