It has been a while since Silvio Berlusconi has scoffed his face full of marquee signings, with Milan fairly passive in the swashbuckling transfer market ever since splashing £17m-odd on Mario Balotelli.

José Mourinho stops short of ruling out China move for Wayne Rooney Read more

But now they are going to let loose and dust off the chequebook, because they are looking at not one but rather three of Europe’s most feared forwards. Arsenal’s Alexis Sánchez heads the shopping list, in capital letters and permanent marker, while Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero and Juventus’ Álvaro Morata are not far behind, scribbled in pencil. Meanwhile, around the corner, Internazionale officials are happy to sanction the sale of Ivan Perisic, with Chelsea dead keen on the Croatia forward.

City could make a daring move themselves, though, for they have the eyes for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Everton are keen too, with Arsène Wenger seemingly not so. Manchester United want rid of Daley Blind so they can refocus the lens on Benfica’s Victor Lindelof and Real Madrid’s Pepe, who is also a target for Hebei China Fortune after being told by Zinedine Zidane he is not part of his long-term project. Also in east Asia, an unnamed Chinese Super League club are dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on a mouthwatering £1m-a-week pay packet for Wayne Rooney.

Liverpool could be in for a busy summer too. It says here they like what they have seen at the London Stadium - and not just the damp squib atmosphere. They like Pedro Obiang, and are willing to pay West Ham United a cool £18m for his services. At least if they get Obiang through the door, it will soften the blow of losing out on Julian Brandt and Mahmoud Dahoud, who have turned their noses up at a move to Anfield in favour of a switch to Real and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

And in one of the Mill’s stranger tales to date, indifferent Barcelona are looking to a Watford man to solve all of their problems. Not Troy Deeney nor Ben Watson, but Juanfran Moreno, who is yet to kick a ball for the Hornets. The full-back has spent the last two seasons on loan at Deportivo La Coruña since supposedly rocking up at Vicarage Road in 2014.

Finally, there’s only one man for the job at Blackburn Rovers after Owen Coyle’s timely departure: Tim Sherwood. The current Swindon director of football is said to be wooing the Blackburn’s Venky’s owners, as is the former physio Nigel Adkins, with both keen on the post.