Manchester United have a couple of strikers they are keen on in the likely event Marcus Rashford is sold, while Chelsea have a three-man shortlist to strengthen in defence in January and Aston Villa’s expectations for the winter transfer window have been revealed – all thanks to your questions in our AMA with Fraser Fletcher.
Fraser stepped up to answer your questions this Friday and you got some great information out of him, with plenty of clubs’ plans being uncovered ahead of the upcoming transfer window.
Here are some of the highlights from the Ask Me Anything session, which you can catch up with in full here.
MARCUS RASHFORD LATEST
Rashford’s future at Man Utd is the subject of much attention at the moment after Ruben Amorim’s recent omissions of the forward and the player’s subsequent claims he is open to taking on a ‘new challenge’.
Naturally, there are a lot of questions around the situation and Fraser was able to answer the ones you sent in.
Asked if Rashford’s departure from Man Utd was imminent, Fraser revealed: “Yes, very. United are happy to sell and he has many options, France, Spain, Saudi and England are options but his time at United has come to an end. Club sources say they would rather sell sooner rather than later. I’d be very surprised if we don’t hear of major movement in the coming weeks.”
As for who could replace the England forward, talk of a move for Victor Osimhen has been played down due to his high wage demands, but Man Utd have been revealed as ‘one of the clubs most keen’ on PSG’s Randal Kolo Muani and could consider a move for Ipswich’s Liam Delap.
In other areas, potential Man Utd targets Fraser said to look out for are Atalanta’s Ederson and Rosenborg’s Sverre Nypan.
CHELSEA CENTRE-BACK SEARCH
It has been an impressive start to the season for Chelsea, so what could be the next phase of their squad tweaking?
Thanks to your questions, Fraser has revealed that Chelsea view the centre-back position as a bigger priority than up front, and it would be a ‘surprise’ if the Blues don’t sign a new defender in January.
Three options are on the shortlist: Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi, Benfica’s Tomas Araujo and Bournemouth’s Illia Zabarnyi.
They have been in contact multiple times for Araujo, whom they are ‘huge fans of’.
ASTON VILLA JANUARY STRATEGY
Asked about Aston Villa’s multiple areas of need in their squad, Fraser explained how the club are ‘most likely to be active later in the window as opportunities arrive’ as they aim to avoid any PSR risks.
One player they admire is PAOK forward Stefanos Tzimas.
ARSENAL INS AND OUTS
Also in the market for a forward are Arsenal, but Fraser has warned that Viktor Gyokeres – despite being hugely admired by Mikel Arteta – could be beyond their price range for midway through the season.
Like Man Utd, though, they could be in the mix for PSG’s Randal Kolo Muani thanks to his cheaper price tag.
And, following up on our recent story, Fraser predicts that Kieran Tierney will return to Celtic from Arsenal – and that could even happen via a loan deal in January before a free transfer in the summer.
STOKE PLANS
It wasn’t just the Premier League we were talking about, since there were plenty of questions about Stoke City for Fraser to get his teeth into as well.
The future of Tom Cannon will be a big topic while he is on loan from Leicester, and Fraser explained that the Foxes ‘don’t look like re-calling him’ at the moment. Not only that, but the striker ‘is not opposed’ to staying at Stoke permanently after Narcis Pelach asked for him to be kept.
As for what the Potters want to add, the key focuses will be on strength and height, with Pelach sending scouts to Spain. But in terms of outgoings, they have been warned to be wary of interest in Bae Jun-ho.