Aston Villa & Spurs in ‘tug of war’ for shock signing as Man City join race for rising Serie A starplaceholder image
Aston Villa & Spurs in ‘tug of war’ for shock signing as Man City join race for rising Serie A star | Getty Images
Analysing the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Spurs, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Leeds and more.
Another day has dawned and another slew of fresh Premier League transfer rumours has arrived – and as always, we’ve rounded up and reviewed some of the biggest and wildest new stories for you, starting with a report which concerns Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
According to gossip outlet Caught Offside, out-of-favour Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush is “attracting attention” from both Villa and Spurs with the 26-year-old firmly rooted to the bench at the Etihad right now.
Apparently Unai Emery is especially keen and wants his club to spend January “acting decisively” to get a deal sorted rather than waiting until the summer, while Spurs are “keeping a close watch” on the situation but are perhaps implied to be a little less eager.
Manchester City, for their part, are “reluctant” to sell Marmoush - who is currently away at the Africa Cup of Nations - mid-season but with Antoine Semenyo on his way, the former Eintracht Frankfurt forward may fall even further down the pecking order. He has started just two Premier League games this season.
The 3AM Verdict: The biggest cause for scepticism with this story, other than a lack of corroboration from reliable sources, is that Villa are unlikely to have that kind of money in January having only narrowlyswerved a PSR sanction earlier this year. Spurs do have the cash, but with no asking price mentioned and no suggestion that any offers have been made, we suspect there’s not much substance to this particular story.
Manchester City & Spurs ‘alerted’ to chance to sign on-song Serie A star
Let’s stick with both Manchester City and Spurs for our next story, which comes courtesy of TeamTalk – who allege that the two Premier League clubs have been “alerted to the possibility” that they could get their hands on AS Roma wing-back Wesley Franca just six months after his €25m (£22m) move to Italy.
The former Flamengo man has been superb at Roma and has been “attracting attention” from top English clubs as a consequence, with Newcastle also said to be “admirers” – apparently all three teams monitored the 22-year-old Brazilian in the summer and could make a move now.
Roma apparently want to make some new attacking signings, which has opened up the possibility that they could sell Franca for a healthy profit – an exact asking price is not specified – in order to fund other deals. Apparently the player’s representatives have been in touch with his Premier League suitors to let them know that a deal may be possible.
The 3AM Verdict: There’s a lack of depth and detail to this story which makes us raise an eyebrow, especially because it’s extremely rare for successful players to leave major sides like Roma just six months after arriving – but we don’t doubt that Franca’s form has ensured eyes are on him, so perhaps something happens in the summer. We’d be surprised if a January move took place.
Player’s agent confirms interest from Leeds & Wolves
Let’s wrap up with a story for supporters of two teams worrying about affairs at the other end of the table now – according to Sport Witness, the agent of Slovakian centre-back Denis Vavro has confirmed that Leeds and Wolves are among several teams with “interest” in the VfL Wolfsburg man.
Apparently both Premier League sides have made enquiries about taking the 29-year-old on loan for the rest of the campaign, while Fiorentina and Roma are among other teams said to be keeping tabs – although they have not yet made offers.
Vavro’s agent has even gone as far as to confirm the asking price for a permanent deal (a budget-friendly €7m maximum or around £6m) and suggested that his client has a “dream” to play in the Premier League. That said, he also believed that Vavro wouldn’t leave Wolfsburg until the summer…
The 3AM Verdict: Agents talking up moves for their clients is scarcely new but it’s unusual for it to be quite so open as this, or that they offer so much detail, and it’s hard to conclude that there’s anything way off-base here. It sounds like Vavro will leave sooner or later and that his client was mainly trying to drum up a permanent deal instead of courting loans… Whether either Wolves or Leeds will bite remains to be seen.
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