Man Utd tipped to battle Arsenal for £22m midfield gem as Tottenham chase in-form attacking star

Welcome back to our daily digest of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours currently doing the rounds in the global sports media – and we kick off today with news from Old Trafford as Manchester United sort out their 2025 shopping list.

TeamTalk claim that the Red Devils will make Crystal Palace and England midfielder Adam Wharton one of their priorities, with the Mancunian club set to make a “stunning raid” as they look to replace Christian Eriksen, whose contract is up at the end of the season.

The report doesn’t discuss whether a bid might be made in January or in the summer – we suspect the latter, if only because United won’t have much more space to operate under profit and sustainability rules – but it does note that there are plenty of other sides who could enter the fray for the £22m former Blackburn Rovers man, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern Munich all keeping tabs on his progress.

The 3AM Verdict: Almost every week, we see a new story connecting Wharton with another club, or three. Given that Palace proved themselves to be tough negotiators with this summer’s Marc Guéhi saga, we do wonder who will blink and actually make what will likely be a huge bid – certainly he’d have to get back to his best form for a major club to justify splashing the cash.

Man City’s Rodri replacements

This isn’t the first story we’ve seen which presents a vaguely plausible shortlist of candidates to replace the stricken Rodri in January, but Caught Offside’s story from Tuesday also dovetails neatly with our first rumour – because Wharton is, according to them, also a potential January target for Manchester City.

With the Spaniard out for the rest of the season, City are apparently torn between Wharton and Atalanta’s combative Brazilian midfielder Éderson, whose arrival at the Etihad would inevitably cause some irritating moments of confusion. Pep Guardiola’s side “won’t necessarily panic and rush” into a decision, but apparently have “stepped up” their work in monitoring the Serie A star in particular. Maybe Wharton’s relatively slow start to the new season is hurting his stock.

The 3AM Verdict: Neither report concerning Wharton’s future mentions a price tag, which is an irritating omission as it stands as it makes it very hard to judge whether a deal could or should happen. For whatever it’s worth, this story also notes potential interest from Liverpool.

Spurs chase south coast star

Anyone who watched Bournemouth eviscerate a rather hapless Southampton side at the Vitality Stadium on Monday night will surely have been impressed by the performance of Antoine Semenyo – and according to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Ghanaian’s list of admirers now includes Tottenham Hotspur.

Apparently, the 24-year-old “has begun to attract the attention of important teams” and Spurs are very much one of his potential suitors. Unnamed sources suggest that the North London outfit would be prepared to part with around €40m (£33.3m) in order to acquire the forward’s services.

The 3AM Verdict: Semenyo has become a very important player at the Vitality Stadium and is growing in stature and scoring form, but Spurs don’t seem likely to be desperate to spend too much on a forward in the near future having already spent big money on players like Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson in the last couple of years. They have bigger priorities, especially in midfield, so as is the case with most rumours which start with Fichajes, we’re a little dubious.