Spurs and Chelsea set to battle for lethal 52-goal striker as Arsenal find exciting new forward target

Welcome to Thursday’s collection of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours that we’ve seen doing the media rounds over the past 24 hours – and we’ll start things off with a report may contain some nuggets of interest to Arsenal fans.

A few outlets have reported that Arsenal have drawn up a shortlist of strikers that they could sign in 2025, but TeamTalk have offered up the longest and most detailed. They claim that there are five forwards in the Gunners’ sights and that they could be looking to make a move in January rather than waiting until next summer.

Jonathan David and Benjamin Šeško are both on the list, as we’ve discussed previously, but this report also mentions two names we’ve seen before (Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak and Sporting’s Viktor Gyökeres) alongside one that’s new to us – Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram, who has scored 19 goals in 50 games for the Nerazzurri since signing ahead of last season. Apparently the 27-year-old is being “watched closely” following some fine early-season form.

The 3AM Verdict: Much of this info is out there already. Arsenal definitely made enquiries about Šeško and Gyökeres, seem to have been put off by Isak’s asking price and David, being available on a free next summer, will be of interest to most big teams. Thuram is an interesting one, however, perhaps slightly older than the players they usually sign and maybe not a truly prolific number nine as most people suspected they’d want, but a quality player all the same.

Other London clubs join Gyökeres hunt

That isn’t the only update on Swedish striker Gyökeres’ situation, however – Caught Offside inform us that Arsenal are far from the only club considering a bid, and indeed don’t even mention the Gunners in an article which suggests that three other sides are battling to sign him: Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Apparently it’s Spurs who have “shown the strongest interest” in the free-scoring Sporting striker, who has bagged 52 goals in his first 57 in matches with the Lisbon club but is “expected” to leave Portugal at the end of the current season. Chelsea are merely “keeping that option open”, presumably in case they can go back in for Victor Osimhen.

The 3AM Verdict: If Spurs sign a player who had apparently been coveted by their deadly rivals then it would certainly serve up some bragging rights, although their fans might prefer to earn some on the pitch. There’s very little detail here and we suspect that this is just some classic early speculation given that most big teams will be doing due diligence on players like Gyökeres without having decided whether or not to make a move yet.

Free agent field narrows

Lastly, for this week, an update from HITC on a story they’d covered before, which is the enormous number of teams currently considering a move for Yusuf Yazici, a former Lille midfielder and member of Turkey’s Euro 2024 squad who is available on a free transfer. Half of the Premier League was said to be interested the last time we heard from him, but the field seems to have narrowed.

Wolverhampton Wanderers, Newcastle and Spurs have all decided against making a bid, apparently, while Manchester United only would have made a move if they’d been able to offload Christian Eriksen. That leaves Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Brentford and Bournemouth as the Premier League sides interested in securing his signature – although it seems we have no further clarity on which will make a move.

The 3AM Verdict: Yazici is a decent player but not someone who’s likely to transform a Premier League side – Aston Villa, bluntly, feel like they should be a bit too good for him. But they could easily want to add some depth and he’s certainly got enough quality to contribute over the course of a long season. We’re still looking at the clubs who aren’t in the Champions League, however, and suspect that teams outside of England will be in the hunt as well despite there being no mention of them in the article.