Liam Rosenior and Mikel Artetaplaceholder image
Liam Rosenior and Mikel Arteta | Getty Images
A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham and more.
Every morning, our journalists go through the gossip columns to bring you a round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – and today, we’re kicking things off with a story involving Chelsea and Arsenal.
According to Sports Boom, the London pair “lead the chase” to sign rising French star Rayan Fofana this summer, with bids apparently expected to “pour in” after an impressive season with RC Lens.
Chelsea, in particular, are said to be keen and have supposedly compiled an “extensive dossier” on the 20-year-old, who has scored six goals in 21 matches for his Ligue 1 employers so far this season. Arsenal are also said to be keeping him under “observation” as they consider adding to their attacking options.
They may be at the head of the queue, but it’s not a short one. Real Madrid and Barcelona have also sent scouts to watch him, it’s claimed. Lens apparently want to keep him around for another year if they can, but bids in the €35-45m range (£30-39m) would be “difficult to ignore.”
The 3AM Verdict: Fofana has found good form since Christmas which is starting to drive a bit of hype, and we don’t doubt that quite a few teams have sent scouts to give him a once over – but he isn’t yet productive enough for many teams to justify signing him for such a substantial sum. We’ll wait and see what happens with interest, but we imagine that Fofana has yet to convince teams that he’s worth £30m or more.
West Ham face ‘shifting market’ as price for midfield target goes up
Over to a story from Sport Witness now, who bring word from Brazil which suggests that West Ham have Flamengo midfielder Everton Araújo “under close observation” – but could be forced to pay more than they initially bargained for should they try to sign the 22-year-old.
A “shifting market” means that Flamengo are now expecting to field offers from Germany (potentially including Bayer Leverkusen) in the region of €20m (£17.5m) – about €8m more than West Ham initially valued Everton at.
Flamengo, for their part, are apparently working to extend his contract and push his transfer value up even further, although it’s suggested that they are prepared to sell him for the right offer regardless. For West Ham, whose interest is still said to be at an “exploratory” stage, a decision looms as to how high they’re willing to go.
The 3AM Verdict: Everton is a rising star of Filipe Luís’ impressive Flamengo side and even without a new contract, West Ham’s alleged valuation looks optimistic. Whether that puts them out of the running remains to be seen – although relegation would likely put paid to their pursuit anyway.
Chelsea ‘open-minded’ about budget-friendly defender deal
We’ll wrap things up with another story involving Chelsea, this time from TeamTalk concerning their potential interest in Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-Jae – who the Blues are said to be “open-minded” about moving for come the summer.
Bayern are apparently “ready to sell” the South Korean centre-half for a loss, with their “main goal” said to be a transfer worth around €35-40m (£30-35m), rather less than the €50m they paid to sign the 29-year-old from Napoli a few years ago. That could open the door to a move to Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea generally prefer to sign younger players than Kim, but with a lack of experience in defence perhaps visible on occasions this season, he’s been linked with a move to Liam Rosenior’s side fairly frequently of late – but aside from his age, the fact that Bayern are so willing to do a deal is said to be a “red flag.” Tottenham Hotspur are also mentioned briefly as another side who could be in the market.
The 3AM Verdict: Kim has been in and out of the Bayern squad this season with Jonathan Tah and Dayot Upamecano often preferred, but he remains an impressive player – and if the price is right, we wouldn’t be shocked to see Chelsea (or Spurs) enter the market. That said, based on what we’re seeing, the Blues are looking at a broad range of defensive options for the summer and it’s much too early to know which direction they may end up leaning in.
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