Arsenal ready bold swoop for dream £34m midfielder as West Ham eye intriguing new striker target

We begin Friday's Premier League transfer rumour round-up with a report outlining Arsenal's apparent admiration of Serbian midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. The former Lazio star moved to Saudi Arabia over the summer, but is one of several high-profile foreign names already being touted for an exit from the Pro League, despite having only arrived a few months ago.

With that in mind, TuttoJuve suggest that Serie A giants are monitoring his situation, but could face competition from Arsenal, who are said to hold a 'strong interest' in the player. While no specific asking price has been named just yet, it is claimed that the Gunners would be able to put up a 'better offer' for the 28-year-old if he does indeed become available.

The 3AM Verdict: This will depend massively on asking price. If Milinkovic-Savic can be secured for a reasonable fee then he could well be a decent addition for Arsenal, but given that he was signed by Al-Hilal for £34 million just months ago, and that he is under contract until 2026, he is unlikely to come cheap.

Dia wants West Ham move

Elsewhere, Calcio Salernitana report that Senegalese striker Boulaye Dia is waiting for West Ham to make an offer for him in the latter stages of the transfer window. The forward, who is on the books at Salernitana in Italy, has been linked with the Hammers for a while, but as yet, no concrete offer for his services has been made from east London.

Instead, Spartak Moscow have tabled a bid of around £12.8 million, but neither Dia nor his employers are particularly taken with the proposal. Indeed, the 27-year-old is said to be ‘eager for a call’ from either a big Italian team or a Premier League club, with West Ham mentioned specifically by name.

The 3AM Verdict: You suspect that there is a reason why West Ham have not made their move for Dia just yet. A return of four goals in 13 outings this season is hardly sparkling, and if the Hammers were going to go out and spend upwards of £13 million on a striker, you would imagine that they would ideally like to secure themselves a player with a much more obvious and proven track record.

Brighton and Palace eye Osman

And finally, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace are understood to be in the hunt to sign FC Nordsjælland winger Ibrahim Osman this month. The 19-year-old has become an increasingly prominent figure in Denmark since arriving from Ghana a year ago, and is attracting plenty of attention from the Premier League.

With that in mind, as per Tipsbladet, Albion and Palace are said to be keeping tabs on his progress, with the possibility of a January transfer still very much on the cards. Any prospective deal for either club would have to be worth around £17 million to tempt Osman's current employers into an immediate sale.

The 3AM Verdict: We've said it before in this column, but there are few better indicators of a player's potential than Brighton taking an early interest in them. Osman is still very young, and far from the finished article, but he shows obvious promise, and it is surely only a matter of time before he secures himself a move to a major European top flight.