Barcelona and Juventus to battle it out for PSG and Real Madrid superstars, Chelsea asked to pay world record transfer fee for Real Madrid superstar and more: Transfer Round-up, December 1, 2018

Hello and welcome to Sportskeeda's daily transfer roundup. The festive season is here and we wish all our readers a wonderful December. We're now officially under a month away from the January transfer window and the average football fan's life is going to get a lot more interesting over the coming days.

With teams now looking at the winter transfer window just as intently as the summer one, a lot of big deals are expected to go over the line in January. With some of the biggest clubs in Europe still struggling to find their feet in the new season, expect some high-profile moves to happen.

Without further ado, let's dive right in and take a look at the top transfer stories that made headlines on the 1st of December, 2018.

Manchester United's club transfer record bid for Koulibaly rejected by Napoli

Koulibaly might end up staying at Napoli

As per Calcio Mercato via Corriere Dello Sport (newspaper edition), Manchester United were willing to offer €103 million (£91m) for centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly. However, the Napoli top brass rejected the offer as they remain determined to hold on to their defender.

Meanwhile, SportWitness did some digging and came out with the TyC Sport from almost 2 weeks ago that the Serie A giants want no less than €115 million for the 27-year-old.

Koulibaly possesses all the qualities that Jose Mourinho and co. are looking for in a centre-back. He is quite a big presence at the back and dispenses his defensive duties with aplomb. The Senegalese defender is also good with the ball at his feet and can help play the ball out from the back and could prove to be a great partner for the improving Victor Lindelof.

Manchester United are desperate. However, it remains to be seen whether or not they'll be willing to spend that much money on a centre-back.

Arsenal hoping to beat Tottenham Hotspur to Hoffenheim's Nadiem Amiri

Arsenal are hoping that their rapport with German club Hoffenheim will come in handy as they pursue the talented 22-year-old German attacking midfielder, according to TalkSport via Sport Bild.

Both the North London clubs are reportedly interested in Amiri and are monitoring his situation as he recovers from a foot injury. He is yet to feature for the club this season. The report claims that there is a clause in Amiri's contract that could help Arsenal sign him for as cheap as £15 million in the summer transfer window.

Arsenal are banking on their good relationship with Hoffenheim to put one over on their rivals. Arsenal youngster Reiss Nelson is on loan at Hoffenheim and has already scored 6 goals for the German club this term.

It is also suggested that Arsenal might offer Hoffenheim the chance to extend Reiss Nelson's loan deal by a year if that facilitates Amiri's move.

Joel Matip quells speculation that he is set for Anfield exit

Joel Matip is one player who has suffered owing to the emergene of Joe Gomez and it has been recently speculated that the defender, disgruntled by the lack of playing time is looking for a move away from the club.

With Gomez and Van Dijk forming a strong partnership at the centre of the Liverpool defence and Dejan Lovren being Klopp's trusted alternative, Matip has fallen down the pecking order.

However, the Cameroon international has now brushed off any suggestions that he is looking for an out.

Matip told the Evening Standard,

“I only concentrate now on the season on Liverpool and there’s nothing else in my mind. Everything else would only distract me.

“I’ve got to wait for my opportunity, I have to work hard - this is the life of a player.

“I try to be in the best form I can be and to be ready if I had to be."

With the Merseyside derby coming up on Sunday, Matip is focused on the game even though he is unlikely to feature for the Reds.

“You see the atmosphere and then you know that the next 90 minutes it will be [difficult]. Every game is a fight but this will be a massive fight."

Barcelona and Juventus to go head to head for Real Madrid and PSG stars

According to Spanish newspaper Sport via Calcio Mercato, Barcelona and Juventus are all set to engage in transfer warfare in a bid to sign Adrien Rabiot. However, there is a twist in the tale.

Barcelona have, according to the report, emerged as frontrunners to sign Adrien Rabiot as Juventus are now put on alert about Real Madrid's unsettled superstar Isco. Juventus' first choice is Isco as of now as Max Allegri has been a long-term admirer of the midfielder.

This means that despite reviving their interest in Rabiot, Juventus are now tempted to leave that pursuit and go all out for Isco.

Chelsea asked to trigger Isco's £620m release clause by Real Madrid

OkDiario continues to insist that Isco will not be allowed to abandon ship this January and in furtherance of that plan, Real Madrid have asked Chelsea to cough up a ridiculous £620 million (the Spaniard's release clause) if they are hoping to sign him.

Isco was expected to become a regular feature under the tutelage of Julen Lopetegui. However, that didn't work out and he has now fallen down the pecking order after Solari took over at the helm.

Isco did not start or feature on the bench as Real Madrid breezed past Serie A giants AS Roma in their UEFA Champions League fixture on Tuesday. Consequently, Isco is looking for a way out of the Santiago Bernabeu.

Florentino Perez, meanwhile, is determined to make bank with Isco's sale and given his reluctance to sell Isco halfway through the season, the club has asked potential suitors Chelsea to shell out £620 million for the midfielder.

Though Isco is a fantastic player, there is little chance that clubs would want to pay even a quarter of that sum to land him in January.