Arsenal on 'red alert' after £66m striker transfer update as West Ham star nears shock exit

Welcome to Friday’s round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours along with our insight into what’s really going on behind the stories – and we’re going to start today’s column off with some potentially exciting news for any Arsenal fans getting worried about their title chances.

The Gunners hadn’t initially planned to make any major moves this January, but that could be about to change – at least, according to Caught Offside, who claim that Arsenal are now on “red alert” after negotiations over a new contract between Juventus and striker Dušan Vlahović broke down.

The Serbian striker’s current deal in Turin runs out at the end of next season and with the chance of a new agreement being struck slimming, the London outfit may pounce to secure a budget-friendly deal. The original plan had been to wait for Benjamin Šeško, it seems, but that may have been shelved…

The 3AM Verdict: The problem with the Šeško plan is that Arsenal won’t be the only club in the market. Meanwhile, the problem with making an early bid for Vlahović is that even if a new deal can’t be agreed, Arsenal may not have the transfer budget spare to make such a move happen – it seemed as though they spent all of their resources in the summer. As a result, we’re highly sceptical that Edu and Mikel Arteta try to make a big move in the winter transfer window, but are happy to be proven wrong.

West Ham man ready for early exit

News now from the East End, courtesy of Sport Witness – they’ve picked up on reports from Germany which suggest that West Ham United could already be preparing to offload injury-raddled summer signing Niclas Füllkrug, with claims that the “hapless” striker may be “on the way out” in January.

The report doesn’t have a destination in mind for the 31-year-old, but instead hinges on the suggestion that Julen Lopetegui is already fed up and wants to sign a replacement, ideally one that actually makes it onto the field – and selling Füllkrug could perhaps be a way to get some of the necessary funds.

The 3AM Verdict: Another story we’re sceptical of, not least because it’s hard to imagine anyone splashes decent money in a window which seldom sees too much spending in order to sign a player with serious injury issues. If the money is there, we could imagine West Ham moving for another forward, however, and perhaps someone would take Füllkrug on loan to help cover the wage bill, at least…

Everton brace for shock January bid

The ownership situation may be tantalisingly close to a long-awaited conclusion and results might have started getting rather better, but that doesn’t mean that everything is rosy for Everton right now – and there continues to be extensive speculation regarding the future of key striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Now TeamTalk reckons that not only are Premier League sides like Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United taking an interest in a forward whose contract runs down at the end of the current campaign, but they could also be fielding offers in January – specifically, they cite a report from the Turkish media which claims that Beşiktaş are plotting a loan move this winter. Apparently, with his contract winding down, the forward wants to show what he can do at a side that is competing for silverware and as such may be “open” to the move.

The 3AM Verdict: The Istanbul outfit may be plotting a bid, but we can’t imagine Everton letting a potentially important player leave their rather threadbare squad when relegation is a possibility, especially when the financial return would be fairly minimal. It will be interesting to see what happens with Calvert-Lewin’s career in the summer but for now, we’ll eat our collective hat if he’s in the Süper Lig come February.