Rúben Amorim’s £70m Man Utd target and the winger that refuses to go to Newcastle

Welcome to Saturday’s round-up of all the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours currently doing the media rounds – and as you might imagine, the appointment of Rúben Amorim as new Manchester United manager has got just about every media outlet in the country claiming that they know which players the Portuguese coach is planning to sign.

Sporting striker Viktor Gyokëres comes up a lot, unsurprisingly, as does his team-mate Kasper Hjulmand and even Wolverhampton Wanderers full-back Rayan Aït-Nouri, but the one we’ll focus on today is the claim from The Sun that Amorim wants United to splash out on Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande.

The talented young centre-back wouldn’t come cheap, apparently, as Amorim’s current club would demand that his £70m release clause was paid in full – but that doesn’t stop him being “keen” on the ball-playing defender, who can operate as a wide centre-back in the back three system which Amorim prefers.

The 3AM Verdict: United are going to be linked with just about every player on Sporting’s squad over the next year or so, which will make fact hard to discern from fiction, but the link between Diomande and United pre-dates Amorim’s appointment, which makes it seem more plausible. A point of order with this story – Diomande’s release clause is reportedly €80m, which is £67m. Pedantic, perhaps, but that £3m could about 12% of a Scott McTominay.

Arsenal target set to reject the Toon

We’re off to Germany for our next story, which comes courtesy of Caught Offside and their Teutonic transfer expert Christian Falk. His claim is twofold – first of all, that Mikel Arteta and Arsenal are “seriously” interested in signing Bayern Munich winger Leroy Sané, and secondly, that Newcastle United’s interest in the same player will go nowhere, with the player not remotely interested in a move to Tyneside.

It seems that the former Manchester City winger is of “great interest” to Arteta, who worked with him at the Etihad Stadium, but unfortunately Newcastle are “not a concrete option” for the player, who is widely expected to leave Bavaria next summer. The lack of Champions League football seems to be the sticking point, and that renders them “an unattractive option.” Harsh.

The 3AM Verdict: Both clubs have been extensively linked across the continental media with a move for Sané, and we’re firmly in a ‘no smoke without fire’ situation at this stage so suspect the interest is probably genuine – and are unsurprised that Newcastle are struggling to tempt him to the same extent as other clubs. The lack of Champions League football will cost them the odd deal over time, but on the other hand, there are surely plenty of players who will move to be closer to a Greggs outlet store.

Juve in for Spurs star

We’ll leave you today with a story from Sport Witness, who have picked up on Italian reports that link Juventus with a January move for Tottenham Hotspur’s wantaway centre-back Radu Drăgușin.

With Gleison Bremer now out for the season with a serious injury, the Serie A giants are looking for a replacement, and Drăgușin, who has Italian league experience with Genoa, could fit the bill – although Paris Saint-Germain’s Milan Škriniar is also an option. There’s no discussion of how much Juve might pay for the Romanian defender, but there have been regular rumblings about the possibility that he will ask to leave Spurs in order to get more first-team football.

The 3AM Verdict: Drăgușin hasn’t played badly since arriving at Spurs but has simply been unable to break into the team ahead of either Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven, the odd bit of injury cover or an EFL Cup tie aside, so we do expect him to leave eventually. As for the truth of this rumour, we aren’t shocked that Juventus would shortlist him as he has a good reputation in Italy, but he will be one of several players considered before they splash any cash in the new year. Don’t be shocked if this one doesn’t happen.