Chelsea & Arsenal ‘establish contact’ over £70m winger as Nottingham Forest target European championplaceholder image
Chelsea & Arsenal ‘establish contact’ over £70m winger as Nottingham Forest target European champion | Getty Images
The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Brighton and more.
Another day has dawned and that means another edition of 3 Added Minutes’ regular morning round-up and review of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – starting today with a story for Chelsea and Arsenal fans.
With Juventus and star winger Kenan Yildiz deadlocked in negotiations over a new contract, both Premier League teams are said to have “established contact” with the 20-year-old Turk’s representatives in order to get their foot in the door should talks break down - according to Caught Offside.
With negotiations said to have “stalled” over Yildiz’s €6m (£5.25m) salary demands, Chelsea are “watching developments closely” while Arsenal are also “firmly in contention” for his signature should offers start to come in. Juventus have rebuffed all enquiries so far, but that may change if they can’t reach an agreement with their best young player.
Chelsea apparently believe that their positive relationship with Yildiz’s agent, Jorge Mendes, will give them a head start in negotiations, while Arsenal are “prepared to move quickly” if an opportunity opens up. There’s no asking price in the report, but previous stories in other publications have suggested that Juventus would demand at least £70m.
The 3AM Verdict: Chelsea and Arsenal have beenlinked with Yildiz many times and frankly, this isn’t even the first time we’ve seen stories suggesting that they’re in contact with his representatives, so there’s nothing new here – but the story does seem likely to go around the block again ahead of the January transfer window. Both teams appear to be genuinely interested, but much depends on his contract negotiations with Juventus and it’s wildly unlikely that he leaves Turin before the summer in any case.
Nottingham Forest making moves to sign Seagulls star
Let’s move on to a story from TeamTalk now, which alleges that Nottingham Forest have Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Jack Hinshelwood “on [Sean] Dyche’s radar” – and that they’re already in contact with the Seagulls ahead of a potential offer.
Forest are said to have “stepped up their interest in recent days” and are keen to make a mid-season move for the versatile 20-year-old, a member of England’s European Under-21 Championship winning team from June. The club see Hinshelwood as a replacement for Douglas Luiz, who they view as likely not to stay on past the summer.
As keen as they are on a January deal, however, Brighton may not be on the same page – he may be a “top priority” for Forest but apparently Fabian Hürzeler sees him as a “cornerstone” of his plans for the future, and they aren’t prepared to let him leave next month. No financial details are discussed in the article.
The 3AM Verdict: It’s very hard to imagine Forest being able to spend enough in January to twist Brighton’s arm here – Hinshelwood is rightly highly-rated at the Amex Stadium and we’d be surprised if they’d let him go easily. He’s under contract until 2028, too, so Brighton hold all of the cards. Perhaps the conversation changes in the summer, but it would be a shock if this one happened in January.
West Ham & Wolves battle for discarded Fulham star
Let’s wrap things up with a story from Football Insider which suggests that both Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United are involved in a “battle” for the signature of Fulham winger Adama Traoré – with a January move very much on the cards.
The Cottagers are said to have “decided to sell Traoré” if they can in January instead of losing him on a free transfer in the summer and the Spaniard – who played for current West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo at Wolves – could well be available at a discounted price.
What that price might be is unknown, at least to the author of this article, and the player’s preferences aren’t discussed either, but it’s mentioned that Santo and Traoré continue to have considerable respect for each other, which could perhaps sway him towards West Ham. The league table probably won’t hurt the Hammers’ case, either.
The 3AM Verdict: Traoré has fallen down the pecking order at Craven Cottage and we don’t have any difficulty imagining them letting him leave for a relatively low fee given his contract situation – and these are two teams desperate for reinforcements and, in Wolves’ case, perhaps a miracle, so the story as a whole is eminently plausible. Links with West Ham aren’t new, either.
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