Arsenal & Tottenham ‘very interested’ in rising £50m star as Liverpool enquire about shock full-back bid

Another day of football gossip has dawned, and as usual we’re here with our regular morning round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours you might have missed over the past 24 hours – starting with a story involving both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

According to Sport Witness, the two old rivals are both “very interested” in Russian starlet Aleksey Batrakov, and are said to “send scout teams to every match” to watch him in action for current club Galatasaray.

The 21-year-old is also being monitored by a host of other clubs, but Arsenal and Spurs are said to hold a “particular” interest in the attacking midfielder, who has scored seven goals in 18 matches since signing for the Turkish side this summer. This report doesn’t hypothesise about the price tag, but previous reports about Batrakov’s future have suggested that it could take a bid of £50m to prise him away.

This story, however, adds that Batrakov is in no hurry to leave his new club and that Galatasaray are hoping to extend his contract to reflect the mounting interest in him. That, according to Sport Witness at least, makes a January deal very unlikely.

The 3AM Verdict: We agree that a January deal is relatively unlikely, not least because Galatasaray have a very strong negotiating position with Batrakov under contract until 2031. Next summer, however, we do expect to see some big teams flex their financial muscles in the hopes of signing the youngster, assuming that his recent progress continues. Whether Arsenal and Spurs are really at the front of the queue, however, is unclear at this very early stage.

Liverpool & Spurs in bidding for unwanted Chelsea star

Over to a story from TEAMtalk now, which suggests that Liverpool and Spurs are among the teams who have expressed an interest in Chelsea’s Malo Gusto – with the Frenchman looking increasingly likely to leave this winter.

Chelsea tried to offload Gusto over the summer when Manchester City seemed keen, but their reported £75m asking price prevented a deal from going through. Now it’s suggested that Liverpool have already “made enquiries” ahead of a bid, while Spurs have also explored the terms of a deal.

Whether those terms will be more reasonable in January or not is not made clear in this article, but it is said that a few teams from overseas are keen as well. Atlético Madrid, AC Milan, Como and RB Leipzig are all mentioned as possible suitors for the 23-year-old, and Chelsea are getting ready to cash in.

The 3AM Verdict: Gusto will have plenty of bidders if the price comes down, and one would assume that Chelsea will ask for something more realistic having established that a £75m asking price was getting them nowhere – they do want to sell, we understand, and Gusto himself wants to leave. We wouldn’t be shocked if a January deal takes place, but don’t be surprised if it’s a loan-to-buy arrangement.

Everton among teams asking after Brazilian star

A few days ago, we reported on Everton’s alleged interest in Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque, but he might not be the only forward from South America on the Toffees’ radar – according to gossip website 4-4-2, they’re “among the top contenders” to sign Flamengo’s Samuel Lino.

The 26-year-old is the subject of interest from a broad range of teams, with PSG, Napoli and Juventus all mentioned as being among his suitors alongside Everton. One team have even made a bid, supposedly – Roma seemingly had an offer of €25m (£21m) turned down.

The amount that Flamengo might demand to let Lino leave isn’t discussed, and nor is there any clarity on when we might expect bids from other teams in the mix. Everton are, for now, only said to be “keeping a close eye on him.”

The 3AM Verdict: Lino’s name has cropped up once or twice in the continental gossip columns, but this is the first time we’ve heard Everton’s name dropped into the conversation and we can’t verify the link. One to keep an eye on, but this could just be raw speculation.