A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton and more.
The transfer window is off to a flier (thanks in so small part to the free-spending efforts of Tottenham Hotspur) and the deals don’t look likely to stop coming – so we’re here with our regular round-up of some of the biggest (and wildest) new Premier League transfer rumours to help you keep across everything that’s going on.
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Let’s start today’s digest off with a story from TEAMtalk which claims that both Liverpool and Manchester United have been “wowed” by the work of 25-year-old Morocco midfielder Neil El Aynaoui at the World Cup, and are “closely monitoring” the AS Roma man as a result.
El Aynaoui moved from Lens to Roma last summerplaceholder image
El Aynaoui moved from Lens to Roma last summer | Getty Images
They don’t seem to be alone in their sudden interest. It’s said that several sides “have already made contact” and teams who have scouted him include Barcelona and Real Madrid – while Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Sunderland are among a large number of teams from closer to home who have made enquiries.
There’s no suggestion that any of the teams mentioned have made a formal offer, no word on the asking price, and frankly no specific reason given that Manchester United and Liverpool are implied to be at the front of the queue.
The 3AM Verdict: El Aynaoui isn’t a regular starter at Roma so we doubt they’d be too upset if a long list of clubs fell over themselves to make bids, but we’re very sceptical about this story – at least in the long list of clubs alleged to be keen on the midfielder. Perhaps one or two teams are taking a look, but a story which suggests that half of the sides in England and Spain are involved has to be read with a raised eyebrow, especially when there’s so little detail.
Chelsea target available for knock-down £55m transfer fee
Koundé made his 50th appearance for France at the World Cupplaceholder image
Koundé made his 50th appearance for France at the World Cup | Getty Images
Over to a story from Caught Offside now, who claim that Chelsea “could make an approach” for Barcelona and France star Jules Koundé, who is apparently now available at a reduced rate of £55m with his current employers seemingly keen to raise some funds.
The Catalan giants apparently see Koundé as “expendable” and hope to tempt Chelsea, who have held long-term interest, into a deal with a cut price, but the Blues haven’t bit yet – apparently Maxence Lacroix is “more of a priority,” although they could perhaps come back to Koundé later in the window.
Liverpool are also mentioned as a side who have been contacted, but apparently their interest in the 27-year-old is not “as concrete” as Chelsea’s and they aren’t planning to make a move just yet – although they will keep “an eye on developments” in case their plans change as the summer wears on.
The 3AM Verdict: Chelsea have just signed Marco Palestra from Atalanta, meaning that they don’t need another right-back, while Lacroix seems to be their preferred target at centre-half, so we suspect that they won’t make a bid. They have beenmonitoring Koundé for a while, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t have other priorities.
Bundesliga side hoping to ‘tempt’ Everton into bid
Amoura scored eight goals in 33 appearances for Wolfsburg last seasonplaceholder image
Amoura scored eight goals in 33 appearances for Wolfsburg last season | Getty Images
We’ll end with a story from Sport Witness, who cite German media sources in claiming that Wolfsburg are hoping to “tempt” Everton into making an offer for 26-year-old Algeria striker Mohamed Amoura – and are hoping that he’ll impress enough on his return to World Cup action after injury to inspire a bid.
Wolfsburg currently value Amoura at €20m (£17m), who joined them two years ago from Belgian outfit Union Saint-Gilloise and are hoping that his performances this summer well help to put him in the spotlight with several “interested parties” seemingly maintaining a watching brief.
The Bundesliga club would prefer to take the cash as Amoura has been a headache behind the scenes and has been disciplined repeatedly. Everton are mentioned as one of the sides “keeping an eye” on his progress regardless of those issues, while Benfica and Leeds are also suggested as possible suitors.
The 3AM Verdict: Bild is the primary source for this story and is pretty hit or miss, like many tabloids. There isn’t enough detail to suggest that a deal is a particularly likely prospect as of this moment, but Amoura has generated enough buzz in the past that he will likely be on a few clubs’ radars. Whether that’s Everton (or Leeds) we don’t know.
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