A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Aston Villa, Spurs, Everton and more.
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Every morning, 3 Added Minutes scours the gossip columns to put together a round-up of the biggest (and strangest) new Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – and today, we kick off with a story involving each of Chelsea, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur.
According to Sport Witness (taking some of their information from Swedish outlet Sportsbladet), Chelsea and Villa are among the sides who have Spurs midfielder Lucas Bergvall “on their radar” – and both even attempted to sign the youngster in January.
Apparently the two teams were “willing to pay” as much as £40m to secure Bergvall’s services, but Spurs rejected the offers at the time – but they remain “keen” on the 20-year-old and could make another move in the summer, especially if Spurs end up getting relegated.
It’s speculated that Spurs’ stance on Bergvall is “unlikely to have changed” but that a drop down to the Championship could “force their hand.” There’s no suggestion that either Chelsea or Villa have re-opened talks, nor any word on what kind of transfer fee might be enough to get a deal done.
The 3AM Verdict: This article is largely speculative, based on Sportsbladet’s assertion that Chelsea and Villa were both bidders in January. If that’s accurate, of course, then there’s no reason that the two wouldn’t still be interested in the summer, while Spurs will be forced to shed much of their squad if they end up going down. Survive, and we suspect they’ll hang on barring a particularly enormous offer.
Serie A star ‘in Tottenham’s sights’ as De Zerbi identifies first target
Roberto De Zerbi has barely been Spurs manager for five minutes, but that hasn’t stopped him from picking out his first summer transfer target, according to Calciomercato – they reckon that the new head coach has put Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli “in Tottenham’s sights” as he looks to rebuild his squad at the end of the season.
The 28-year-old Italy international is at the top of De Zerbi’s “wish list,” with Juventus potentially prepared to let Locatelli leave in order to balance the books. The Old Lady is struggling with her finances at the moment, and Locatelli only has two more years left on his contract, making this summer the best time to sell to get maximum value.
There’s no word on what that value might be, however, which is understandable given that there has been no chance for Spurs to open negotiations as yet – and nor is there any word on the player’s own thoughts about his future.
The 3AM Verdict: Although not stated in the article, it’s fair to assume that this a deal which could only take place if Spurs do beat the drop. Juventus do need to sell some players this summer, so any stories linking their players with a move away have to be viewed as plausible right now – but we’d need to see more corroboration of this story before we fully buy into it.