The biggest new Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Newcastle, Chelsea, Wolves and more.
Yet again, we’ve read through reports from around the world to bring you our regular round-up and review of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours – and today, we start with a story for the Newcastle United supporters among you.
With Benjamin Šeško set to become the latest striker to snub a move to St. James’ Park, Newcastle are casting around for alternatives once more – and according to David Ornstein, one of the names among their “small number of options” is Porto striker Samu Agehowa.
The young forward, who nearly moved to Chelsea a year ago under his former name Omorodion, has also been linked with a move to Aston Villa but could now be in Newcastle’s sights, with BBC Sport’s Sami Mokbel also dropping the 21-year-old forward’s name into the conversation.
Ornstein observes that there is “no guarantee” that Newcastle make a bid, while the Caught Offside report which mentions Mokbel’s comments also observes that Porto “are not going to let [Agehowa] leave for a small fee” and will apparently demand as much as €80m (£70m) for their “prized possession”.
The 3AM Verdict: The details from both sources suggest that Agehowa is only one name on a list for now, which is likely to include Nicolas Jackson and others. Money won’t be a problem, but finding a striker who doesn’t get a better offer elsewhere seemingly is. Still, while there has been no movement yet, that’s two reliable journalists mentioning the link on the same day, and that’s a fair amount of smoke for there not to be fire.
Wolves target two Chelsea outcasts at once
Over to a story from Caught Offside, now – they allege that Wolverhampton Wanderers are going to be bidding for two current Chelsea players this summer: Defender Axel Disasi and striker David Datro Fofana.
Wolves are said to be “eyeing up” the double swoop with both players a part of Chelsea’s infamous ‘bomb squad’ of unwanted players, with ChelseaNews cited as a primary source for the story.
There is absolutely no financial detail in the article, and it isn’t clear whether Wolves would be looking to sign either player permanently or whether they would prefer a loan deal after the pair spent parts of last season on loan at Aston Villa and Göztepe respectively. There’s also no suggestion that a bid has yet been made.
The 3AM Verdict: Not only is there no detail on the specifics of any possible deal, there are frankly no details of any kind here – just speculation and inference, although we have seen Wolveslinked with Disasi before. The link to Datro Fofana is new to us.
Bournemouth back in for £35m defender deal
We’ll wrap up with some news that Bournemouth fans are keen to here – according to reports from France (neatly summarised by Sport Witness) they’re “back in the game” to sign Lille defender Bafodé Diakité.
Stories initially suggested that Bournemouth had walked away from a deal despite agreeing personal terms with the player, after Lille upped their asking price for the 24-year-old to €40m (£35m). Now, though, they’re back at the table.
Apparently they have “submitted an offer close to Lille’s expectations” as Ilia Zabarnyi nears a move to PSG. With Dean Huijsen also leaving earlier in the summer, a centre-back has been a clear priority for the Cherries – Diakité might be the answer they need. There’s no word on Lille’s response to Bournemouth’s bid, however.
The 3AM Verdict: There are several reporters in France essentially saying the same thing, so unless Lille really play hardball over the transfer fee then it does look as though Diakité will be in Dorset soon. A technical defender who’s comfortable on the ball but not a particularly imposing physical presence, it will be interesting to see if he can fill Zabarnyi and Huijsen’s rather larger boots.
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