Liverpool & Arsenal ready to boldly hijack Man City deal amid update on Darwin’s Saudi move
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After a slow start, the January transfer window is starting to heat up – and we’re back with the latest Premier League rumours to help you stay abreast of all the latest happenings in the top flight, with this morning’s digest of the biggest stories featuring news from Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, West Ham and more…
Let’s kick things off with a story from Caught Offside, whose sources suggest that a deal between Manchester City and Eintracht Frankfurt for the transfer of Egyptian striker Omar Marmoush may not be quite such a sure thing as had appeared to be the case –the two clubs may have allegedly reached an agreement in principle over a deal, but two more Premier League sides what to stick their noses in nevertheless.
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Hide AdBoth Liverpool and Arsenal are interested in gazumping Pep Guardiola’s side as City work on a deal which could be worth as much as €80m (£67.5m). Caught Offside do suggest that Liverpool are only likely to move if Darwin Núñez leaves (more on which below…), while Arsenal also remain keen on Juventus striker Dušan Vlahović.
The 3AM Verdict: We only have unspecified sources to thank for this story, and details are few and far between, so we don’t know how serious either Arsenal or Liverpool’s interest is, but both clubs have come up in dispatches when Marmoush has been mentioned before. The tone of the article certainly makes it sound like the completion of his move to Manchester is the most likely outcome, however.
West Ham eye Ivorian striker signing
It will come as no surprise that a striker is firmly at the top of West Ham United’s shopping list this winter, and The Daily Mail have an update for us as rumours continue to swirl around who Graham Potter’s number one target might be – they reckon that Nice striker Evann Guessand is the priority after the club scouted him extensively across November and December.
The 23-year-old, who was born in France but represents the Ivory Coast at international level, only signed a new contract with Nice in August but apparently offers of over £20m would “test resolve”. Guessand has scored eight goals in 17 Ligue 1 games so far this season, and has also racked up four assists. If West Ham do make a bid, they may face competition, however, with both Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth also interested.
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Hide AdThe 3AM Verdict: Guessand isn’t likely to be the answer to the central striker problem – he usually plays on the right wing for Nice and is more of a supporting forward than a traditional number nine. That makes us wonder about the truth of the rumour, as the priority is surely someone who can replace the permanently-injured Niclas Füllkrug, although Guessand could be a fine signing in the broader scheme of things if he’s intended to compete with Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen for minutes.
Darwin’s Saudi adventure update
Finally, we’ll head back to Liverpool for some news on the future of unpredictable striker Darwin Núñez, who had been linked with a move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal amid claims that the noveau-riche club had made a verbal offer of £70m for the Uruguayan’s services – but TeamTalk don’t think it’s going to happen.
Apparently the player himself isn’t interested and is “not currently considering a move”, according to their report, even though he could be offered as much as £400,000 per week in the Kingdom. They also rubbish rumours of a verbal bid, claiming that their sources state that such an offer hasn’t been made. For the club’s part, Liverpool are “by no means desperate” to offload Darwin despite his poor form this season and have not set a valuation for him.
The 3AM Verdict: We imagine that Liverpool would be pretty tempted by £70m but that seems exorbitant, even by Saudi standards – not that their pockets really have a bottom, of course. We suspect this isn’t a story with too many legs, at least for now, and clearly TeamTalk agree.
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