Bold Nottingham Forest transfer plans revealed as Chelsea identify £50m striker target for summer

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Our round-up of the latest Premier League transfer stories includes news from Nottingham Forest, Chelsea, Aston Villa and more.

The winter transfer window has finally closed with an almighty clang, but that won’t stop the rumour mill for ticking over, and there are already plenty of juicy stories doing the rounds concerning Premier League clubs’ plans for next summer – so we’ve rounded up some of the most interesting transfer tales doing the media rounds to keep you in the loop.

We’ll start with Nottingham Forest, who didn’t make any noise on transfer day but whose plans we now have an insight into thanks to a new report from The Daily Telegraph, who shed light on both their intentions for the summer and on a big January bid that they rejected.

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According to the article, Forest turned down an approach from Chelsea for centre-half Murillo, who has become a key player at the City Ground since signing from Brazilian outfit Corinthians for an estimated £10m. Chelsea were keen on signing the young centre-back and approached Forest in January, but the prospect of a deal was “swiftly shut down” with the club “determined to fight off any other approaches”. Chelsea’s enquiry came before Murillo signed a new long-term contract with Forest.

Forest are also “expected” to rekindle their interest in Brentford striker Yoane Wissa after the end of the season – they had an offer worth up to £22m rejected by the Bees in January and while Thomas Frank’s team did not want to sell Wissa, he will only have one year left to run on his contract come the summer and Forest hope that the prospect of losing the Congolese forward on a free will encourage the London club to strike a bargain.

The 3AM Verdict: We expect quite a few clubs will be in for Wissa come the summer, and he could be one of the best-priced proven strikers on the market in a league in which plenty of clubs are keen to find a new number nine. As for refusing to sell star players, it seems that we are seeing a shift away from the high-volume horse trading or owner Evangelos Marinakis’ early days at the City Ground and on to a more stable situation. It appears to be working.

Chelsea eye Tractor Boy for summer swoop

Over to Stamford Bridge now. Chelsea have long been linked with a move for a new striker of their own but decided against making a move on deadline day when it became clear that their top targets were unavailable – and TeamTalk believe that their sources know who those targets are.

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Their first choice would be Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, who the Blues “have kept close eyes on” since he moved to Portman Road. Apparently Delap “would be interested” in a move to the West London side, but Ipswich had no interest in striking a deal with their Premier League survival on the line.

Should a bid for Delap - who has been touted as being worth over £50m to his current club fail to pan out - then RB Leipzig’s Benjamin Šeško is the next name on Enzo Maresca’s shortlist, although they could face competition from Arsenal for his signature. Leipzig had made it plain that Šeško was not available mid-season and no bids were received from any sides before the deadline.

The 3AM Verdict: Delap’s faltering recent form – his goal at the weekend against Southampton was his first from open play in almost three months – doesn’t seem to have put Chelsea off, and they clearly want another pacy, direct option through the middle to compete with Nicolas Jackson. Šeško is another player who could fit the bill, although he would likely come with a hefty price tag. Not something that has put Chelsea off in the past, mind you.

Rashford’s Villa future already in doubt

We’ll wrap things up today with another story from TeamTalk, this time concerning new Aston Villa loanee Marcus Rashford, who was announced as a Villan on deadline day after a protracted transfer saga and a public falling-out with Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim.

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Rashford may have agreed to move to Villa Park but despite the deal including an option to buy him permanently for £40m, the player himself might have other ideas – apparently Rashford has “already decided” that he wants to play overseas in the long term.

The reports claims to “understand” that Rashford remains “very interested” in playing outside of the Premier League and there had been a number of rumours which linked him with a loan deal to Barcelona instead. A summer move overseas remains an option for the England international, apparently.

The 3AM Verdict: Let’s perhaps give Rashford five whole minutes to get settled in at Villa before we start linking him with other clubs, shall we? This report feels very speculative, with sources listed included “some” who “have suggested” Rashford’s intentions, which scarcely sounds cast iron to us. If the story is accurate, however, one could hardly blame the player for wanting to try his luck in another country where he might spend a little less time being hounded by the tabloids.

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