A round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs and Leeds.
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The January transfer window is officially open, the first deals are already over the line, and to help you keep track of all the comings and goings, 3 Added Minutes are back with our regular round-up of the biggest and wildest new Premier League transfer rumours – starting with a pretty extraordinary rumour for Chelsea and Arsenal fans.
According to Caught Offside, Chelsea have “set their sights on potential transfer deals” for two players from immediate rivals in the upper echelons of the top-flight table. One of them – Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers – is a long-term target who has been linked with the Blues many times, but the other name is rather more surprising: Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri.
Chelsea are “really keen” on the 18-year-old winger, who has struggled for minutes this season with Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke both ahead of him in the pecking order. Apparently several “figures in the industry” have confirmed to Caught Offside that Chelsea’s interest is serious, although there’s no suggestion that an approach has been as of yet, or any word on how much they might be prepared to offer the Gunners.
Arsenal’s stance is, apparently, that Nwaneri “won’t be sold,” which isn’t surprising, although it’s suggested that they could sanction a loan to another club in the Premier League.
The 3AM Verdict: There’s just about no chance that Chelsea sign Nwaneri in the immediate future, but things change quickly in football and he’s certainly the kind of hugely promising young player that the Blues are happy to spend huge amounts of money on – so don’t be too shocked if this story ends up having some legs down the line. Not in January, mind.
Spurs make ‘concrete move’ for Brazilian wonderkid
Over to a story for Tottenham Hotspur supporters now – according to Sport Witness, Spurs have “made a concrete move” for 19-year-old left-back Souza, having “tested the waters” with an initial bid for the Santos starlet.
An official bid was launched in “recent days,” the article claims (citing sources within the Brazilian press) but was rejected due to falling short of Santos’ asking price. That price is, apparently, €17m (£14.75m) for the 70% share of the players’ economic rights that the club owns – suggesting a total fee in the region of £21m.
Spurs’ initial offer was “well below” the required mark, it’s claimed, and the gap in valuation is said to make a January deal “highly unlikely.” AC Milan and Chelsea are also said to have found negotiations challenging, with Santos holding firm. There’s no word on where the player would like to end up.
The 3AM Verdict: If a formal offer has indeed been made then that suggests that Spurs do indeed want to strike a deal this winter, and they have the PSR headroom to meet a high asking price if they want – so this may not be so hard to do before the end of January as the article implies. Still, there’s clearly a long road ahead.
Leeds ‘eye bargain move’ for Bundesliga star
Let’s wrap today’s digest up with a story from TeamTalk which reckons that Leeds United will “eye [a] bargain move” for Union Berlin defender Danilho Doekhi this winter – a player whose physical qualities and threat from set pieces have supposedly made him stand out as a transfer target as Leeds continue to press on with a switch to a 3-5-2 formation.
Doehki’s contract expires in the summer, which means that Leeds could get a bargain this January, as Union would “prefer a January sale” in order to get some transfer funds in – it’s suggested that the 27-year-old Dutchman could be worth around €13m (£11.5m) at most.
No formal offer has yet been made but Leeds are “hopeful of striking a deal” while deciding whether to pay up now or to wait to snap Doehki up on a free transfer in six months’ time. Apparently, the Whites are also debating whether to make a bid for AS Roma striker Artem Dovbyk and are one of four clubs to have been offered the striker.
The 3AM Verdict: Leeds have limited transfer funds and need several players this January, so we suspect that they’re more likely to offer a pre-contract deal to the Dutchman than to buy him outright now – but that will perhaps depend on how the rest of the window goes. If they do make a bid, it’s likely to be later in the window once other options have been exhausted.