Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund reportedly agreed in January 2013 that Robert Lewandowski wouldn't be sold to Real Madrid.

Dortmund agreed to allow Lewandowski to eventually go to Bayern on a free transfer under the condition that Marco Reus wouldn't be pursued as well.

Reus has a €30 million buyout clause in his contract.

Dortmund’s Hans-Joachim Watzke and Bayern’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge agreed to the deal, but Rummenigge has since spoken openly about buying Reus.

Luis Enrique doesn't believe Barcelona needs to sign a replacement for Thomas Vermaelen, who could miss the rest of the season.

“Injuries are a normal part of football and it’s a process the players go through. This has been the case with Thomas since his arrival at the club. The team is fine, we have to support the player and as time passes quickly, he’ll soon be with us. In principal, there’s no intention to sign a reinforcement, although the plans of the club are another matter. We don’t have any doubts that in the future, Vermaelen has a lot to offer us.”

José Mourinho has dismissed rumors linking Lionel Messi to a £200 million transfer from Barcelona to Chelsea.

AS cited Argentine channel DirecTV, which claimed Messi had already spoken to Mourinho by phone, who gave his approval to the transfer.

"My reaction is that your world changed so much that our world also changed so much," said Mourinho. "And I think, in this moment, it's so easy, so easy to have non-truths circulating.

"It's so easy that some people put news without confirming or speaks about rumours. Obviously it's not true. Obviously it's not true."

Messi is reportedly unhappy at Barcelona and also living in Spain due to his prosecution on tax issues.

Carlo Ancelotti reportedly told Brazilian coach Tite that Marco Reus will be a target for Real Madrid.

Ancelotti is interested in Cruzeiro's 21-year-old holding midfielder Lucas Silva.

"Ancelotti told me that they could sign [Silva] and asked me if he could play in the position of [Luka] Modric or [Toni] Kroos, because he told me 'the president does not sign defenders,'" Tite said. "[Perez] wanted to sign Reus and Ancelotti asked him where he could fit him in."

Manchester United, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Juventus and Roma have also been linked to Silva.

Manchester City targeted Xabi Alonso during the summer of 2009 when he was leaving Liverpool.

City was beaten by Real Madrid, who offered Alonso a chance to play in Spain.

"Of course there were many players we wanted and couldn't get. There was also players offered to us who we didn't want," explained former head of player acquisition Mike Rigg.

"Naturally, we came close to big signings. There are loads and loads of players who I could name that we missed out on.

"I remember we came close to bringing in Xabi Alonso when he was on his way out of Liverpool. He was a player that we really liked and decided to target."

City had finished 10th in the Premier League during the 08-09 season and had already signed Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Robinho, Nigel de Jong and Craig Bellamy.

"We could have put more money into it than Real Madrid," said Rigg, alluding to the type of contract the Abu Dhabi-based ownership was willing to fund. "That wasn't a problem. Persuading the player was the issue."

City settled for buying Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

José Mourinho says Chelsea has no interest in a move for Marco Reus.

Reus has a €25 million buyout clause in his contract that becomes active in the summer and there have been links to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

"We are not interested, not at all," said Mourinho.

Arsenal has been linked to a €8 million winter transfer for Marcelo Brozovic, who is a 22-year-old midfielder on Dinamo Zagreb.

Brozovic is primarily a playmaker, but can be deployed in a more defensive role.

Arsenal scouts recently watched him play in Croatia's Euro 2016 match against Italy.

Zdravko Mamic insists Arsenal or any other clubs interested in Brozovic will have to come up with a significantly bigger number than that to stand a chance of signing him.

"We have no offers," he told sportski.net.

"If someone wants one of our key players, it can only be with a memorable bid, if they knock me off my feet [an offer too good to refuse]. That is my principle. And the numbers appearing in the media do not interest us."

Atlético Madrid have also been interested in Brozovic.

Manuel Pellegrini dismissed rumors that Lionel Messi may want to leave Barcelona and that he could end up with Manchester City.

"The rumours are only rumors," he stressed. "What he did was exceptional and there are few players that can reach his level.

"The record he has got reflects how important he is for Barcelona."

City are one of the only clubs in the world that could afford a transfer for Messi.

Lionel Messi may leave Spain after continuing to have tax issues, according to sources.

Messi earlier this year agreed a new €50m (£40m) salary with Barcelona and has complained that he is being singled out for special treatment compared with other elite sports players in Spain with disputed tax affairs.

Messi had his first run-in over tax last year when he was accused of concealing €4.1m earned from image rights in shell companies in Belize and Uruguay.

Under Spanish law, anyone who has more than €120,000 in undeclared income automatically faces a jail sentence, but this is generally waived if the offender agrees to pay. Messi paid an agreed €5m in settlement but the authorities have decided to force him to stand trial with the possibility of prison.

Sources close to Messi told the newspaper El Confidencial: “… there are other elite sportspeople who have tax problems and they’ve all been settled administratively, as was the case with Real Madrid players Xabi Alonso and Iker Casillas and tennis star Rafa Nadal. Messi is the only one who faces legal proceedings that could end with him going to jail. He’s fed up with Spain and that’s why he wants to leave.”

Messi has said he's wanted to finish his career at Barça, but that "sometimes things don't wor out as you planned."

In the current atmosphere of hostility between Catalonia and the Spanish government, the fact that the Real Madrid players settled out of court while Barcelona’s star faces criminal proceedings is seen as further evidence of an anti-Catalan conspiracy.

André Gomes has been heavily scouted by Barcelona and A Bola reports the club may have already had contact with his camp.

Gomes has made just 10 appearances for Valencia, but he's been impressive in the midfield while on a season-long loan from Benfica.

Gomes is just 21 and Barça sees him as a possible candidate to replace Xavi even though they're different types of players.