A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Arsenal, Liverpool, Brighton and Chelsea.
With the transfer window now open for business, a lot of sides are really ramping things up – and to help you stay up-to-date with all the latest comings and goings, we’re here with our regular evening round-up of some of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours, starting with a story involving both Arsenal and Liverpool.
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According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool have “made fresh enquiries” over Lille and Morocco wonderkid Ayyoub Bouaddi in the last few days – a situation which has led Arsenal to “accelerate” their interest in the 18-year-old.
Ayyoub Bouaddi represented France at Under-21 levelplaceholder image
Ayyoub Bouaddi represented France at Under-21 level | Getty Images
The Gunners reportedly opened discussions with Lille weeks ago, but they are now planning to “push strongly” to get a deal over the line soon as rival suitors queue up to get involved in the bidding – not only have Liverpool made an enquiry, but both Real Madrid and PSG are said to be in the picture too.
The bad news for Arsenal is that Lille have “no intention” of being rushed into a decision, while Bouaddi himself is not expected to make a call about his future “imminently.” It’s suggested that the price tag will be in the ballpark of £60m, although that’s not final.
The 3AM Verdict: Arsenal’s interest in Bouaddi is genuine but there’s no evidence that they’re the most likely side to land him. We’re less certain of how sincere Liverpool are about a bid – they may be making discreet enquiries, but that doesn’t mean that a formal offer will follow and they have more pressing priorities. They are unlikely to make a move until they’ve sorted out the situation with their wingers.
Liverpool eye Seagulls star as Diomande alternative
Yankuba Minteh has 10 goals in 73 appearances for Brightonplaceholder image
Yankuba Minteh has 10 goals in 73 appearances for Brighton | Getty Images
We’ll stay with Liverpool for our second story of the day, which comes courtesy of Caught Offside – they allege that Liverpool “could target” Brighton & Hove Albion winger Yankuba Minteh this summer, with the Gambian said to be their “first alternative” should they fail to land Yan Diomande.
With RB Leipzig set to hold out for a fee of £130m for the Ivorian starlet, Liverpool are considering their options and could land on Minteh, who would be “one of the first names they move for.”
A budget of £40m has supposedly been set aside to bid on the 21-year-old, but there are several other players on the shortlist including PSG’s Bradley Barcola, West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville and Köln’s Said El Mala. Brighton’s thoughts on the idea of selling Minteh are not discussed in the article.
The 3AM Verdict: Minteh may well be on Liverpool’s list somewhere and he was linked with themback in the winter, but we haven’t seen or heard anything which indicates that he’s necessarily at the top of the pecking order – and in any case, their preference is very clearly to agree a deal for Diomande. We’d also note that £40m is almost certainly far too little money, so we’re rather sceptical about that element of the story.
Chelsea star ‘considering options’ after £43m move
Gusto cost Chelsea a reported £30m when he joined from Lyonplaceholder image
Gusto cost Chelsea a reported £30m when he joined from Lyon | Getty Images
Let’s finish our transfer rumour round-up off with a story from BBC Sport: They claim that Chelsea right-back Malo Gusto is “considering his options” after Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Marco Palestra, who plays in the same position, in a deal worth at least £43m.
Apparently Gusto’s future was already “uncertain” prior to that deal, and his representatives have already held “exploratory talks” with Manchester City in the hopes that they can engineer a deal to reunite him with former manager Enzo Maresca. The bad news is that City do not view him as a “leading candidate” as they search for a new full-back.
Chelsea will supposedly demand a fee “in excess of £75m” to sell Gusto, but if Manchester City aren’t in the bidding then it’s not quite clear who might be just yet. Chelsea, however, need to make some sales in order to fund their latest rebuild, and that could increase the pressure on them to find a buyer and perhaps thus lower the price.
The 3AM Verdict: The link to Manchester City isn’t new, but it sounds increasingly like they won’t meet Chelsea’s likely asking price – and we suspect that they’ll have to be more flexible if they want to move the Frenchman on. Whether that happens or not, we’re not yet sure. Signing Palestra is a strange move, unless they’re very keen to get rid of Gusto – and that doesn’t dovetail with a £75m transfer fee.
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