Manchester United among teams chasing Chelsea star with Spurs ‘closely monitoring’ Italy internationalplaceholder image
Manchester United among teams chasing Chelsea star with Spurs ‘closely monitoring’ Italy international | Getty Images
The biggest and wildest new Premier League transfer rumours - with stories from Manchester United, Chelsea, Spurs and more.
Another busy day for the gossip columns has been and gone, and that means that it’s time for our regular morning round-up of some of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – starting with a story involving a Chelsea forward who could be on the move.
According to Caught Offside, a number of Premier League teams are debating a bid for Liam Delap, who has struggled at Stamford Bridge since signing last summer – and apparently the Blues are considering letting him leave on loan, with a permanent departure “not ruled out.”
Manchester United, who tried to sign Delap before he went to Chelsea, are among the alleged suitors, with the article claiming that the Red Devils still have “admiration” for the striker. Newcastle, Everton, Sunderland and Brighton & Hove Albion are all mentioned as having interest, too.
It’s said that Chelsea have not yet made their “final decision” on Delap’s future and no offers have been made as yet, with teams seemingly keeping a watching brief for now – but all five teams are “trying to keep abreast of developments” with the young forward’s future “up in the air.”
The 3AM Verdict: We could imagine Chelsea letting Delap leave, as they’ve seldom shied away from getting rid of players who are perceived to be underperforming in the past. Just ask Nicolas Jackson. As for which of the sides mentioned might be serious suitors, we’ll have to wait and see.
Spurs ‘monitoring’ Serie A star ahead of summer bid
Let’s head over to Italy now with a story from Calciomercato – who allege that Tottenham Hotspur are “closely monitoring” 29-year-old AS Roma midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini with an eye to a summer move.
Spurs are said to have “set their sights” on the 36-cap Italy international, whose contract is due to expire in June. AS Roma, his current employers, are looking at making a new contract offer but the player is said to be “seriously tempted” by the opportunity to move to another country.
Apparently interim manager Igor Tudor has spurred Tottenham’s interest, while Pellegrini is apparently waiting to see what kind of offers he gets from Roma or elsewhere before making a decision.
The 3AM Verdict: It’s fair to assume that a number of big sides will at least do their due diligence on Pellegrini given that he’s available on a free transfer, but we’ve yet to see evidence that Spurs are going to make a formal bid. It’s certainly not implausible, but these stories often come about because a player’s agent wants to make it appear as though interest is more substantial than it actually is while contract negotiations are ongoing. We’ll see.
Manchester United ‘leading the race’ for Real Madrid wonderkid
Let’s wrap things up for today with a tale from Spanish website Fichajes, who reckon that Manchester United – them again – are “leading the race” to sign Real Madrid forward Endrick once his loan spell at Lyon has expired at the end of the season.
Apparently Real would be “willing to facilitate a permanent departure” for the 19-year-old, who struggled to break into the first-team at the Bernabeu but has scored three goals in his first four games for his temporary employers.
There’s no word on what kind of transfer fee might be called for, other than the claim that Real “won’t sell [Endrick] for a pittance,” but apparently Real think his value will be inflated sufficiently by his work in France to make selling him worthwhile. Meanwhile, apparently the Brazilian striker’s team “welcomes the move to Manchester.”
The 3AM Verdict: We must start by saying that Fichajes are not, in our opinion, a remotely reliable source for transfer stories, and we take anything they say with a colossal pinch of salt. As such, we’d like to see proper corroboration for this one before we believe it.
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