Rounding up the freshest Premier League transfer rumours, with news from Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and more
It’s once again time to run through some of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours that have started doing the media rounds over the last 24 hours – and we’re kicking today’s digest off up at Old Trafford, where Manchester United are apparently getting closer to a big double deal.
Caught Offside allege that the Red Devils are “making major progress” on signing both Ipswich Town striker Liam Delap and Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo and are now “clear favourites” to complete both signing despite interest from other sides.
Delap, in particular, has plenty of suitors but his “preference for now” is to make the move to United regardless of likely competition from Chelsea. Nottingham Forest were also said to be on the hunt earlier this week.
Elsewhere, the same website state that Inter Milan are set to make a loan move for misfiring summer signing Joshua Zirkzee, with an option to buy. It isn’t clear whether United will accept such a bid or not.
The 3AM Verdict: There’s a real lack of financial details here, which you’d expect if we were really all that close to deals happening, but there’s nothing inherently hard to believe beyond the question of whether United would sign three forwards – a move for Matheus Cunha still looksextremely probable. His and Delap’s release clauses alone would account for over £90m of spending.
Arsenal send scouts to watch £67m rising star
Down to the capital now, where Arsenal have reportedly sent their chief scout to cast an eye over Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande – at least, according to GiveMeSport, who cite Portuguese newspaper Record as their source.
The 21-year-old centre-half has an €80m (£67m) release clause in his contract with the Portuguese champions, but the Gunners are “confident” that they could snap the Ivorian international up for less than that.
Not that Diomande is their first choice – the report reckons that Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen is their preferred target, but with several other side keen on the young Spaniard, Diomande is being considered as an alternative. It’s worth noting that Arsenal have been alleged to be interested in Diomande since as far back as 2023.
The 3AM Verdict: We keep being mildly surprised by the number of stories suggesting that Arsenal are looking to spend big on a centre-back, but they crop up often enough that we can’t dismiss them. Diomande is probably a long shot at this point, and this feels more like due diligence that a statement of definite interest to us.
Liverpool striker deal at ‘advanced stage’
Finally, a rumour for the Liverpool fans amongst you – Sport Witness have spotted stories from Italy which suggest that there are talks “at a very advanced stage” concerning the future of Federico Chiesa.
Apparently, it’s Napoli who are taking steps to sign the oft-injured forward, and Antonio Conte’s club are “pushing the accelerator” to get a deal done this summer – and indeed have already made an offer.
It would be a loan deal with an option to buy, but no word on the amount, only that Liverpool would prefer to make it an obligation. Chiesa, for his part, is said to be “enthusiastic” about the chance to head back to his homeland, and wages seem unlikely to prove a stumbling block.
The 3AM Verdict: The note of caution we’d sound here is that Napoli have been linked with a huge number of strikers of late, and they’re believed to have made a concrete offer to Jonathan David already – in short, we’d be surprised if Chiesa was their first choice, or if talks were quite as advanced as has been claimed.
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