A round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours - with news from Newcastle, Spurs, Chelsea, Bournemouth and more.
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Welcome to 3 Added Minutes’ regular morning round-up and review of some of the biggest (and often strangest) Premier League transfer rumours which you might have missed over the past 24 hours – and we kick today’s column off with a story involving both Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur.
TEAMtalk allege that Newcastle hold “serious interest” in Sevilla full-back Oso, better known to his family as Joaquín Martínez Gauna – but that the Magpies are “in [a] race against time” to get a deal done amid interest from both Spurs and Fiorentina.
Newcastle have “made contact” with Sevilla about the 23-year-old’s availability, while Spurs are “monitoring” him but don’t yet seem to have opened negotiations. That could make Fiorentina the biggest threat, with the Serie A side said to have “made the most progress” so far.
Oso apparently has a release clause worth €20m (£17.5m) in his contract, but could be available for slightly less given that his contract expires at the end of the coming season. Nottingham Forest and Fulham are also mentioned as clubs who hold some amount of interest in the left-back.
The 3AM Verdict: Newcastle tend to lose their transfer battles even when they start in pole position, so it’s not too hard to imagine them missing out on Oso as well. In truth, we suspect he isn’t a priority target anyway, and it may be that Fiorentina simply move quickly enough to get a deal done before their potential Premier League rivals even decide that he’s the right player to target.
Chelsea plot move for Norwegian World Cup hero
Over to a story from Caught Offside, now – they reckon that Chelsea are looking for ways to improve their attack and are “monitoring” Norway star Andreas Schjelderup, scorer of his country’s opening goal against England in the quarter-finals.
Other, unnamed “top clubs” are also keeping tabs on the Benfica winger, who has a €100m (£85m) release clause in his contract – not that his current employers are expected to demand quite so much as that to let him leave. Apparently they want a fee of around €40m (£34m) for the 22-year-old.
The Portuguese outfit are “unwilling” to let him leave for anything less, but it doesn’t sound like anyone has met the asking price just yet, and nor is there any suggestion that negotiations have taken place between Benfica and Chelsea, or indeed anyone else.
The 3AM Verdict: This is a very speculative article with precious little detail, and we’ve seen no corroboration of the story from more reliable sources. As it stands, we’re distinctly sceptical of this one.
Bournemouth make ‘decisive’ move for Portugal star
The final rumour of today’s round-up also involved Benfica, coincidentally, but this time it’s a story concerning Portugal international centre-half António Silva – with Bournemouth said to be “moving decisively” to sign the 22-year-old.
According to Sport Witness, who cite Portuguese newspapers A Bola and O Jogo, the Cherries are “firmly in the picture” to sign the 20-cap international, who looks likely to leave Lisbon as he enters the final year of his contract. Given the circumstances, it sounds like he could be available for a reduced fee – Benfica are supposedly asking for just €20m (£17.5m) including add-ons.
Negotiations are said to be “underway” with Bournemouth apparently well positioned to get a deal over the line. If any other sides are interested – and many clubs have been linked with a bid over the last couple of years – then there’s no mention of it in this report.
The 3AM Verdict: We have a hard time imagining that there won’t be competition given that £17.5m is a steal for a player of Silva’s quality. AC Milan have been linked elsewhere, although we don’t know how genuine their interest might be. If Bournemouth are indeed in pole position, they could end up with a coup on their hands.