The latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and more.
It’s time once more for our regular morning round-up and review of the biggest and juiciest new Premier League transfer rumours – and we’re kicking Saturday’s digest off with a story for the Aston Villa fans amongst you.
According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, the Villans have been “most inquisitive” concerning the prospect of a move for Sporting winger Geny Catamo, a 24-year-old Mozambique international who has been a “revelation” over the past two seasons, as the newspaper puts it.
Stories had suggested that Catamo could move to Fenerbahçe but they are now said to face “competition” from an Aston Villa side that are “well-positioned to advance” their interest. Apparently they have “intensified” their approaches, not that it’s made entirely clear what that entails.
Sporting are said to want a fee in the region of €25-30m (up to £26m), and it’s claimed that Fenerbahçe are ready to meet that valuation, but Villa are “very attentive” to the situation and could make an offer of their own for a player who went from unwanted back-up to first-team star at Sporting in a remarkably short space of time.
The 3AM Verdict: Catamo came from nowhere to become a mainstay of Sporting’s first team during Ruben Amorim’s time in charge, and has been linked with Aston Villaon a few occasions – it looks like it may now be their last chance to decide whether to bid or not. A Bola are reasonably reliable by the standards of tabloid reporting and the story has hung around for some time, so there’s probably at least some interest. We’ll see if that solidifies into a formal bid very soon.
Real Madrid could make sudden move for Crystal Palace star
Over to a potentially seismic story from Spanish outlet Fichajes now – they allege that Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton has “emerged on the agenda” of Real Madrid head coach Xabi Alonso and that the La Liga giants could launch a bid for the 21-year-old this summer.
Supposedly, Alonso sees Wharton as the heir to Luka Modrić and Toni Kroos and as the “ideal player” to become their next playmaking force – as a result, he is described as a “top priority” for Real.
Palace are said to be unwilling to sell Wharton for anything less than €80m (just under £70m), a price tag which is described as an “obstacle”. It’s suggested that if Real succeed in selling Rodrygo for a significant sum, then they will make their move – but if they aren’t able to, then it may be that they come back in next summer instead.
The 3AM Verdict: If A Bola can fairly be described a relatively reliable, we will politely opine that such a description cannot be extended to Fichajes, so we will take this with quite a few grains of salt. Wharton seems unlikely to move this summer, but when the time comes, don’t be shocked if just about every big-name team in Europe is in the bidding. 2026 seems more likely, however.
Nottingham Forest ‘enquire’ about rising Leicester City star
While Nottingham Forest fans will probably be more worried about the apparent breakdown of the relationship between owner Evangelos Marinakis and manager Nuno Espirito Santo, but there is at least one fresh transfer rumour floating around to take their minds off things, too.
GiveMeSport claim that Forest have “enquired about the possibility” of striking a deal for Leicester City full-back Victor Kristiansen, who they want to provide competition for Neco Williams at full-back.
Although the 22-year-old cost the Foxes £17m when they signed him from Bologna, it’s said that “a cut-price deal is now on the cards” as Leicester look to fix a difficult financial situation, and apparently £10m may be enough to “secure his signature.”
The 3AM Verdict: That would be an excellent price for a talented defender who has already established himself as a regular for the Denmark national team. Kristiansen was a regular in Leicester’s side last season, and £10m is a bargain if that price point proves to be accurate. With so many rumours surrounding Forest’s full-back targets, however, it’s hard to be certain which ones are realistic or not.
Continue Reading