Arsenal target ‘blockbuster’ deal for £82m striker as Chelsea & Aston Villa battle for big loan dealplaceholder image
Arsenal target ‘blockbuster’ deal for £82m striker as Chelsea & Aston Villa battle for big loan deal | Getty Images
The biggest new Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and more.
Another day of rumourmongering has been and gone and to help you stay up to date with all of the latest happenings, 3 Added Minutes are back with our regular morning round up of all the biggest new Premier League transfer stories from the past 24 hours – starting with a story which should interest Arsenal and Chelsea fans.
According to TeamTalk, both clubs have “held talks with intermediaries” ahead of potential “blockbuster” transfer bids for former Manchester City forward Julián Alvarez amid growing uncertainty over his future at Atlético Madrid following his £82m move to the Spanish capital.
Alvarez is apparently “growing increasingly frustrated” with his role under Diego Simeone and there are “no guarantees” that he will remain in Castille – and he would apparently consider a return to the Premier League so long as he was able to move to London.
Barcelona and PSG are also interested, but Arsenal and Chelsea have allegedly held “discreet conversations” – clearly not discrete enough – as they sound him out about a move. There’s no suggestion that a formal offer has yet been made, or that one is imminent.
The 3AM Verdict: One for the summer, most likely, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see either side in the bidding if Alvarez does leave Atléti – something which has been rumoured all season. But this won’t be a deal that gets done over the winter. It’s too expensive and his current employers probably wouldn’t sanction a sale just yet.
Chelsea & Aston Villa debating loan bid for Nottingham Forest star
Our next story comes from two sources – with the first to the punch being The Athletic, who claim that Chelsea are “considering” a loan move for Nottingham Forest midfielder Douglas Luiz, who hasn’t found his best form since moving to the City Ground over the summer.
He is himself on loan there from Juventus, but a deal could be negotiated which would send him to Stamford Bridge instead and Chelsea supposedly see him as a “good fit” with midfield depth something they could do with. They may not be the only team to have had that idea, however.
In the wake of The Athletic’s story, Fabrizio Romano has chimed in to say that Aston Villa also hold “genuine interest” in such a move, with Unai Emery’s squad in need of a new midfielder after Boubacar Kamara suffered a serious injury. Luiz is, of course, a former player who shone at Villa Park not so long ago.
The 3AM Verdict: This is a deal that would make plenty of sense for all parties involved given how the first half of the season has progressed, but we should note that Villa have been very credibly linked with a few different midfielders now – not leastRuben Loftus-Cheek andRaphael Onyedika – and they clearly can’t sign them all. It would be interesting to see if Luiz preferred a move to Stamford Bridge over his former side, all the same.
Arsenal scouting the ‘Balkan Barella’ ahead of potential bid
We’ll finish up this morning’s digest with a second story involving Arsenal – this time concerning their alleged interest in a potentially expensive move for Serbian teenager Vasilije Kostov, as reported by The Daily Mirror.
Both the Gunners and Borussia Dortmund will have had “scouts present” at his club Crvena Zvezda’s game in the Europa League on Thursday evening, and sources at the club claim to have already “received concrete interest” in the youngster – although it’s not specified whether that included Arsenal or not.
The 17-year-old midfield is apparently dubbed ‘The Balkan Barella’ due to his technical quality and is already a full Serbia international. Crvena Zvezda are said to have received an offer of £17.5m from an unspecified side, while Bayern Munich are also said to have made enquiries as the race to sign Kostov “intensifies.”
The 3AM Verdict: If the story is even half right then a lot of teams are keen on Kostov, but it’s not clear just how deep Arsenal’s interest runs – nor whether they have the funds available right now to make a deal happen in January as other clubs start making big-money offers. A race to watch, especially as it’s hard to predict how might unfold and because it concerns an exceptionally talented player.
Continue Reading