Liverpool & Arsenal ‘pursuing’ international star as £1m-per-week winger 'offers himself' to Chelseaplaceholder image
Liverpool & Arsenal ‘pursuing’ international star as £1m-per-week winger 'offers himself' to Chelsea | Getty Images
Rounding up the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and more.
Every morning, we here at 3 Added Minutes round up the biggest and strangest new Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – and today, we start off with a curious story involving both Liverpool and Arsenal.
According to TeamTalk, who cite Italian media sources, the pair are among several sides who are “pursuing” Olympiacos goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis, with his current side apparently preparing to “cash in” to the tune of £17.5m.
Arsenal and Liverpool are both said to be “monitoring him,” with Liverpool apparently considering Alisson’s future ahead of the summer – but they aren’t the only teams intrigued by the 23-year-old Greece international.
Bayern Munich and Galatasaray are also said to be interested, as are Nottingham Forest – whose owner Evangelos Marinakis is also in charge of Olympiacos, potentially handing them a significant advantage in the race. There’s no suggestion that any bids have been made as yet.
The 3AM Verdict: We’ve heard good things about Tzolakis, but we’re struggling to imagine Arsenal moving on from David Raya – and if Liverpool do decide to let Alisson go, then they already have Giorgio Mamardashvili. We suspect we’re looking at speculation or agent talk here rather than a concrete rumour, but we could be surprised.
PSG stars ‘offers himself’ to Chelsea – but his demands are steep
Let’s head over to a story from Spanish gossipmongers Fichajes now – they allege that PSG winger Ousmane Dembéle has “offered himself” to Chelsea after failing to persuade his current club to meet his salary demands.
Apparently the Frenchman wants a massive salary of €60m per year – worth more than £1m per week. PSG have decided that amount is “unacceptable,” but clearly Dembéle reckons that free-spending Cheslea will be prepared to fork it out to land the current holder of the Ballon d’Or.
Apparently “an offer is being prepared” by the Blues, although whether that meets Dembéle’s stratospheric demands remains to be seen – but if the player’s relationship with PSG is indeed “irreparable” then perhaps a deal can be done. Dembéle’s current deal runs until 2028.
The 3AM Verdict: We’ll start by noting that Fichajes are not, in our opinion, a reliable news source, and as it stands we’re not inclined to think that Chelsea are especially close to signing Dembéle – although it is certainly the kind of deal which could appeal to their board. We’ll see, but we won’t hold our breath.
Leeds and Sunderland could make second bid for Brazilian star
We’ll wrap today’s column up with a story from Sport Witness which covers reports from Turkey suggesting that Leeds and Sunderland may retain interest in Galatasaray midfielder Gabriel Sara – who both sides apparently tried to sign in January.
The former Norwich City man is on sparkling form right now and with both newly-promoted sides said to have “looked at the possibility” of striking a deal over the winter, they could well be among the teams who move in for the Brazilian in the summer.
There’s no word on how much Leeds or Sunderland offered last month, but it is said that Galatasaray “value him at over €30m” - £26m – and it’s suggested that either side would have to pay “close to that figure” to get hold of the 26-year-old. There are hints that other teams might be monitoring Sara, too, but no names are mentioned.
The 3AM Verdict: This is really just a collection of fundamentally unsubstantiated speculation from Turkish newspapers, although when several sources are discussing the future of the same player there may well be a little bit of fire to go along with all the smoke.
Continue Reading