The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and more.
We may be some way from the start of the January transfer window, but the rumour mill is already warming itself up for a busy winter – and to help you keep track of all the deals that could take place, we’re back with our latest round-up and review of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours, starting with a story for Manchester United and Arsenal fans.
According to Caught Offside, both teams have “dispatched scouts to Portugal” over the past few weeks to take a closer look at 21-year-old Sporting defender Zeno Debast, who is said to be “drawing admiring glances” from a number of European teams.
Aston Villa are also mentioned as a team who are “considering” a bid for the centre-back, as are Newcastle United, although it’s suggested that the Magpies’ “earlier admiration for the Belgian appears to have cooled”. Borussia Dortmund and Napoli are also alleged to be interested.
Debast apparently has an €80m (£70m) release clause in his current contract, which runs until 2029, but it’s suggested that Manchester United in particular could “test” Sporting with a bid of around half that. Sporting are said to be “open to negotiations”, although a specific asking price isn’t discussed.
The 3AM Verdict: There’s a big gap between sending scouts to watch an emerging talent and actually bidding, and we doubt that any teams have made a clear determination as to whether they might make a bid. They’re just checking out an impressive young player before making a decision for now, and rumours suggesting there’s more to it are probably getting ahead of themselves. For now.
Liverpool ‘reluctantly consider’ £43.5m deal
Over to a story for Liverpool supporters, now – according to Empire of the Kop, the Reds “could reluctantly consider” letting French centre-back Ibrahima Konaté leave in January in order to avoid losing him on a free transfer next summer.
The defender is the subject of interest from Real Madrid, who are hoping that he will run his contract down and follow Trent Alexander-Arnold to the Spanish capital, and as such Liverpool “may be forced” to let him leave. They fear that they could lose out on around €50m (£43.5m) if they don’t sell him this winter.
The club are still “pushing hard” to convince Konaté to pen a new contract with the club, but those efforts have yet to bear fruit. Complicating matters is the assertion that Liverpool won’t make a bid of their own for Marc Guéhi in January after his deadline-day move from Crystal Palace collapsed at the last moment.
The 3AM Verdict: We can’t imagine that Liverpool both sell Konaté and refuse to sign a replacement, so we suspect that this story ends up being no more than half right – and we strongly suspect that it’s selling Konaté that Liverpool are unlikely to do, unless his performances fall off. Nor will Real necessarily be willing to pay to take him early, given that they didn’t do so over the summer. Konaté is likely to stay put for the season.
Spanish star ‘on the lips’ of Premier League clubs
Finally, a story from Spanish rumourmongers Fichajes concerning a potential Premier League move for Osasuna defender Enzo Boyomo, a 23-year-old Cameroonian who is said to be “on the lips of many sporting directors”.
Apparently the interest comes “especially” from the Premier League, with negotiations over the summer between Osasuna and an unnamed team or teams leading to Boyomo “coming close” to leaving the Navarre side.
While this story doesn’t mention any specific sides, Boyomo was linked with Aston Villa by The Daily Telegraph back in August, and it may well be that they’re among the teams alleged to be considering a bid in January. Apparently Boyomo has a €25m (£21.5m) release clause in his contract.
The 3AM Verdict: There isn’t really much tangible information here, just vague assertions about continued interest, making it pretty tricky to refute – time will tell whether Villa or any other Premier League team are sincerely interested in the centre-back or not.
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