Man Utd & Arsenal go head to head for £34m striker as Fulham ‘lead the race’ for Brazil star

It’s Wednesday, and that means the same things as every other day – more wild transfer rumours, and our round-up of the best, boldest and most bizarre of the whispers doing the rounds in the global press. And we start our midweek offering with some news for fans of Manchester United and Arsenal, with some more details emerging around their pursuit of Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee.

We ran the rule over the young Dutchman’s future prospects last week, but what we now know – courtesy of Caught Offside – is that the reported release clause of €40m (£34.2m) in his contract only applies to his former club Bayern Munich, so any English clubs in the bidding may well need to pay quite a bit more to land the 22-year-old.

This doesn’t seem to have put United off, anyway, with the article suggesting that they still lead the race for his signature and have done “the most work” in terms of preliminary conversations. Arsenal, apparently, haven’t made any kind of formal approach, but retain an interest and aren’t in any great rush. Zirkzee is unlikely to leave Serie A until the summer, anyway.

The 3AM Verdict: We like Zirkzee a lot, and for the right club his combination of smart movement, technical skill and dangerous bursts of pace would make him a great asset. That said, as we said in last week’s article, he’s more of a ‘false nine’ than an archetypal centre forward, so whether he’d suit United or Arsenal is open to debate. It will certainly be interesting to find out how much he would really cost either club.

Fulham still lead the race for Brazilian international

We haven’t heard much about Fluminense’s André for about three days, probably the longest gap between transfer rumours about him yet – but don’t worry, Fulham fans, it doesn’t mean you’re not still in the running for the four-cap international. In fact, Sport Witness reckon that Fulham are still his most likely destination, despite the emergence of Atlético Madrid as a rival.

Citing reports from Brazil, they state that André remains “confident” of a move during the current transfer window, and also that Fulham are “best placed” to win the battle to buy him given the extra financial pulling power of the Premier League. Atlético are expected to test that assessment with a formal bid in the coming days, however.

The 3AM Verdict: André is a really exciting prospect with a fantastic passing range and lovely technique, and he’d certainly add an extra level of class to proceedings at Craven Cottage – but it had always seemed a little surprising that other, traditionally bigger clubs, weren’t making a bid for him. Now that’s changed, it will be interesting to see what happens next, and however convinced the Brazilian media are we still think it would be a real coup for the Cottagers if he swaps Fluminense for Fulham.

Forest given boost as they chase Mangala replacement

Nottingham Forest have been given some rather good news as they chase Florian Neuhaus, the Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder who has been lined up as a possible replacement for Orel Mangala, who is increasingly likely to depart the City Ground soon.

Originally, reports had suggested that Mönchengladbach had no interest in selling Neuhaus this window, but Sport Witness have sourced some information that suggests that this isn’t quite true – Die Fohlen would need to find a replacement, but would let the 26-year-old leave if they can do that. Apparently all of this means that there is in fact a “high probability” that he leaves before the end of the winter transfer window, with Forest firmly in the mix.

The 3AM Verdict: Neuhaus is a much more attacking player than Mangala, and while he probably isn’t quite so effective in the press he is excellent with the ball at his feet and would add a direct dimension to Forest’s play – a fair comparison in terms of playing style might be Bruno Guimarães. He can play out wide, too, so you can see why Forest are interested, as he offers quite a lot. If the price is right and the rest of the dominos falls, he could really add something extra to Forest’s attack.