A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Brentford and more.
Every morning, we round up some of the biggest (and often wildest) Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – and today, we’re kicking things off with a story which should interest the Manchester United fans among you.
placeholder image
Getty Images
According to the Manchester Evening News (and others), the top brass at Old Trafford have decided that their priority for the coming transfer window is to furnish their new head coach with a centre-back – and they’ve allegedly drawn up a list of three candidates.
placeholder image
Getty Images
Sign up to our 3AddedMinutes newsletter
Brentford’s Nathan Collins, Fulham’s Calvin Bassey and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite – a long-term target who has been on Manchester United’s radar for over three years now – are all “high on United’s list.”
Apparently the original plan had been to undertake a defensive rebuild next summer, but recent performances have brought at least some of their moves forward. There’s no suggestion that contact has been made or any financial details, but those three are said to be the primary targets.
The 3AM Verdict: Branthwaite is known to have been a target for some time, so it wouldn’t be a shock if he was a target. Collins, likewise, was linked with United over the summer, but Bassey is a bit of a wildcard addition to the alleged shortlist and we haven’t heard anything from own sources suggesting that he’s a likely target – but that doesn’t mean that it’s untrue.
£58.5m Liverpool deal ‘in place’ for January
placeholder image
Getty Images
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool have gone one step further and actually arranged their first January transfer already – and are said to have a “deal in place” to sign Monaco midfielder Lamine Camara, who nearly signed for Chelsea at the end of the last transfer window.
Monaco are desperate to sell after Camara’s move collapsed, but have apparently raised their asking price, and are said to want up to €70m (£58.5m), an increase on the €55m (£46m) that Chelsea were set to play before their deadline-day deal fell through. Regardless of the price hike, Liverpool are said to be “ready to pay.”
Their move for the Senegal international comes after they apparently learned that Chelsea are almost certain to secure the signing of another player Liverpool had their eye on, Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. That has encouraged them to step up their pursuit of Camara and get a deal ready for January.
The 3AM Verdict: The sourcing for this story is more speculative than the confident wording makes out, and it’s not at all clear that a deal is ‘in place’ as it stands. That’s hardly surprising given that the transfer window won’t open for another seven weeks, but we do understand that Liverpool’s interest in Camara is genuine. We’re just not convinced that a deal has actually been agreed yet.
Reds step up interest in Brazilian wonderkid
placeholder image
Getty Images
We’ll stick with Liverpool for our final story of the morning, which comes courtesy of Sport Witness – they allege that Liverpool are taking long-standing interest in Palmeiras youngster Erick Béle “a step further” and have made an official enquiry about the 19-year-old’s ability.
Apparently Palmeiras were “willing to negotiate” a deal with an initial asking price of around €30m (£25m), but Liverpool declined to make a formal bid right away. That doesn’t mean one won’t come in time, but Béle has since signed a new contract – given the timing, something Liverpool would have been aware of when they discussed the attacking midfielder’s future.
Apparently both PSG and Parma have tried to sign the teenager as well, but the Brazil Under-20 international is staying put for now. Palmeiras, however, are said to be open to doing business if their terms are met over the winter.
The 3AM Verdict: Palmeiras have a strong negotiating position due to both the new contract (which runs until 2031) and the fact that they have plenty of spare cash floating around – so Liverpool know that a deal won’t come cheap. We don’t have any reason to doubt the veracity of the reporting here so there is a good chance that Béle is on the move during the Brazilian off-season this winter, but we don’t yet know who will cave to Palmeiras’ demands.