Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang “is at the centre of a tug of war between Liverpool and Chelsea”, according to the Sun, though after that exciting introduction they go on to suggest neither of the English clubs will actually complete the “proposed £65m move”. Liverpool, it seems, “are reluctant to meet Borussia Dortmund’s valuation or the player’s £180,000-a-week wage demand”, which would appear to rule them out. Chelsea, meanwhile, want to rid themselves of Diego Costa before committing to anything and “risk missing out on the Gabon star as a result”. Still, nice story. The Evening Standard reports that “Dortmund have told Aubameyang that his future must be decided one way or the other by the time they go to Switzerland for a training camp on 24 July”, so the clock is very much ticking on this one.

Meanwhile, the hunt for Nemanja Matic is very much on. Arsenal want him so badly they’ll offer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in exchange, writes the Express, and though Manchester United are still interested the Mail announce that Chelsea “would ideally like to see him leave the Premier League” and that Juventus are willing to make that dream come true – a bid of £40m should make it happen. “Internazionale have also shown interest but will struggle to match his salary and contract wishes,” they add.

There are several new juicy transfer worms for today’s paper-buying early bird: Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be about to join LA Galaxy, who nimbly sidestepped questions about the possible deal on Thursday by demurely telling the Los Angeles Times that they “are always looking for players who can improve the team”; Arsenal are willing to sell Jack Wilshere for just £9m and Sampdoria are the most likely buyers; Roma have “made a £29m offer for Riyad Mahrez”, according to the Mail, having identified him as the ideal replacement for Mohamed Salah – if that doesn’t work out they’ll try to buy the significantly less whippet-heeled Samir Nasri instead – while Stoke are “very hopeful” about a season-long loan deal for Chelsea’s Kurt Zouma, and “want close to £30m” from West Ham for the transfer-request-issuing forward Marko Arnautovic.

So yes, there are new rumours. It’s just that most of today’s newspapers concentrate on significant updates of old ones. And updates on one long-running rumour most of all.

The Mill derives a special albeit somewhat mean-spirited pleasure from, in the hours before a major transfer is completed, newspapers becoming very specific about the details – yet somehow reporting quite different specifics. Kyle Walker’s imminent move to Manchester City is a case in point. “A basic £45m with a further £5m due in incentive add-ons,” writes the Express, and the Star agrees. “Reports last night even suggested additional clauses could eventually bring the fee as high as £53m,” continues the Express, which happens to be the precise figure specified in this morning’s Telegraph and Guardian. However the Mail says the “fee could rise to £54m”, and the Times is with them. What is not however in doubt is that he’s on his way to Manchester, and that he is costing an awful lot of money. “The right-back is set for a five-year deal worth about £150,000 a week,” writes the Mirror. “Bonuses will take that figure close to £200,000 – and City’s total investment [in transfer fees and wages over the course of his contract] to £100m.”

One hundred million pounds. For Kyle Walker.

City won’t stop spending there – they are also ready to complete a deal for the Monaco left-back Benjamin Mendy, whose value is estimated in this morning’s newspapers between £40m and another £50m. Mendy was left at home as his Monaco team-mates departed on their pre-season tour, which is precisely what has also happened to Gylfi Sigurdsson, another player for whom £50m is being demanded. He refused to join Swansea on their trip to America because – a club statement revealed – “he did not feel in the right frame of mind to travel”, or in other words because he’s busy packing for a more permanent departure.

Leicester and Tottenham are both interested, and the Mirror reports that Swansea are “attempting to ramp up the fee by sparking an auction between three clubs”, the most serious bidders being Everton. Ronald Koeman’s side find themselves in a uniquely cruel position: Swansea have “used Everton’s £50m valuation of Ross Barkley as their yardstick” in working out their asking price for the Icelandic goal machine, says the Express, while they themselves are “likely to have to drop their £50m asking price for Barkley”, says the Telegraph, because everybody – and more specifically Tottenham – has refused to pay it. If only they had valued Barkley at £40m they would already have signed Sigurdsson, having had a bid for that amount rejected, and wouldn’t be forced to consider a humiliating price cut for the young Englishman. They currently hope they will sign Sigurdsson for £42m, and also like the look of Bournemouth’s Josh King, with Tottenham again likely adversaries. Spurs have identified Porto’s Ricardo Pereira and Bayer Leverkusen’s Benjamin Henrichs as their favourite potential replacement right-backs.

In the coming days an event which we have all been waiting for for months will finally take place. That’s right, it’s the new season of Game of Thr … oh … it’s Real Madrid’s actual cash offer for David de Gea. They are ready to spend £50m, might be willing to stretch to £60m after a bit of negotiation, but will find that Manchester United will reject both offers. Bah.