Chelsea 'submit offer' for £25m Leverkusen ace as ex-Aston Villa told not to sign £45m 'lost' midfielder

The summer transfer window is just heating up. There’s still plenty of time left for deals to be made - what is happening in the Premier League rumour mill today?

Chelsea and Aston Villa are both said to be interested in a Bayer Leverkusen star - meanwhile, an ex-Villa player has advised his former club against signing an England-capped midfielder.

Chelsea and Aston Villa linked with Bayer Leverkusen’s Maximilian Beier

Both Chelsea and Aston Villa have made an offer for Bayer Leverkusen forward Maximilian Beier, according to a report from Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg.

In a post on his official X (formerly Twitter) page, Plettenberg wrote: “Chelsea and Aston Villa have submitted concrete offers to Maximilian Beier. Two more top clubs from abroad have made contact in the last hours. Leverkusen, still in the race.

“But no club has started negotiations with Hoffenheim yet. No total verbal agreements with the player have been reached. Final decision within the next 14 days. The 21 y/o talented striker with a release clause of €30m.”

Dean Saunders advises Aston Villa against signing Kalvin Phillips

Former Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders has given some advise to their recruitment team - he thinks they should refrain from trying to sign Manchester City’s Kalvin Phillips in the summer.

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Saunders mused: “Kalvin Phillips made his name under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds. A defensive midfield player filling in while everybody else was going forward, seeing things, doing a job intercepting counter attacks.

“(He was) brilliant at it. Quick over the ground, getting in snuffing out before they happen. He gets transferred to man city for big money, couldn’t get a look in, (and) it looks to me as if he’s just like lost heart, lost confidence.

“He’s lost all his belief and confidence. And when you confidence goes… I mean, if I went eight games without scoring I couldn’t even control the ball! Like, everything’s like an effort you know and your belief goes. You start thinking you’re a bad player.”