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Rounding up the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours, with stories from Man Utd, Fulham, Bournemouth and more.
It may be time for an international break but while the world’s best players gather to try and qualify for the World Cup, their agents aren’t taking a breather – at least, not judging by the brand new Premier League transfer rumours we’ve rounded up for you below.
We’ll start at Manchester United, with a story from TeamTalk which suggests that the Red Devils have found a new target for the central midfield role next season – Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha.
Dortmund, who are set to miss out on Champions League football barring a remarkable late rally, are planning to sanction some sales this summer but Nmecha would apparently be the one player they consider to be “untouchable”. Nevertheless, United are apparently preparing a bid in the region of £40m for the 24-year-old.
Still, the German side are “reluctant to part” with a player they believe to be indispensable even though the club’s finances may necessitate a sale if they can’t move on other high-value players.
The 3AM Verdict: Nmecha (who, less we forget, is a product of the Manchester City academy) has carved out an impressive reputation for himself as a ball-winning defensive midfielder, something United sorely need to makeRuben Amorim’s system work. He’d certainly be a sensible signing, but would £40m be enough?
Fulham to battle Spurs for England star
Let’s head down to the capital now. TBR Football have a story which claims that Fulham are hoping to persuade Marco Silva to stay at Craven Cottage instead of taking the Tottenham Hotspur job by signing a player Spurs sorely want – Lille and England midfielder Angel Gomes, who is available on a free transfer from the end of June.
West Ham, who had been interested in a deal for Gomes, seem to have backed off after deciding that other targets would be more suitable, but Fulham want to crash Spurs’ party as they look to back Silva this summer in order to persuade him to stay put should Ange Postecoglou get the sack.
A different report from Wednesday (from The Guardian) has a different version of events in terms of West Ham’s interest – they suggest that he felt their offer of £100,000 per week wasn’t high enough. They also suggest that Barcelona are in the mix.
The 3AM Verdict: High-end free agents rarely come onto the market like this, and certainly not while they’re still so young, so expect plenty of teams to test the water – and for Gomes to cash in with some seriously hefty wage demands. Whether Fulham can match his requirements could be the big question.
Napoli make first bid for Bournemouth starlet
This is a story we’re going to hear a lot about over the coming months – plenty of big continental teams are keen on Bournemouth centre-half Dean Huijsen, and according to Sport Witness one club have already made the first move.
Napoli supposedly made contact (“not even informal” contact) with the Cherries over the 19-year-old, whose performances have reportedly drawn interest from Spurs, Real Madrid and others.
The conversation didn’t go all that well, however – it’s claimed that Bournemouth told Napoli that they wanted £60m and that it was “too high” for Antonio Conte’s side. Widespread reports have suggested that Huijsen has a €50m (£41.8m) release clause in his contract which kicks in over the coming transfer window, but it’s suggested that Bournemouth could be demanding a larger fee while offering to spread the payments. Manchester United ‘overpaid’ for Joshua Zirkzee in similar fashion last summer.
The 3AM Verdict: Who knows what Huijsen wants to do next, but he’s going to get a lot of interest from a lot of clubs and we wouldn’t be surprised if those conversations weren’t taking place already, so there’s nothing we don’t believe here. Bournemouth fans should get ready to say a tearful farewell…
Related topics:FulhamBarcelona
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