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Analysing the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Brighton.
It’s time for 3 Added Minutes’ regular morning round-up and breakdown of some of the biggest and juiciest new Premier League transfer rumours – and we’re starting off with a story which should interest both Manchester United and Manchester City supporters alike.
According to TeamTalk (who cite the print edition of Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo), Manchester City and Manchester United have both “joined the race” for Levante’s Karl Etta Eyong, a Cameroonian forward who has scored five goals in his first seven league games for his new club.
That form has “impressed top clubs all around Europe” and the two Mancunian clubs are said to be right at the front of the queue along with Barcelona. Real Madrid and Arsenal are also “keeping tabs,” it’s claimed, but “do not hold as firm [of an] interest.”
Etta Eyong only signed from Villarreal in September but apparently has a release clause in his contract which will make him available to a Premier League team for €40m (£35m). The report speculates that Barcelona are the most likely of the interested teams to sign the 22-year-old, but no teams have made concrete approaches as yet.
The 3AM Verdict: Players don’t usually move teams quite this quickly but if his remarkable form for Levante continues then a team in need of a striker – which likely includes United – may well decide to trigger that release clause. That’s very much dependent on him keeping up his current scoring rate. Mundo Deportivo, for what its worth, is a reasonable but not necessarily top-of-the-range source.
Chelsea target on-song striker from Strasbourg
Another story from the Spanish media, now, this time from gossip-mongers Fichajes – who claim that Chelsea are “already actively working” to seal a deal for striker Joaquín Panichelli, who plays for their sister club RC Strasbourg.
The 23-year-old Argentine is another forward on fire at the moment, with nine goals in 10 games in the French top tier following a summer move from CD Mirandés. Apparently AC Milan have also “shown interest,” which is encouraging Chelsea to move more quickly and seal a deal in the coming months.
A transfer would take place next summer, it’s claimed, and Panichelli would follow Emanuel Emegha from Strasbourg to Chelsea if the trade did indeed get done. There’s no word on how much he might cost, but then Chelsea’s owners would essentially be negotiating with themselves.
The 3AM Verdict: Another story based on recent hype as much as anything else but Chelsea are likely to look for attacking reinforcements over the course of the next year and Panichelli continues to score at anything like his current rate, then someone will spend a lot of money on him. All of which said, Fichajes are not, in our opinion, a reliable source for such stories. We’d want more corroboration.
Seagulls set to swoop on Fenerbahçe star
Let’s wrap up today’s digest with a story from Sport Witness which brings together stories suggesting that recent performances by Fenerbahçe midfielder Ismail Yüksek have “caught the attention” of Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Seagulls are said to be “gathering information” on the 26-year-old (erroneously described as a defender in this article) and while there is no offer on the table as yet, Yüksek is said to be “a name to keep an eye on moving forwards.”
As noted in the article, there is nothing concrete or advanced about Brighton’s interest as yet and there certainly aren’t any hints of what kind of finances might be involved in a deal for the Turkey international, whose contract runs until 2028. There’s a hint of other, unnamed teams, being keen as well, with a note that Brighton are just “one of the sides watching.”
The 3AM Verdict: There is very little detail here and frankly, this gruel is too thin to say that it’s a deal that’s likely to take place. Brighton may well have sent scouts to give Yüksek the once-over, but there’s a lot of due diligence to be done between now and an offer being made. Very much a wait and see situation.
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