Aston Villa target four big names to replace £65m Durán as Chelsea plan another massive Brighton raid

Normally, the final days of the January transfer window are a bit of anti-climax, but it’s set to be very different this time, with huge deals suddenly springing up all over the Premier League – and to help you keep track of all the deals that could be happening, we’re here with our daily round-up of some of the biggest and boldest new transfer rumours along with our insight on which could actually happen.

We’ll start at Villa Park this morning, where Monchi’s transfer team have suddenly had to start working overtime to find a new striker with Jhon Durán set to leave for the Saudi Pro League in a deal worth at least £65m – and we have stories from both The Athletic and The Guardian which give us some clues about Aston Villa’s potential replacements.

Both outlets state that the Villans are interested in PSG forward Marco Asensio, who has scored two goals in 16 games this season, and Chelsea’s João Félix, both of whom would likely operate behind or wide of the lead striker rather than directly replacing Durán. It’s worth noting that The Guardian claim that both players could turn down a move to Villa Park, however, and have “reservations about joining” Emery’s side.

Which, if accurate, would leave us with The Guardian’s other suggestion, which is that they are “weighing up” a bid for Wolves’ Matheus Cunha, who has stalled negotiations over a new contract at the Molineux. Wolves have repeatedly insisted that Cunha is not for sale, but the Durán money means that Villa do have some economic weight to throw around. Mathys Tel is also of interest, but with so many other Premier League clubs in the mix there’s no knowing whether they’d stand a chance of signing him.

The 3AM Verdict: Where to begin? Wolves really don’t need to sell Cunha and will probably try to resist attempts to bully them into it, but the player himself could throw his weight around and make life awkward. Asensio and Félix aren’t really natural strikers, but Villa do need some strength in depth behind Ollie Watkins as well. As for Tel – Spurs seem to have had a bid worth around £50m accepted per reports elsewhere, but we expect at least a couple of other teams to bite at that price. If nobody else does, Villa could have a great chance of making a startlingly good deal.

Chelsea back to Brighton for another big bid

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again – clearly words that Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly live, given that they’re apparently set to go back to Brighton & Hove Albion with yet another massive offer for one of their star players, according to TeamTalk.

This time, Chelsea have set their sights on the impressive young Cameroonian midfielder Carlos Baleba, and are “monitoring him closely” having “sounded out” the Seagulls to find out how much he might cost. No word on the final figure from this article beyond the fact that it would be a “mammoth fee”. It’s not like Chelsea don’t have previous.

The Blues have already spent a combined £170m on bring Moisés Caicedo and Marc Cucurella up from East Sussex, so this is a well-trodden path, albeit one which hasn’t necessarily yielded consistent results so far. It seems as though we’re looking at a summer transfer, however, so Brighton fans shouldn’t panic just yet – Baleba will be in place for the rest of the season unless Boehly and Eghbali get a really itchy chequebook.

The 3AM Verdict: It’s almost impossible to assess the veracity of Chelsea transfer rumours, because they really will spend practically any amount on any player – but Baleba is definitely their type and fits the youthful profile they prefer in their mega-money signings. He also looks set to become a very good player, and hasn’t been quite so injured as Roméo Lavia. Let’s see if it all comes true in the summer.

Everton switch target as Chelsea man enters frame

We’ll sign off today with a story from L’Equipe journalist Loïc Tanzi, who claims that Everton – having seemingly given up on several weeks’ worth of attempts to persuade Strasbourg’s talented midfielder Habib Diarra to sign for them – have now set their sights on signing a member of Chelsea’s infamous ‘bomb squad’ of unwanted players.

The man in question is midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, who was long linked with a move to AC Milan but may now have to settle for Merseyside instead. The Toffees have “concretely positioned” themselves to sign the 21-year-old England age group international, whose Chelsea career appears to be over after just 32 appearances.

The 3AM Verdict: West Ham have also been linked with a move for Chukwuemeka, as have Juventus, so there’s likely to be a bit of a scrap to get this signing sorted, with an initial loan deal most likely – but we suspect Everton really are interested as they could do with bolstering their midfield ahead of a possible relegation battle. Sadly, the financials involved are far from clear.