A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs, Arsenal and more.
Another day of gossip is in the books, and that means that it’s time for 3 Added Minutes’ regular morning round-up of some of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – starting with a story involving both Liverpool and Chelsea.
According to TEAMtalk, Liverpool are “joining the chase” for Brighton & Hove Albion centre-back Luka Vušković, who has impressed since moving to the Amex Stadium over the summer and now seems to have generated a long list of admirers from Europe’s elite.
Sign up to our 3AddedMinutes newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to 3 Added Minutes, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Chelsea were apparently already monitoring the Croatian, while Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona are all mentioned as being “seriously interested” in the 19-year-old, who shone on loan at Hamburg last year but was sold by Tottenham Hotspur to generate funds for their recent squad renovation.
Liverpool apparently view Vušković as a potential replacement for Virgil van Dijk when his contract runs out next summer, but neither they nor any other side have made contact with Brighton or their player. It sounds like nobody expects him to go anywhere until next summer at the earliest.
The 3AM Verdict: Brighton’s philosophy has always been to sell their young players if a big enough bid comes in, and there’s no reason to believe that Vušković would be any different come next summer – it would take a colossal offer, but perhaps a side like Liverpool or Chelsea are prepared to stump up. The Croatian won’t go anywhere until then, though.
Tottenham keen on Serie A star – but deal would be ‘complicated’
Over to a story from Sport Witness, now – they claim that Spurs have been monitoring several players from Serie A side Como, including Nico Paz, Martin Baturina and, perhaps most plausibly, midfielder Lucas Da Cunha.
Spurs are one of several sides keeping tabs on the freshly-minted France international and are said to have sent scouts to watch him in action as they contemplate a bid. Brentford are also mentioned as being in the mix for the 25-year-old, and it’s implied that others might be keen.
Getting a deal for the left-footed Da Cunha would be “complicated,” however. It would apparently be difficult to persuade him to leave Como, where he has been made club captain. He also signed a new long-term contract with the club only this summer. There’s no speculation as to how much it might take to wrestle him away from Cesc Fàbregas’ side.
The 3AM Verdict: This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the impressive Da Cunha crop up in the gossip columns, with Liverpool and Chelsea also among the clubs said to have started watching him. He doesn’t seem likely to leave Como in the immediate future but there could be a big bidding war if that changes – in other words, Spurs fans probably shouldn’t hold their breath.
Arsenal readying January bid for key attacking target
The final story of today’s digest comes from Caught Offside (partly via a paywalled article from The Daily Briefing) and suggests that Arsenal haven’t given up on signing Atlético Madrid forward Julián Alvarez – and that they “could return with a January proposal” to sign the Argentine.
Arsenal’s attempt to sign Alvarez over the summer failed because the player wanted to move to Barcelona only for his employers to block the move, and frankly this report doesn’t come up with any evidence that he may have softened his stance on a transfer to any other club.
Atlético would apparently expect to receive up to €150m (£126m) if they did sell him in January, and have no plans to let him go on the cheap given that they have Alvarez tied down to a long contract. Despite the apparent barriers, the Gunners are still said to be “very interested” in striking a deal for the former Manchester City man.
The 3AM Verdict: Even if we ignore the steepling price tag, this report provides no reason to believe that anything has changed significantly since the summer, when Alvarez proved to be unobtainable. Everything we’ve heard suggests that the striker simply intends to crack on with his career in Madrid for now, and we doubt that a January transfer is a realistic prospect.