Man City star tapped up for Barcelona move as Arsenal and Liverpool scout £10m bargain signing

Welcome to 3 Added Minutes’ daily dose of Premier League transfer rumours – once again, we’ve combed the media to find the juiciest slice of gossip out there and condensed them down into a nice, neat, digestible chunk for you.

And we start with a word from Fabrizio Romano, via Caught Offside, who seems to be under the impression that recent comments from Barcelona João Félix about trying to convince Bernardo Silva to leave Manchester City this summer weren’t just idle bluster.

“Félix has made it clear he’s convinced Bernardo to come to Barca, and that they’ve spoken about life in the city and places to live,” Romano tells us. “What he said was a serious statement… For sure Joao is big friend of Bernardo and he’d love Bernardo to join him at the Nou Camp.”

The issue, of course, is that Barcelona have all sorts of monetary issues to resolve and, as Romano, points out, it’s not really down to the players. Still, the Italian transfer-botherer certainly makes it sound as though Silva likes the idea of heading to Catalonia to hang out with his international team-mate.

The 3AM Verdict: Another issue that Félix seems not have considered is that he himself is only on loan, and there is no guarantee that Barcelona can afford to bring him back either. This rumour is less interesting for its comment on the likelihood that Benardo moves specifically to Barcelona than it is for adding another data point to the suggestion that he’ll be off this summer full stop. It’s starting to look more and more likely that one of Manchester City’s most distinguished servants is off.

Arsenal and Liverpool scouting the same man

Now a rumour from HITC, who claim that Arsenal and Liverpool have both sent scouts out to keep tabs on the same player – young Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. Both the title-chasing teams sent members of their recruitment teams to watch him keep a clean sheet against Bristol City, apparently, with the sides expecting a reshuffle in the goalkeeping department this summer.

There is every chance that Aaron Ramsdale and Caoimhín Kelleher both depart their respective clubs in the hopes of becoming number one somewhere else, and the 23-year-old Patterson seems to be high on both sides’ lists and is a “real option” for the Premier League pair.

The 3AM Verdict: Despite his age, Patterson already has well over a hundred senior appearances to his name, and has demonstrated plenty of talent. He’s a sweeper-keeper who’s comfortable with the ball at his feet and who command his box extremely well, which certainly matches the profile that the two sides typically look for. No fee is mentioned, but other reports have guessed that a figure in the £10m ballpark could be about right, which would represent a tidy profit for Sunderland at least.

Brighton star set to depart under a cloud

A few weeks ago, we reported in these pages that the Spanish media had decided than Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto de Zerbi was more than keen to keep loan star Ansu Fati around for another season. But now we come bearing news from the Spanish media – via Sport Witness - that the very opposite is true.

Apparently recent criticism of Fati from the coach has “not gone down well” and he now “won’t be returning” even if Brighton do decide to bid for him once more. Of course, De Zerbi himself may well not be at Brighton next season if rumours linking him with every vacant managerial posting in Europe are true, so if that’s the issue then it might be a bit moot.

The 3AM Verdict: Fati has, sadly, spent as much time injured as he has on the pitch once more, and it’s starting to feel pretty reasonable to doubt whether we’ll ever see the player he obviously has the talent to become. But it does sound as if Fati hasn’t taken to life on the Sussex coast, and nor is there much evidence that De Zerbi is a big fan of the player, either. Fati’s Brighton loan looks increasingly likely to be no more than a footnote in his career history now, though.