Chelsea starlet Lewis Baker will spend the 2015-16 season on loan at Vitesse Arnhem in the Dutch Eredivisie.

The England Under 20 captain is contracted to Chelsea for a further four years and ended last season by helping MK Dons win automatic promotion to the Championship during another loan spell.  

The Blues have an established link with Vitesse and will hope the time spent abroad can help to speed up his development.

Northampton Town have signed Adam Smith on a two-year contract after the goalkeeper was sacked by Leicester City for taking part in a ‘racist orgy’ in Bangkok.

Smith was filmed with team-mates Tom Hopper and James Pearson – the 22-year-old son of manager Nigel – committing sex acts with three Thai girls in which one was racially abused.

The naked players were caught hurling insults during the clip, shared among friends back in the UK, with one woman called a ‘slit eye’ and another taunted as ‘minging’.

JACK GAUGHAN: The soundbites were positive on Luis Suarez’s departure this time last year: Liverpool would be reinvesting the millions they received from Barcelona and their assault for Premier League glory would continue unabated.

Suarez himself was irreplaceable. Steven Gerrard admitted as much in an interview with BT Sport this week. Regardless, the money swelling into the Anfield coffers meant they were capable of strengthening in areas where they had been let down in season previous.

Gerrard referenced slipping up against lesser teams in the 2013-14 campaign as to the reason why they were pipped to the title by Manchester City. The defeat away at Hull City springs to mind. So too when Southampton rocked up on Merseyside in the September and won 1-0.

Will they be remembered as yet more misadventures?

West Ham will make either Charlie Austin or Loic Remy their top summer transfer target once they have completed a deal for Alex Song.

The Hammers want to build a squad which can challenge on both the Premier League and Europa League fronts this season.

They have already landed midfielder Dimitri Payet from Marseille and hope to re-sign last season’s loan star Song from Barcelona on a permanent deal.

MIKE KEEGAN: Manchester City are increasingly confident they will win the race to sign Paul Pogba.

On Friday morning it was claimed City believed they had beaten Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid in the race to secure the services of the dynamic 22-year-old for a British-record fee.

Sportsmail understands that while a move for Pogba is far from close to completion, there is a belief at the Etihad Stadium that Manuel Pellegrini may well welcome the Frenchman, who left United on a free three years ago, into the fold ahead of next season.

JACK GAUGHAN: Dejan Lovren, was one of a trio who swapped the south coast for the north-west. Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert were also moved through the Melwood doors, with Nathaniel Clyne the next to join them after Liverpool agreed a £10.5million deal – plus £2m in additional clauses – on Thursday.

That means their cash spent on four Saints players in 12 months stands at £61.5m, with the general consensus being that the expenditure hasn’t yet paid off. They were way behind Chelsea’s chasing pack last season. Sportsmail takes a look at the Southampton story and wonders whether the quartet will be mentioned in the same breath as Liverpool’s ill-though post-2002 World Cup signings. Think El-Hadji Diouf. Think Salif Diao.

CLICK HERE for a full breakdown.

West Ham are close to clinching a £10.7million deal to sign France midfielder Dimitri Payet from Marseille after the player flew into London to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms. 

The French international’s proposed transfer has dragged on for a number of weeks and it’s one the fans have been particularly excited about.

So what kind of a player will the Hammers be getting? 

Click HERE for all you need to know about Payet.

MIKE KEEGAN: He was the first signing of the David Moyes era and – like the Scot – many Manchester United fans may have forgotten about him after he left for Spain.

But Guillermo Varela could be about to make the breakthrough at Old Trafford following a stint honing his skills abroad at none other than Real Madrid.

United and the Spanish giants are currently at loggerheads over the futures of David de Gea and Sergio Ramos.

TOM BELLWOOD: Petr Cech will undergo his medical at Arsenal as the final touches to the £11million move across London from rivals Chelsea are completed.

Sportsmail revealed on Monday that Cech had agreed a move to the Gunners and is now completing the formalities. 

Following lengthy talks between Chelsea and the Gunners, the move to take Cech from west London to north London on a three-year deal, worth in the region of £100,000-per-week is close to being finalised. 

ANTHONY HAY: Bastian Schweinsteiger has been urged by Franz Beckenbauer to snub interest from Manchester United in order to prolong his stay at Bayern Munich.

