The Premier League Panel: Is Fabian Schär the best bargain in PL history?
Breaking down the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United, Chelsea and more.
It’s once again time for 3 Added Minutes’ morning round-up and review of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – and we’re kicking things off today with a big story concerning Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle United.
According to Caught Offside, Liverpool and Chelsea are both looking at the possibility of striking a deal for Newcastle United centre-back Sven Botman, whose recent form has “attracted interest” from both sides.
Chelsea are said to have been “tracking Botman for a while” and are looking for upgrades at centre-back, while Liverpool are preparing for a future without Ibrahima Konaté, who could be poached by Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the season.
There’s no word on asking price, perhaps because there simply isn’t one – despite the interest, Newcastle will apparently “do all they can to keep Botman” and have made tying the 25-year-old down to a new contract their “top priority.”
The 3AM Verdict: Botman’s contract expires in 2027 so if Newcastle can’t persuade him to sign a new deal then he will absolutely be in the shop window next summer – although we very much doubt that he moves before that. Contract negotiations are the horse that needs to go before this rumour’s cart, however.
Manchester United ‘determined’ to sign £105m-rated winger
Over to a story from Spanish gossipmongers Fichajes now, who claim that Manchester United have developed an interest in Barcelona winger (and former Leeds United star) Raphinha – and are “willing to pay a huge amount of money for him” come next summer.
The Red Devils are apparently “determined” to land their man and is “prepared to offer” as much as €120m (£105m) for the 28-year-old, an amount that Barcelona would “find hard to refuse” given their persistent financial problems. With Raphinha under contract until 2028, Barcelona have a fair amount of leverage in any future negotiations.
For the player’s part, his priority is said to be playing Champions League football, so he may not be interested unless Ruben Amorim can land a top four spot this season. Should they make it back to Europe’s top tier, however, a bid is said to be “inevitable.”
The 3AM Verdict: We doubt this story on a few different levels. Firstly, Fichajes are not, in our opinion, a terribly reliable source for such stories. Secondly, £105m is surely more than needs to be spent to pry a player of Raphinha’s stature away from Barcelona given their financial situation. If United are interested (and we’ve not seen anything from sources we trust which suggests that they are) then we suspect that they will pay rather less.
Burnley ‘serious’ about Spanish signing
Let’s round things off in East Lancashire with a story for Burnley fans – according to Madrid newspaper Marca, the Clarets are “serious” about signing Valencia’s César Tárrega and have sent scouts to watch the 23-year-old defender at least twice in recent weeks.
Burnley are said to “have the funds” to make a deal happen, although the asking price goes frustratingly unrevealed by the report, but it’s said that a deal won’t necessarily be easy as the “player is comfortable” at Valencia and isn’t pushing to leave.
This isn’t said to be a deal for January: Apparently Burnley will make a formal offer next summer and they haven’t had any direct contact over a deal just yet. They may not be the only team interested, as it happens, with this article suggesting that several Serie A sides have been keen too, although they aren’t mentioned by name.
The 3AM Verdict: It’ll be a while before we know if Burnley can make this happen and it sound as though they need to stay in the Premier League first, but this does seem to be a deal which is genuinely on the cards with the link popping up in a few other outlets, too.
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