Spurs plot ambitious £50m raid to sting Chelsea as Man City ‘prefer’ Wolves swoop

At long last, we have entered the final week of the summer transfer window. We are now just days away from the market abruptly closing, and the coming hours are almost certainly going to be characterised by a frantic clamour to complete the deals that could make or break a side’s season.

As such, there is plenty of speculation doing the rounds, and today is no different, with news involving Manchester City, Tottenham, and Manchester United to sink our teeth into.

With that in mind, here is a round-up of Thursday’s Premier League transfer gossip...

Man City prefer Nunes

As reported in recent days, Manchester City are considering late bids for Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze and Wolves’ Matheus Nunes following the collapse of their deal for West Ham playmaker Lucas Paqueta, but would ideally prefer to sign the latter, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

City have turned their attention to two new prospective targets after a pursuit for the Hammers’ number 10 was abandoned amid an ongoing investigation into alleged betting offences.

Neither Eze nor Nunes would come cheaply, but speaking to Caught Offside, Romano explained that Pep Guardiola has his heart set on the Wanderers midfielder: “We know Manchester City wanted to sign Lucas Paqueta, but that deal is now off. After Jeremy Doku, City want one more signing in midfield, and it’s true that they appreciate both Eberechi Eze and Matheus Nunes, as was widely reported yesterday.

“Pep Guardiola in particular is pushing internally for Nunes, he is a player the manager really appreciates. City know that Wolves don’t want to sell the player, but let’s see what happens, because Nunes is ahead of Eze in Man City’s list. They have approached Wolves with verbal £43 million bid plus add-ons, negotiations are ongoing and the player is keen on the move. It’s on Wolves now.”

A further report from the Evening Standard suggests that Palace value Eze at around £70 million.

The 3AM Verdict: Either one of these players, Nunes or Eze, has the potential to be a real asset to this City squad, but both will know that signing for the champions can go one of two ways. On the one hand, you have the likes of Jack Grealish, who arrived from Aston Villa and has gone on to become an integral component in Pep Guardiola’s side. On the other, you have Kalvin Phillips, who left Leeds United and has barely kicked a football since. From City’s perspective, perhaps the cheaper deal for Nunes makes sense, but I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a fully subscribed member of the Eberechi Eze fan club.

Tottenham prepare Johnson bid

According to the Daily Mail, Tottenham are readying an official offer for Nottingham Forest attacker Brennan Johnson, and the player himself is receptive to the prospect of joining Ange Postecoglou’s side. The Wales international has been linked with the likes of West Ham and Chelsea in recent weeks, but it is understood that he is willing to snub interest from elsewhere in an effort to secure a move to north London.

Johnson is valued at around £50 million by Forest, who have reportedly already rejected a bid of around £35 million from Brentford for the 22-year-old this summer. It is thought that Spurs’ effort to sign the player could involve some of their current squad heading in the opposite direction, with Davinson Sanchez touted as one potential exit.

The 3AM Verdict: Johnson is a huge talent and a major prospect, and whoever is able to lure him away from Forest is going to be securing themselves a proper player for the foreseeable future. It speaks volumes that Tottenham are seemingly leading the race for the attacker, and you have to wonder how much his head has been turned by the impact that Postecoglou’s free-flowing, forward-thinking philosophy has already had on Spurs’ style of play.

Amrabat training alone

And finally, Manchester United target Sofyan Amrabat is reportedly training alone at current club Fiorentina. As per the Mail, the Moroccan international is working separately from his teammates as he waits for a move away from Italy in the coming days.

The 27-year-old is valued at around £30 million, and has been linked with a prospective switch to Old Trafford for some time now. United’s efforts to sign him received a further boost earlier in the week when bitter rivals Liverpool ruled themselves out of the running for his signature, although it is understood that the Red Devils may still need to offload talent before they can enact an actual swoop for the midfielder.

The 3AM Verdict: In truth, this is no indication of anything. How many times have we heard of players training alone, only for their expected transfer to fall through, and for them to be slowly incorporated back into the fold at their current club? United still have a strong chance of signing Amrabat, make no mistake, but they need to start setting the wheels in motion sooner rather than later, or they could miss out entirely.