Chelsea preparing bold £42m midfielder transfer as Liverpool could lose star man to La Liga

Welcome to your Wednesday round-up of all the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours – and we’ll start today’s offering with a story from Spain which sees Chelsea splashing some serious cash.

According to transfer website Fichajes, 21-year-old Atlético Madrid midfielder Pablo Barrios is a target for the Stamford Bridge outfit, with Enzo Maresca’s transfer team set to offer up to €50m (£42m) for the talented youngster, who has become a first-team regular under Diego Simeone over the past two seasons.

Apparently Atlético’s financial needs mean that they could be prepared to sell, while the Blues see Barrios as “an ideal reinforcement” for the current squad – a combative defensive midfielder, he would fit into the double pivot alongside players like Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández.

The 3AM Verdict: The problem with assessing this rumour is that you can put just about any player’s name next to Chelsea’s and make a case for it happening with the way they conduct their transfer business – but he does fit the youthful profile they’re going for, even if a sensible man might wonder if they shouldn’t just give Roméo Lavia more of a go. Another note worth making is that Fichajes are about as consistently accurate with their rumours as Darwin Núñez is with his shots on an off day. But you never know. We’ve seen wilder stories.

Spanish giants eye Liverpool star

Just when Liverpool thought that they were going to have a tough enough time keeping hold of star winger Mohamed Salah, a new contender for his signature enters the fray, at least according to Spanish outlet Sport, who reckon that Barcelona think they’re in a sufficiently strong financial position to make a move for him next summer.

Salah is out of contract at the end of the campaign and has been repeatedly linked with Paris Saint-Germain or perhaps with a move to Saudi Arabia, but now another big name have apparently thrown their hat into the ring – apparently president Joan Laporta wanted to sign him back in 2021 but couldn’t make the money work. Now that he’s potentially available on a free, he’s coming back to the table.

The 3AM Verdict: Barcelona love a splashy free transfer almost as much as they enjoy the month-long period where they can’t register them due to their wildly imbalanced finances, so we don’t think it’s especially implausible that they throw their hat into the ring. There’s no way they can outbid PSG or the Saudi Pro League, however, so this can only happen if Salah really likes the idea of a year or two at the Camp Nou.

Arsenal, Liverpool & Newcastle learn Mbeumo price

Just yesterday, we took a long look at Bryan Mbeumo’s season and pondered whether he could sustain the form that has seen him linked with several big-name sides – and today, we discover that his price tag has been set at “higher than £60m”, according to TeamTalk.

That may be enough to price out Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United, all of whom have been linked with a bid in January or in the summer. The article then brings in a story from Football Insider which claims that Brentford want to keep him at the club over the winter, although the source of the story seems to have absolutely no connection to the club whatsoever, so take that with a pinch of salt.

The 3AM Verdict: While we may raise a quizzical eyebrow at the reliability of the last element of the story, we do agree that Brentford are unlikely to sell at anything less than an outrageous price – you shouldn’t need Football Insider to tell you that. We agree with the underlying implication of the story, which is that Mbeumo isn’t going anywhere until next summer.