Bayern Munich legend Beckenbauer, who represented the Bundesliga giants from 1964 to 1977, has told Schweinsteiger to stay at the German champions for another two years before retiring in America. 

Beckenbauer said of Schweinsteiger’s future: ‘I would advise him not to go to England. He can stay here as well. This challenge, at his age, it’s not what he needs.

ANTHONY HAY: Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has stepped up his attempt to find a new club by taking to Instagram to show off his fitness.

Johnson, who was released from Liverpool at the end of the season, uploaded four videos of himself being put through his paces by a fitness instructor.

The 30-year-old is videoed taking part in several fitness exercises such as weight training, hitting a tyre with a hammer and punching pads while donning boxing gloves.

JACK GAUGHAN: Mainz are so enraged with the behaviour of Gonzalo Jara this week that they are willing to cut their losses and get rid this summer.

The former West Brom full back has been playing in the Bundesliga since leaving the Hawthorns this time last year.

But the club are ready to sell Jara already after his deplorable antics at the Copa America.

MIKE KEEGAN: Manchester United will demand a world record fee for a goalkeeper from Real Madrid for David de Gea.

Old Trafford officials are not concerned by the fact the Spaniard, 24, only has a year left on his contract and can leave for nothing next summer.

They believe the value of keeping De Gea for another year far outweighs any bid below the £32.6m Juventus paid Parma for Gianluigi Buffon in 2001.

SIMON JONES: Tottenham midfielder Paulinho is close to joining Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande for a £15million fee. 

The 26-year-old Brazilian has failed to make an impact in the first-team at White Hart Lane and now looks set to be offloaded. 

Guangzhou are coached by Paulinho’s former Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and he will be offered a lucrative pay-packet to make the journey out to the far East.

CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST: Barcelona have joined Premier League champions Chelsea in the race to sign Atletico Madrid star Arda Turan, according to reports in Spain. 

Mundo Deportivo led with their exclusive story ‘Arda the Bomb’ which suggests the Catalan giants have lined up the Turkey captain as a summer arrival. 

The 28-year-old has two years left on his contract with the Spanish outfit and has been strongly linked with a move away from the Vicente Calderon this summer.

SIMON JONES: Robin van Persie has reiterated his desire for regular first-team football as he considers his Manchester United future.

The 31-year-old, who is on holiday, has one year left on contract and needs to play to be in contention for the Dutch national side at next year’s European Championships.

Talking to ELF Voetbal, he said: ‘When I signed for United, I knew these kind of (reports) would appear. Next year is the European Championship. That tournament is going to play a big role in the choice I will make.’

MIKE KEEGAN: Nathaniel Clyne is set to become the latest arrival at Anfield this summer as Brendan Rodgers continues to do more early business than a milkman with insomnia.

Few on the Kop would tell you the Southampton full back is not an upgrade on Glen Johnson, still waiting out on the front step after being released on a free transfer.

It is a tale of two trajectories.

Click HERE for the full analysis 

CHRIS WHEELER: Turkey’s teenage sensation Enes Unal will fly into England this weekend to complete his £2million move to Manchester City.

City have held off long-standing interest from Chelsea and several other Premier League clubs including Manchester United and Arsenal to sign the 18-year-old Bursaspor striker.

The Turkish club’s president Recep Bolukbasi confirmed the deal on Thursday, saying: ‘We have an agreement with Manchester City. Enes will go to England at the weekend to complete the transfer.’

CHRIS WHEELER AND SIMON JONES: Manchester United’s £35million bid for Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos has been rejected.

Madrid informed Ramos of their decision when chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez met the player and his representatives for summit talks at the club’s Valdebebas training headquarters.

Ramos, 29, left for a holiday telling the club that he wants his future resolved by the time the squad meet on July 10 before Real’s tour to Australia and China.

SIMON JONES: Bournemouth have signed Ipswich Town defender Tyrone Mings in an £8million deal.

The club record fee will include add-ons based on performances for the 22-year-old who has signed a four-year contract following a medical. The deal will be announced on Friday.

Bournemouth are also ready to send midfielder Ryan Fraser to Ipswich for a season on loan as part of the deal.

With the opening of the transfer window just days away, managers are beginning to close in on some of their top transfer targets.

Yesterday was another busy one as Manchester United made an offer for Sergio Ramos, Liverpool had a bid accepted for Nathaniel Clyne and Bournemouth agreed a deal for Tyrone Mings.

Let’s hope for another action-packed day.