Chelsea in ‘battle’ for £60m striker as Tottenham ready bold bid to bring former player home

It’s once again time for us to round up the biggest and boldest new Premier League transfer rumours that we’ve seen floating around the global football media over the past 24 hours – and we’ll kick things off with a story which may interest Chelsea fans.

Chelsea are on the hunt for a new striker this summer, of course, and according to reports which have been picked up on by Sport Witness, they’re “especially” interested in Borussia Dortmund’s Serhiou Guirassy, but they may have to go through a former manager to get him.

The 29-year-old Guinean striker, whose superb hat-trick nearly put Barcelona out of the Champions League in astonishing fashion on Tuesday evening, is also of interest to several Italian sides, including Napoli, currently managed by Antonio Conte.

Complicating the matter is the fact that any side wishing to sign Guirassy “would need to match” a release clause in his contract worth €70m (£60m). That’s rich for the blood of most Serie A sides and even Chelsea might think twice…

The 3AM Verdict: We deeply doubt that Chelsea are all that keen on Guirassy, if only because they prefer to sign much younger players – and we doubt any of the teams mentioned are spending £60m on him. We’d guess the Guinean is still with Dortmund next season.

Manchester City starlet set to leave

Despite rebuffing bids in January and giving him an increasing number of minutes of late, it looks like Manchester City have decided that it’s time to cash in on James McAtee – at least, according to Football Insider. Pep Guardiola and his side are “prepared to let him leave” amid interest from West Ham, Crystal Palace, Leeds United, Bayer Leverkusen and many more. The 22-year-old is not seen as an able replacement for the departing Kevin de Bruyne.

There’s no word on how much McAtee might fetch, but it’s claimed that interest in his signature has not “died down” since bids were rejected over the winter, and City want to free up some cash to pursue Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

The 3AM Verdict: This report feels much like speculation rather than anything based on inside information to us, but that doesn’t make it wrong – we wouldn’t be at all surprised if City cashed in on the talented England Under-21 international this summer. There will certainly be plenty of suitors.

Tottenham Hotspur to bid for former player

Finally, a story from Caught Offside, who claim that Spurs are one of five clubs keen on signing a player who was on the books at Tottenham not so very long ago – Southampton full-back Kyle Walker-Peters.

One of the few players to emerge from the wreckage of the Saints’ season with meaningful credit to his name, Walker-Peters is available on a free transfer and Spurs join Chelsea, West Ham, Fulham and Crystal Palace in showing interest.

The 28-year-old himself has yet to make a decision about his future, it’s claimed, but the offers certainly seem set to pour in, with Spurs showing a “strong interest” in bringing him back home to his old club.

The 3AM Verdict: Absolutely believable, although whether Walker-Peters will want to take a contract where he knows he’d be a back-up rather than a regular starter remains to be seen. Other reports claim that West Ham are in pole position and have already made contact – expect the player to take his time over a decision, as he’ll have plenty of options.