Chelsea ready bold last-minute £34m striker bid while Atlético Madrid line up surprise Everton raid

There are just two days left for clubs to wrap up their January transfer business and it seems like a lot of last-minute shopping is being done around the Premier League – good news for people compiling transfer rumour columns, then, and it could be good news for Chelsea fans too if The Hard Tackle have their facts straight.

They reckon that Mauricio Pochettino’s long search for a striker, which has seen them consider a bid for just about everyone in Europe who vaguely resembles a number nine, could end with the signing of Lille and Canada forward Jonathan David, who has been linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge before.

The Brooklyn-born 24-year-old has bagged 11 goals and six assists in 27 games for Lille this season and has a few seasons of fine work up front under his belt, so one can see the appeal – and the fact that he would allegedly cost a relatively affordable €40m (£34.3m) probably makes him even more interesting to Chelsea. Will they finally snap and sign someone? Or will they wait for the summer and a shot at Victor Osimhen?

The 3AM Verdict: We like David quite a lot. He has 58 goals in 131 Ligue 1 games overall and 26 in 45 for Canada, numbers which a far from shabby, and the price point sounds about right, so this could mark a rare moment when Chelsea avoid overspending on a transfer target. The question, really, is whether they would do better to hold fire and wait until the summer, when they might be able to put that money to even better use as part of a big deal for a stone-cold superstar. David probably isn’t ever going to be on Osimhen’s level, but he would at least stand a good chance of solving their immediate goalscoring problems…

Everton set for shock defensive departure

Everton have been pretty quiet this transfer window, partly because they don’t seem to have much spare money to spend, and partly because Sean Dyche doesn’t seem keen to rock the boat too much ahead of a tough second half of the season – but they suddenly find themselves considering a surprise bid from Spain for one of their centre-halves.

Italian outlet Tutto Mercato reckon that Atlético Madrid could come up with a late bid for Ben Godfrey, who has barely touched the turf at Goodison Park this season and has started just one Premier League game for his club. He cost the better part of £25m when he joined from Norwich City back in 2020, but doesn’t seem likely to fetch anything close to that now, and indeed Atléti could be interested in an initial loan deal, which would fetch even less. The move may not necessarily come to fruition, because they are also targeting Valencia’s Gabriel Paulista, but Godfrey is, apparently, very much on the list.

The 3AM Verdict: Dyche clearly doesn’t have a very high opinion of Godfrey and he’s spent the season wearing a backside-shaped groove in the Everton bench, so it makes sense to recoup whatever money they can at this point. As for Godfrey himself, he can probably barely believe his luck – he might still wind up on the bench in Madrid, too, but at least it’s a little warmer than it is on Merseyside. A deal should suit all parties involved very nicely, although one would be interested to know what Diego Simeone sees in Godfrey that Dyche doesn’t.

West Ham falling short in Inter bid

One team who have been pretty busy this winter is West Ham United, and it seems that David Moyes isn’t content with the addition of Kalvin Phillips – Sport Witness have been picking up recent reports from Italy that they have been trying to bring in 18-year-old Argentine midfielder Valentín Carboni, who is currently on loan at Monza from Inter Milan.

Apparently they lodged a bid believed to be in the region of €15m (£12.8m) which was rebuffed, while Fiorentina also made an even larger bid that was also knocked back – and now it is claimed that Inter will only part ways with their young starlet for a colossal €35m (£30m). No word on whether West Ham are likely to come back to the table on that basis, but it sounds like they might be getting priced out of making another addition in midfield.

The 3AM Verdict: A versatile attacking midfielder who can play as a number ten or on the right wing, Carboni may be young but has been very impressive at Monza, with five goal contributions in 16 games. He started the season making cameos on the bench but has installed himself in the starting line-up and may not just be one for the future – but his wily dribbling skills and excellent final ball have clearly not gone unnoticed at his parent club. This would be a great signing for West Ham at a sensible fee, but this may be too large a chunk of the Declan Rice money to part with as it stands.