Arsenal battle West Ham for £25m wonderkid as Spurs plot bargain Serie A transfer swoop

Welcome to Thursday’s digest of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours that we’ve come across over the course of the past 24 hours – and we start in London, all over it in fact, as three of the Big Smoke’s top-flight sides battle for the signing of Turkish wonderkid Semih Kiliçsoy.

The 18-year-old has only really established himself in the Beşiktaş first-team this season but has already bagged 10 Süper Lig goals in 20 games and has scored two in two for the Turkish Under-21 side, demonstrating lethal finishing, nifty movement and some lovely dribbling skills in the process.

The result, according to Caught Offside, is that Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United are all keeping tabs on him with an eye on a summer swoop, which would apparently set any given side back around €25-30m (£21-25m). Not that they’re alone – apparently Sevilla, Atlético Madrid and RB Leipzig are all interested too.

The 3AM Verdict: Kiliçsoy’s star is rising extremely rapidly – he was really just a bench-rider until December, but then bagged a goal against Hatayspor on Christmas Day and went on a scoring streak that has kept him firmly in the starting line-up ever since. His CV is short as a result, but he’s mobile, technically impressive, two-footed and can play anywhere across the front three. The price tag seems high given how unproven he is, but he’s clearly a big talent.

Spurs compiling ‘dossier’ on summer target

Staying around the capital for a little while longer, we’re once again seeing Spurs linked with a summer move for Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori – this time by Football Insider, who claim that they have been “compiling a dossier” on the talented young centre-half, who is also wanted by Juventus and Napoli according to the report. We’ve heard that AC Milan are interested in the past, as well.

Apparently they’ve also had him recommended by Fabio Paratici, their former director of football who is currently serving a ban from the game, although that doesn’t seem to have stopped him picking up the phone to rave about his favourite young prospects. The article doesn’t mention a price point, but previous reports had suggested a figure in the region of £17m for the Italy Under-21 international.

The 3AM Verdict: Another youngster whose reputation is growing at great speed, Calafiori only signed from Basel last summer but has become an integral part of Thiago Motta’s top four side in Serie A. He’s composed, shows excellent positional judgement, is strong in the tackle and has a good passing range, too. If that old £17m figure was close to the mark, it looks like a bargain.

Everton & Wolves battle for Bremen star

Finally, let’s venture outside of the M25 for reports of a two-way transfer tussle between Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers, both of whom seem to be keeping tabs on 23-year-old Werder Bremen forward Justin Nijnmah – at least according to Kicker, who say that both sides have the pacy winger in their sights.

Apparently the fastest player at Bremen, he’s bagged six goals and two assists this season despite having to work his way through quite a few injuries. It seems that his current club are keen to tie the German down to a new contract, but with those two Premier League sides interested alongside Villarreal and some unspecified Bundesliga sides, that could be tricky. No fee is mentioned, sadly.

The 3AM Verdict: Nijnmah’s fitness is a concern of sorts but as well as being extremely fast, he’s also got a nice touch, impressive dribbling skills and knows where the back of the net is. Without knowing the fee, it’s hard to gauge how good of a signing this would be, but anything below £20m is probably worth plenty of consideration.