The latest Premier League transfer rumours, with news from Spurs, Manchester United, Aston Villa and more.
We haven’t got much time before the fax machines fall silent and the rumour mill creaks to a halt, but with a few days of the transfer window remaining, we’re still here with our regular round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – starting with a big story for Tottenham Hotspur fans.
According to TeamTalk, Spurs are planning to “break their transfer record” in order to convince Como youngster Nico Paz to make the move to North London this summer – but they may face a problem in the form of Real Madrid.
Spurs have been interested in Paz for some time and have supposedly seen at least one bid rejected by the Argentina international’s current club, but have now decided to lodge a record-shattering €80m (£70m) move in order to sign the 20-year-old attacking midfielder.
Even that “still might not get the deal done”, however, because Spanish giants Real Madrid are apparently trying to persuade Paz to wait a season so that they can sign him next summer – they are said to have “made it clear” that they will bring him to the Bernabeu next season if he waits. At least one Spanish media source apparently claims that this has “convinced him to stay” at Como for another year.
The 3AM Verdict: The Spanish press tend to overstate their teams’ positions in these cases, but the lure of Real is clearly very strong, so it’s possible that Paz turns a lucrative move to Spurs down – and not even certain that Como accept a bid anyway, as they have been pretty bullish about keeping a star player in the squad. This one could go down to the wire, and there’s no telling which way Paz will go.
Manchester United ‘on verge’ of £17m purchase
Fresh off the back of another bleak night for both André Onana and the club as a whole, Manchester United are said to be “on the verge” of sealing a €20m (£17m) deal to replace the Cameroonian goalkeeper – according to Caught Offside, among others.
The Red Devils are “closing in on an agreement” with Royal Antwerp for the signing of goalkeeper Senne Lammens, having improved their original offer by €3m – a “full agreement” is now in place, according to Caught Offside’s sources and negotiations are now in “the final stretch”.
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The 23-year-old Lammens has only one season of regular first-team football under his belt but was massively impressive in Belgium, putting up a startling 81.4% save percentage for Antwerp.
The 3AM Verdict: This deal seems to be done, and United are taking a real gamble by signing such an unproven goalkeeper to compete with Onana for the starting spot – but if Lammens carries his form from last season to Old Trafford, he could easily be an improvement.
Aston Villa ‘to allow’ player to move to Nottingham Forest
Finally, a story from Football Insider which suggests that Nottingham Forest’s lengthy search for a new right-back could be close to a conclusion – it’s alleged that Aston Villa are “prepared to allow” Matty Cash to leave the club this summer amid interest from his former team.
Forest have “expressed an interest” in bringing Cash back to the City Ground five years after he left, while Villa have “concerns” over the Poland international’s performances and “feel they can improve” upon him by signing a new right-back themselves.
Finding a replacement is said to be a pre-requisite for a deal to take place, however, and a transfer will only be green-lit if an alternative is found. Outside of Forest, it’s said that Villa have been shopping Cash around but have been “struggling to drum up interest”. There’s no word on what the transfer fee might be.
The 3AM Verdict: The problem with assessing the likelihood of this transfer is that Forest have been linked with a wholehost of right-backs, and it’s next to impossible to know which are their priority purchases. It’s also not clear how close Villa are to finding a replacement. One that comes down to deadline day, perhaps.