Liverpool eye surprise £25m bid for Wolves man as Aston Villa ‘sound out’ rivals’ star strikerplaceholder image
Liverpool eye surprise £25m bid for Wolves man as Aston Villa ‘sound out’ rivals’ star striker | Getty Images
The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Liverpool, Wolves, Aston Villa, Newcastle and more.
Another day of gossip and chatter has been and gone, and as always it’s our duty to round up some of the biggest (and strangest) Premier League transfer rumours from the last 24 hours – starting with a curious story which should interest fans of Liverpool.
Sport Witness summarise a story from “reliable” Brazilian media outlet RTI Esporte which suggests that Arne Slot’s side have Wolves midfielder André Trindade “on their radar” and “intend to make an offer” for the player.
It’s said that Wolves (who appear to be debating a fire sale with several of their best player the subject of interest from other sides) value the 24-year-old at “no less than” €30m (£25m) and while he “remains part of Wolves’ plan” Liverpool will “watch closely” for a chance to make their move.
Although not stated straightforwardly, the tone of the article implies that Liverpool are rather more likely to make a bid in the summer than in January, and there’s certainly no suggestion that an offer has been made so far – either way, there is an “expectation” that Liverpool will launch a bid at some stage.
The 3AM Verdict: Another day, another story about a Wolves player leaving Molineux as relegation looms. We have no reason to doubt the source for the story and several elite teams have monitored André over the last couple of years, so it’s not implausible, but it does sound like we’ll have to wait until the summer to find out whether it’s proven right or wrong.
Aston Villa ready to pounce on chance to sign Crystal Palace star
Over to a story from TeamTalk now – they allege that following the breakdown of negotiations over a move to Juventus, Jean-Philippe Mateta has been left “furious,” and that his determination to leave could lead other teams to make a move for him this winter.
That includes Aston Villa, who have “moved quickly to register their interest” in the striker. Apparently they’ve asked about the terms of a potential deal and are now “assessing” whether a deal can be made. Mateta, for his part, is “open to a move to Villa” as he pushes to depart Selhurst Park.
On a side not, it’s also claimed that Palace tried to persuade Juventus to agree to a swap move which would see Mateta exchanged for Jonathan David, but the Italian side “rebuffed” the idea before talks collapsed entirely.
The 3AM Verdict: We’ve seen Villa linked witha few strikers but most of them have been players who would act more as back-ups to Ollie Watkins than forwards of a similar stature. This would certainly be a fascinating move if it came to fruition, but it sounds as though Villa have yet to make their minds up. We wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t a deal they were all that interested in, in truth, but we’ll see.
Eddie Howe plays down Newcastle transfer rumour
Let’s wrap up with the latest on a rapidly-developing story involving Newcastle United’s supposed interest in Brazilian wonderkid Rayan, a Vasco da Gama winger who has been the subject of a bid from Bournemouth – courtesy of Sport Witness, among several other outlets covering the story in one form or another.
Newcastle allegedly “explored a move” for Rayan in 2025 and could now make their move after Bournemouth and Zenit St. Petersburg both made offers of around £30m. The player doesn’t apparently see the Cherries as an “irresistible” opportunity and is waiting for bigger sides to enter the bidding, with Newcastle now said to be a “heavy contender” for the 19-year-old’s signature.
However, Eddie Howe moved to throw some cold water on the story at his press conference on Tuesday, telling reporters that there was “no truth” in stories suggesting that a bid was imminent and claiming that the club didn’t have the money to sign both a winger and a defender (a larger priority) this January. We’ll find out whether he was being entirely honest quite soon, one imagines.
The 3AM Verdict: A lot of stories about Newcastle’s interest in Rayan have done the rounds over the past day, but most of those claiming that they’ll make a bid in the current transfer window are from sources we don’t view as being particularly reliable – and Howe, for all that he likes to mutter about his club’s PSR position, doesn’t usually lie outright to the press about these things. For now, we’d assume that Newcastle aren’t in the bidding for this one.
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