Friday’s gossip: Torres, Timber, Rice, Caicedo, Veiga, Loftus-Cheek, Pulisic, Lukaku

BBC SPORTS

Aston Villa have agreed a £35m deal to sign Spain defender Pau Torres, 26, from Villarreal. (Guardian)

Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber, 22, is set to undergo a medical with Arsenal after they agreed an initial fee of 42m euros (£36.2m) with Ajax. (De Telegraaf – in Dutch)

West Ham are still waiting for Arsenal to present an acceptable payment plan for the £105m purchase of England midfielder Declan Rice, 24. (Sun)

Chelsea are pushing for an agreement with Brighton over the signing of Moises Caicedo, with the Ecuador midfielder, 21, having already agreed personal terms. (Fabrizio Romano)

Bayern Munich’s France defender Lucas Hernandez, 27, is on the cusp of a transfer to Paris St-Germain. (Fabrizio Romano) 

Celta Vigo’s Spanish midfielder Gabri Veiga, 21, has been identified by Chelsea as the ideal replacement for Manchester United-bound England midfielder Mason Mount, 24. (Standard)

Aston Villa are considering a loan move for Barcelona’s Spain winger Ferran Torres, 23, with a purchase option of 25m euros (£21.5m). (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish)

Former England midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 27, is in Italy to finalise a permanent move from Chelsea to AC Milan, who will next target Chelsea’s USA winger Christian Pulisic, 24. (Standard)

Man Utd agree on Mount deal

Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a target for Atletico Madrid and Spurs would be prepared to sell the 27-year-old Denmark international. (Mail)

England defender Eric Dier’s future is in question at Tottenham as he only has one year left on his contract and has not signed an extension but the 29-year-old wants to fight for his place under new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen are interested in Sheffield United’s England Under-20 forward Daniel Jebbison, 19. (90min)

Manchester United and Chelsea are both interested in Aston Villa’s Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, 30. (Football Transfers)

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has blocked English goalkeeper Tom Heaton, 37, from moving to Luton Town, amid continued uncertainty over the future of Spanish keeper David de Gea, 32. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Wilfried Zaha will become a free agent on Friday, but the Ivory Coast forward, 30, remains in dialogue with Crystal Palace so could agree a new deal. (Mail)

Arsenal’s Portuguese left-back Nuno Tavares, 23, is the subject of interest from West Ham. (iNews – subscription required)

Arsenal have succeeded in convincing English midfielder Ethan Nwaneri, 16, to commit his future to the club, despite interest from Chelsea and Manchester City. (Telegraph – subscription required)

Brazil’s 31-year-old forward Roberto Firmino, who left Liverpool after his contract expired, has agreed a deal to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli. (Guardian)

Borussia Dortmund’s move for Ajax midfielder Edson Alvarez has stalled and that could open the door for West Ham to try to sign the 25-year-old Mexico international. (90 Min)

Roma manager Jose Mourinho is eyeing a double swoop on Leicester City for Nigeria striker Kelechi Iheanacho, 26, and Zambia forward Patson Daka, 24. (Express)

Leicester’s former England striker Jamie Vardy, 36, has rejected interest from Saudi Arabian side Khaleej FC. (Guardian)

Daniel Farke is on the brink of becoming the new Leeds United manager, with the club hoping to have the German in place for the start of pre-season training next week. (Mail)

Former Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has emerged as a favourite to become boss of Ligue 1 side Strasbourg. (Mail)