Chelsea prepare huge raid for £70m striker as Everton 'agree deal' for Aston Villa midfielder

Welcome to Wednesday’s round-up of the biggest and boldest new Premier League transfer rumours and today, as we so often do, we find ourselves starting at Stamford Bridge, by this point surely the new spiritual home of the rumour mill.

Chelsea’s search for a new striker goes on (and on) and it seems as though new head coach Enzo Maresca has a new target – according to TeamTalk, they’re keen on RB Leipzig striker Loïs Openda, most recently seen gently caressing the football with his fingertips for Belgium at Euro 2024.

Openda only moved to Leipzig last summer and is contracted until 2028, so as the article points out his club are “under no pressure to sell” but apparently he has a £70m release clause which will become active next summer, which could inform the price range Chelsea are looking at. There is also, apparently, interest from La Liga and “two other top EPL sides”, although you can never trust anyone who calls it the EPL.

The 3AM Verdict: Openda is dangerous both in front of goal and in deep areas thanks to his quick feet and dribbling skills, and he enjoyed his best season yet in scoring 28 goals in all competitions. In other words, all indications are that he is a class act who could improve Chelsea and £70m probably isn’t all that far off a fair price. We’ve seen little corroboration of this rumour so we’ll maintain a healthy scepticism for now, but it doesn’t seem entirely implausible – if Openda is open to changing team for the third summer in a row.

Everton ‘agree deal’ for Villa starlet

News now from Merseyside, where Everton may be closing in on their first signing of the summer with the claim – reported by Football Insider and others – that they have agreed terms with Aston Villa over the signing of young midfielder Tim Iroegbunam in a deal apparently worth around £10m.

The 20-year-old holding midfielder is moving on a permanent deal, according to reports, and is clearly keen to get some first-team action under his belt after impressing on loan at QPR in the 2022/23 season but finding himself stuck on the bench for most of the last year. Apparently Iroegbunam is “highly rated” at Villa Park, but the need to meet profit and sustainability rules means they’ve decided to let him leave.

The 3AM Verdict: We like Iroegbunam – he’s a tough tackling, hard-grafting who tends to keep it pretty simple but who also keeps it distinctly effective. Perhaps he failed to break into Unai Emery’s team because he lacked a little bit of creative flair, but it’s hard not to see a player who will thrive under Sean Dyche. With Amadou Onana likely leaving for a lot more than £10m, this could prove a very canny bit of business.

Ipswich looking to re-sign promotion star

Some exciting news for Ipswich Town fans to wrap things up today – according to The Athletic (paywalled), the Tractor Boys have enquired about a permanent move for Omari Hutchinson, the 20-year-old Chelsea winger who impressed on loan at Portman Road during their successful promotion campaign.

There’s no mention of a fee, just that the club have asked about what it might be, but given Chelsea’s interest in moving home-grown players on before 30 June to meet their own financial obligations, they’ll probably not hold out too hard. The bad news is that Ipswich aren’t the only side interested in the Jamaica international – apparently other teams from both the Premier League and Europe are keeping tabs too.

The 3AM Verdict: Hutchinson bagged 10 goals and four assists in the league last season, is a brilliant runner both with and without the ball, and is someone that Kieran McKenna knows he can trust to perform for the club – all of which suggests that they’d be well advised to do everything they can to make the deal happen. Given how high Hutchinson’s ceiling looks like it could be, this may also just end up being a wise investment in their future as well. Definitely not a bad move on paper.