A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Newcastle, Manchester City, Aston Villa and more.
Welcome to 3 Added Minutes’ regular evening round-up of some of the biggest (and sometimes wildest) new Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the course of the day – and we’ll start with the latest from Stamford Bridge.
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According to TEAMtalk, Chelsea are “ready to submit” a massive second offer for Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, a few weeks after the Cherries turned down a £64m bid for 23-year-old – but Scott isn’t their only midfield target.
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Chelsea are keen to find a potential replacement for Enzo Fernández, who looks increasingly likely to sign for Manchester City before the transfer deadline. Scott remains their first choice and it’s suggested that the Blues are now willing to offer £85m to get a deal done – roughly the amount that Bournemouth allegedly wanted for Scott in the first place.
Scott has rejected the offer of a renewed contract at the Vitality Stadium, increasing the chances that Bournemouth will be prepared to do business for the right price – but should Chelsea fail to get that deal over the line, then both Adam Wharton and Lamine Camara are “being assessed” as back-up plans.
The 3AM Verdict: This report may well be accurate, although it feels like a rehash of multiple other stories concerning Chelsea’s transfer dealings rather than anything based on new information from a well-positioned source. Despite that, it could well be an accurate outline of the shape of Chelsea’s shortlist should Fernández leave – which we think is very probable.
Newcastle in ‘advanced talks’ to sign Man City star
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Over to a story for the Newcastle United fans now – according to Sky Sports (and several other outlets, if we’re being fair) the Magpies are in “advanced talks” over a deal to sign Manchester City midfielder Nico González, with “hope” that a deal can be agreed before the end of the week.
Apparently the former Barcelona and Porto midfielder is likely to set Newcastle back around £50m, and the 24-year-old is said to be “open” to moving to St. James’ Park as he looks to kick-start a career which has stalled slightly at the Etihad.
With Manchester City set to agree a deal for Ayyoub Bouaddi even as they continue to pursue Enzo Fernández, González has become surplus to requirements – while Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle apparently wants a slightly more experienced addition to the midfielder following the departure of Bruno Guimarães.
The 3AM Verdict: This has been reported by several different sources and seems to be an accurate, well-sourced story – while there are any number of things that could derail a transfer, this one appears to be well advanced and looks very likely to take place as it stands.
Aston Villa ‘accelerate’ centre-back interest
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In the days following the sale of Ezri Konsa to Arsenal, Aston Villa have been shopping around for a new centre-back – and according to Sport Witness, who cite multiple sources in the Italian press, they have a familiar face on their shortlist.
Apparently Villa are set to “accelerate” their interest in AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori, who has reportedly fallen out of favour at the San Siro since the arrival of new manager Ruben Amorim. The Serie A side are suggested to be seeking a transfer fee of €15m (£13m), and apparently a bid is expected soon.
Tomori, for his part, is said to be more interested in a move to Villa Park than he was in signing for Coventry City, who were also keen on him – but it doesn’t sound as though negotiations have gone very far as yet.
The 3AM Verdict: While a perfectly plausible story, we can’t help but note that Villa have been plausibly linked with quite a few defenders – they’ve had a bid for Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis turned down and have been strongly linked withClub Brugge’s Joel Ordóñez. They can’t be signing all of them, so some of these stories must be slightly dicy.