Newcastle eye Liverpool star as potential Tonali replacement as Arsenal’s ‘main target’ emergesplaceholder image
Newcastle eye Liverpool star as potential Tonali replacement as Arsenal’s ‘main target’ emerges | Getty Images
The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Newcastle, Liverpool, Arsenal, Wolves and more.
One would imagine that the week after a transfer window has just closed would be a quiet time for the gossip columns – but instead, new stories looking ahead to the summer keep cropping up, and as such we’re back with our regular morning round-up of some of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours you might have missed from the last 24 hours, starting with a story for the Newcastle United fans.
If TeamTalk have their facts straight, then Magpies view Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones as a “potential target” for the summer should Sandro Tonali leave the club amid alleged interest from sides like Arsenal – who may not have made a bid on deadline day amid some rather wild speculation, but are still among clubs said to be keen on the Italian international.
There was speculation that Jones would join Inter Milan in January but as that never happened, he is now said to have “attracted attention” from several Premier League sides, with Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur also named as potential suitors.
Apparently Liverpool view a decision on Jones’ future as a “major dilemma” and have yet to decide whether he should be allowed to leave or not, and as such there’s no word on a likely asking price. Newcastle, for their part, are said to hold “longstanding interest” in the 25-year-old.
The 3AM Verdict: We still believe that Tonali is relatively unlikely to leave St. James’ Park in the summer, but with Joelinton struggling for form and Newcastle’s midfield depth looking rather thin, they may well be in the market for a player like Jones anyway. We certainly wouldn’t be shocked if he left Anfield in search of more first-team action.
Bundesliga star touted as Arsenal’s ‘main target’ for the summer
Let’s take in a story from Spanish gossipmongers Fichajes now, who claim that Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka is set to be Arsenal’s “main target” when the summer transfer window opens.
The 31-year-old’s contract with the German giants expires at the end of June, leaving Goretzka available on a free transfer, and it’s claimed that a move to England is the “preferred option” for him. That may be why he’s alleged to have turned down a possible move to Atlético Madrid in the January window.
It’s also said that Arsenal are “not the only English club monitoring Goretzka” but his prospective suitors outside of the Gunners aren’t named. Bayern Munich are said to be “resigned” to the loss of the experienced international star.
The 3AM Verdict: We should start by saying that we simply don’t believe Fichajes to be a reliable source for transfer stories, so we’ll take any report from them with a healthy dose of salt. That said, Arsenal being in the mix for Goretzka makes perfect sense on a few levels, making this one of the more plausible stories they’ve printed. One to keep an eye on, certainly.
Another Wolves departure on the way
The other day, we covered reports that Wolves were set to sell winger Jhon Arias to Palmeiras with the Brazilian window still open – and now it looks as though Arias could be joined by one of his team-mates on the way out.
Sport Witness cover reports from Brazil which suggest that Palmeiras are now “entering talks” over teenage full-back Pedro Lima, who has failed to break into Wolves’ first team and could now follow Arias to his home country. It’s said that Palmeiras are “keen to push the deal forward,” although there’s no clarity on the fee they’ve offered.
Apparently Wolves are “preparing for a possible separation” although it’s not reported that they’ve accepted a bid just yet. There’s no word on whether Pedro Lima himself is keen on the move, either, but the “signs” point to a deal taking place.
The 3AM Verdict: It looks like Wolves may hold their fire sale after all, even if they aren’t necessarily losing a core player in Pedro Lima. There’s clearly a fair bit of negotiating still to be done, but it looks like Palmeiras’ representatives might be jetting back to Brazil with two Wolves players in tow.
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