Chelsea & Man Utd ‘set to battle’ for established Premier League star with Newcastle ‘in mix’ for January dealplaceholder image
Chelsea & Man Utd ‘set to battle’ for established Premier League star with Newcastle ‘in mix’ for January deal | Getty Images
Rounding up the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Manchester United, Newcastle, Spurs and more.
Another round of Premier League matches is in the books, which means we can all get back to concentrating on the forthcoming January transfer window instead – and it also means that it’s time for our latest round-up of the juiciest new transfer rumours from the past 24 hours.
Let’s start with a story from Caught Offside, who allege that both Chelsea and Manchester United are among the teams “set to battle” for Crystal Palace wing-back Daniel Muñoz, who is apparently becoming “one of the most sought-after players” in the January transfer window.
Manchester City are another team “keeping a close eye” on the 29-year-old Colombia international, while Liverpool have also “joined the race” – and there’s interest from the continent, too, with both Barcelona and Atlético Madrid said to be suitors for a player who cost Palace just £6.8m when they signed him last January.
There’s no asking price set for his services now, largely because Palace “have made it clear that Muñoz is not for sale in January,” and this report suggests that any bids will be rebuffed until at least the summer.
The 3AM Verdict: Given that Muñoz has recently been injured quite badly and will miss much of January’s football, we’d say the chances of any side signing him before the summer was extremely low. Barcelona and Manchester City are both teams we’ve seen linked before, but some of these names are new and get a sceptical eyebrow raise from us until we get some corroboration.
Newcastle ‘in the mix’ to sign long-term target this January
Over to Sport Witness now, who claim that Newcastle United are “still in the mix” to sign Inter Milan midfielder Davide Frattesi, a long-term target for the Magpies – but that they risk missing out with Juventus sniffing around the Italy international as well.
Newcastle tried to sign Frattesi in the summer but couldn’t agree a deal, and are “still keen” on the 26-year-old now, with a deal “very much on [Newcastle’s] radar” ahead of the January transfer window.
The problem for Eddie Howe and his side is that Juventus are now said to be the “frontrunners” in the race for Frattesi, who is “likely to consider his future in January” to secure regular minutes ahead of the World Cup. He could well be “interested” in a move, but Newcastle may not be his first choice – although the reasons aren’t stated, and nor are the terms of any such deal.
The 3AM Verdict: Newcastle and Frattesi have beenlinked many times over the last year and it does indeed seem that they had a crack at buying him in the last transfer window, so it stands to reason they’d have at least some passing interest in striking a deal, especially with aneed for some reinforcement in midfield. We suspect that they’ll be hovering around the deal but may well have other priorities, and it’s far from probable that Frattesi will be on his way to England this winter.
Spurs could change goalkeeper as Inter Milan make move
Let’s finish up with a story from TeamTalk which discusses the chances that Tottenham Hotspur could make a change between the sticks soon – not only detailing their supposed interest in Manchester City’s James Trafford but also the possibility that Inter might make a bid for current number one Guglielmo Vicario.
Trafford is “on [Spurs’] radar” after they began looking for a way to replace Vicario in October, and it’s said that others are on the shortlist too – which may help, as City are hesitant to sell and it’s “not nailed on” that he would be allowed to leave for North London. There’s no word about any kind of negotiations taking place, this is just a player Spurs have bookmarked for the future.
Meanwhile, Inter are said to be interested in taking Vicario off their hands next summer, but not only is it said that no approach has been made but that the Serie A side are “not looking to spend big money” on a replacement for the ageing Yann Sommer, with £20m likely the most that they would spend. It’s not made clear whether or not that would be acceptable to Spurs.
The 3AM Verdict: This is, by its nature, a speculative article looking a fair way into the future, and there’s nothing here to suggest that Spurs are likely to make a change in goal in January. We don’t doubt that Spurs would have at least some interest in Trafford or that they’d be able to sell Vicario for a relatively modest sum, so it may well end up being a fair reflection of how things pan out, but it’s much too early to know for sure.
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