Man Utd ‘step up’ January striker bid as Brighton & Crystal Palace battle to sign European championplaceholder image
Man Utd ‘step up’ January striker bid as Brighton & Crystal Palace battle to sign European champion | Getty Images
A round-up of some of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Manchester United, Brighton, Crystal Palace, West Ham and more.
Another day of rumour and gossip is in the books, and to help you keep across all of the biggest stories, were back with our regular morning round-up of some of Premier League transfer stories you might have missed yesterday – starting with a story for Manchester United supporters.
According to The Guardian’s Ed Aarons, Manchester United are “considering stepping up their interest” in teenage Stade Rennais striker Kader Meïté with an eye to completing a deal before next week’s transfer deadline – and have “held talks” with the player’s representatives.
The 18-year-old forward, who was first linked with Manchester United over the weekend, is apparently “expected to cost around €30m” – that’s £26m – but there is competing interest from Saudi side Al-Hilal.
TeamTalk, in their own report on the story, claim that Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Newcastle, Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion are all “sending scouts” to monitor Meïté, but it appears to be United who have the lead in the race for his signature.
The 3AM Verdict: We didn’t expect United to make any major moves before the window closed, but they appear to hold Meïté in very high regard and we’re seeing more and more sources suggest that this is a deal which could take place before the window closes. It sounds like there’s a lot of negotiation yet to be done, however.
Brighton & Crystal Palace renew rivalry in transfer market
Over to a story for fans of reasonably bitter rivals Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, now – according to Fabrizio Romano, both are among the sides hoping to strike a deal for Toulouse defender Charlie Creswell over the coming week.
Creswell was among the stars of England’s successful European Under-21 Championship campaign back in June and has been attracting increasing interest amid a fine season in Ligue 1, and now teams seem to be acting on that, with Romano reporting that Brighton and Wolfsburg have both had bids rejected. Apparently the Seagulls offered €24m (£21m).
Palace haven’t made a bid yet, it seems, but “have requested full details” of the terms of such a deal. What those are appears to be unknown, for now, but Romano adds that Toulouse “want to keep the player until summer.”
The 3AM Verdict: The centre-back has also been extensively linked with West Ham (although that rumour seems to have quietened down in recent weeks), so there could easily be a major bidding war if Toulouse are prepared to entertain offers – but as it stands, it seems that they aren’t, at least at a price clubs are willing to pay. There’s another few days for haggling, but we believe it looks likely that Creswell stays put as it stands.
Burnley deal ‘back on’ as talks advance
Let’s round this morning’s digest with an update on Burnley’s pursuit of West Ham and England midfielder James Ward-Prowse - with the deal “back on” after having appeared to collapse, according to Sky Sports.
They claim that “talks are advancing” and Ward-Prowse could undergo a medical within the next two days, suggesting that someone has had a change of heart given that it was widely reported that talks over a potential move had broken down over the weekend.
Whatever happened there, Burnley are now “back at the table” and a straight loan deal seems set to go through before deadline day, with Ward-Prowse not a part of Nuno Espirito Santo’s plans at the London Stadium.
The 3AM Verdict: Looks like this one is going to happen, despite the deal being called off just 48 hours ago. It’s not clear what the issue was or what has changed, as the deal still doesn’t seem to include an option (or obligation) to buy, which didn’t seem likely in the first place. But we do expect this to go through before the close of play next Monday.
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