Chelsea and Spurs ready to trigger bargain £22m release clause as Leicester receive cheeky £10m offer

Welcome to Tuesday’s round-up of all the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours doing the rounds in the global media – and we start in the capital today, where both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are battling it out for a player who’d probably rather be worrying about preparing for Euro 2024 than fussing over London house prices.

According to Caught Offside, the two clubs are both keen on VfB Stuttgart winger Chris Führich, who scored eight goals last season to help his side finish second in the Bundesliga and who is a member of Germany’s squad for the European Championship. Apparently he has a €26m (£22m) release clause in his contract, and that’s got quite a few clubs interested – but while Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund all appear to be in the mix, it’s Chelsea and Spurs “showing the strongest interest.”

The 26-year-old is, apparently, keen to play in the Champions League, which could dent the two sides’ hopes of striking a deal, but Premier League clubs usually have a way of finding enough money down the back of the sofa to help a player forget about that sort of thing. That said, he’s “not thought to be desperate to leave” and will get a crack at Europe’s top competition next season should he stay put.

The 3AM Verdict: £22m looks like a bit of a bargain for a dangerous wide forward with very few appreciable weaknesses. He’s a good dribbler, passer and finisher, has a decent turn of pace and scores and assists in equal measure – which is why an awful lot of sides are interested, with unspecified Spanish teams also keeping an eye out according to the article. Signing him could be quite a coup at that price.

Chelsea set for another South American starlet

Sticking with events at Stamford Bridge for a moment, HITC also reckon that Chelsea are ready to drop yet another mound of cash on a South American teenager having already signed Deivid Washington, Ângelo, Kendry Páez, Andrey Santos and, potentially, Estevão Willian, who is expected to finalise a deal worth up to £60m very soon.

This latest youngster is Sporting Recife right-back Pedro Lima, who has 12 senior appearances and a few caps for Brazil’s Under-17s under his belt but a very short CV otherwise. But apparently Chelsea have agreed personal terms with the player, who turns 18 this June, and are “set to fight off stiff competition” from the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Spurs.

The 3AM Verdict: It seems that HITC don’t know how much this one will cost, which makes it pretty hard to analyse in full – as does the fact that, if we’re honest, we hadn’t heard of the player until yesterday. Give us a break, he didn’t make his debut until January. All we know is that we’d bet a few quid that Todd Boehly can’t name every young South American player he’s had a hand in signing at this point.

Bologna make cheeky Leicester bid

Finally, some news for fans of freshly-promoted Leicester City and for anyone tracking the progress of young Danish full-back Victor Kristiansen, who spent last season on loan at Serie A top-four side Bologna. Per Sport Witness, Bologna – who had a €15m (£12.7m) buy clause in the deal – have decided they do want to keep him around, but don’t fancy paying the full amount they’d already negotiated.

The result is that they’re “cheekily” trying to bag him for a fee in the €11-12m region, (£9.3-10m), with the 21-year-old Kristiansen and his entourage apparently keen to stay in Italy if they can. The article speculates that Bologna could offer some add-ons to get the price back up towards the original agreement and notes that Leicester are in “a stronger position” to play hardball after promotion.

The 3AM Verdict: Of course, Leicester are also in a position to get a hefty points deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules and have widely been reported to need to sell this summer despite escaping the Championship – and it sounds as though Bologna are keen to take advantage of any desperation. It’s honestly a bit surprising that they’d let him go in the first place, mind you. Kristiansen is a good all-round full-back with decent pace, a good passing range and solid defensive ability. Even €15m sounds like a good fee, given his age.