Man Utd could ‘finally’ sign long-term transfer target as Newcastle lead race for £69m elite defender

It’s Thursday, and that means the same thing as every other day of the week does – our latest round-up of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours currently doing the rounds in the global sporting media.

We’ll start this week at Old Trafford. Caught Offside have caught wind of reports from Spain which suggest that Manchester United could “finally” get their hands on a player that they’ve coveted for a very long time indeed – Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong.

With the Dutchman entering the last couple of years of his contract at the Camp Nou, it seems that sporting director Deco has decided to move De Jong on in favour of finding someone new, and that opens the door for United to move on a player they tried to sign shortly after Erik ten Hag took over. Ten Hag is “an admirer” of the midfielder, and apparently they have agreed to pay €90m (£77m) for his services, according to the Spanish media.

The 3AM Verdict: We’re more than a bit suspicious of the claim that the two clubs have already agreed a transfer fee, especially when you consider that there’s a pretty high chance that Ten Hag isn’t in charge at Old Trafford for much longer. De Jong was his target, more than the club’s, after all. It’s worth noting that other media outlets reckon that Bayern Munich are in the mix, too – but we wouldn’t be surprised if United at least made some polite enquiries before making a decision once they’ve decided who’s going to be the manager next season.

Barça could pip Arsenal to City star

Sticking with a Barcelona theme, Caught Offside also reckon that they know who the Catalans have lined up to replace De Jong if he does leave – Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, who looks increasingly likely to leave the Etihad after seven years of stellar service.

That could be bad news for Arsenal after rumours went around that they were in the market for Silva, too – but Caught Offside’s columnist says that he has “no idea where that has come from” and that he “can’t see any way of that happening.” Apparently Arsenal are more likely to target Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise or Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Pedro Neto instead.

The 3AM Verdict: Manchester City have done a good job of selling on big-ticket players before their expiry dates, and with Silva approaching 30 at speed, it would be no surprise if the same policy applied to him. We also don’t think the link to Arsenal has much behind it, although it would hardly be the first time that Mikel Arteta has raided his former club for players. Finances are the only thing that stand between Silva and a move to Barcelona at this stage.

Newcastle chasing Diomande geezer

Finally, some words of encouragement for fans of Newcastle United from Sport Witness, who have tracked down some reports in the Portuguese media which suggest the Magpies are “pushing ahead” of their rivals in the race to sign Sporting centre-back Ousmane Diomande.

The 20-year-old Ivorian has been linked with a whole host of top sides ahead of the summer, but it seems as though Newcastle have been the first to make contact and have already begun to make their move. The sticking point will be the price – Sporting only want to sell him for the full value of his release clause, which is set at €80m (£69m) and apparently Newcastle “believe that to be too much” and are hoping to negotiate downwards.

The 3AM Verdict: Newcastle may well be making the first move, but just about every top club in Europe seems to be looking for a centre-back this season and Diomande is one they’re all going to consider a bid for. If the competition gets fierce, then it will be hard to knock the price down or convince the player to join over a side who can offer Champions League football. We think it’s much too early to say what Diomande will do, and that applies to the other young defenders whose names are cropping up a lot as well, such as Gonçalo Inácio and Leny Yoro.