Chelsea & Liverpool set for battle over high-profile defender as Arsenal ‘press ahead’ with £43m moveplaceholder image
Chelsea & Liverpool set for battle over high-profile defender as Arsenal ‘press ahead’ with £43m move | Getty Images
The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal & Aston Villa.
With the January transfer window in full swing and speculation about deals ramping up right across the board, 3 Added Minutes are now going to be putting out our regular round-ups of the biggest (and often wildest) Premier League transfer rumours twice a day for the rest of January – and we start today’s late edition with a story which may interest Chelsea and Liverpool fans.
Caught Offside suggest that both teams are “interested to hear” that long-standing transfer target Ronald Araújo could become available with Barcelona manager Hansi Flick allegedly “keen to offload” the Uruguayan centre-back as part of a coming squad overhaul – and the player continues to draw “admiring glances” from the Premier League pair with his future up in the air.
Chelsea are said to be “on the market for a centre-back” over the coming month and have long been linked with Araújo, while Liverpool are also casting around for defensive reinforcements after a difficult start to the season.
There’s no suggestion that either side have made a formal offer as yet, nor any hint of whether Barcelona want to move the 26-year-old on over the winter or would rather hang on to him until the summer, but perhaps a long-rumoured deal could be inching slightly closer.
The 3AM Verdict: This is, fundamentally, an extremely speculative report with no details to suggest active interest from either Chelsea or Liverpool, although the rumours have certainly been swirling for some time. It doesn’t help that their reporting on Araújo’s future is drawn largely from Spanish outlet Fichajes, who are (in our humble opinion) not the most reliable source for transfer stories. We wouldn’t hold our breath on this one, although it’s scarcely inconceivable that such a deal happens.
Arsenal ‘pressing ahead’ with bid for £43m wonderkid
Arsenal have been pretty quiet in the transfer window thus far, but TeamTalk suspect that could change – they claim that the Gunners are “pressing ahead” with their plans to purchase 18-year-old midfielder wonderkid Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille.
The teenager, who is one of the best young players in the current edition of Football Manager if that’s any kind of reference, is also of interest to Chelsea, Real Madrid and PSG, but it’s Arsenal who are said to be “leading the charge.”
“Formal steps” towards a deal have supposedly been taken, although it’s not specified exactly what that entails, while Lille are said to be “open to selling” Boauddi for a fee of around €50m (£43m) – but would prefer to keep him until the summer if they can.
The 3AM Verdict: We expect Bouaddi to be the subject of an eventual bidding war, with Arsenal unlikely to his only suitors. We also suspect that a summer transfer is more likely given Lille’s current stance, while Arsenal themselves aren’t exactly in urgent need of another defensive midfielder. They’ll surely be in the market when the time comes, however, and a January transfer isn’t wildly unlikely.
Aston Villa ‘closing in’ on signing of former Chelsea star
Over to Aston Villa now – according to The Times, Unai Emery’s search for a back-up striker to Ollie Watkins may be coming to a close, with the Midlands club set to be “closing in” on a “long-term deal” for former Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham.
The 28-year-old striker is currently on loan at Turkish side Besiktas from AS Roma, but according to Fabrizio Romano, also reporting on the same story, Abraham has “opened doors” to the move and personal terms are not expected to be an issue.
Romano adds that there is “no agreement or done deal” as yet as Villa look to both replace Donyell Malen – who has himself joined Abraham’s parent club Roma – and to add strength in depth up front. There’s no word on a transfer fee as yet for the former England international, who has scored 11 goals in all competitions this season.
The 3AM Verdict: The tone of the reporting suggests that a deal is very likely to take place, despite the potential complexities of a deal which involves three different clubs. It also likely scratches any chance that Villa sign Newcastle’s William Osula, another player whohad been linked. We expect this deal to get done before too long.
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