Man Utd launch surprise swoop for bargain deal as Aston Villa target eyes hefty pay day

As if replacing David De Gea with André Onana wasn’t enough, Erik ten Hag has gone as far as to start the process of swapping out the back-up as well – and with Dean Henderson likely on his way out after many years of frustrated bench-warming, Manchester United have made a slightly leftfield move by making a bid for Fenerbahçe stopper Altay Bayindir.

The 25-year-old, who has made 144 senior appearances for the Istanbul side as well as five for the Turkish national team, has a release clause of just €6m, although United are apparently trying to haggle that down even further, according to CNN Turk.

Sport Witness do have some sad new for United fans who may be excited about the towering Turk, however, as apparently other, unnamed Turkish media outlets reported that Bayindir has rejected them as he doesn’t want to become a back-up. Which is fair enough, really.

The 3AM Verdict: For many of us, becoming the back-up goalkeeper for a Premier League team is the dream job. High pay, miniscule workload, medals for other peoples’ achievements. But Bayindir may be made of different stuff from the more workshy among us, so it does sound like United may need to look elsewhere for their new number two. There’s an experienced Spanish ‘keeper going on a free that I can think of.

Spurs and Villa set for Saudi gazumping

More news from Sport Witness now, as they claim that Tottenham Hotspur’s chances of landing wantaway Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessié are on the rocks, with a lucrative move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli now more likely.

The Ivorian, who was also a target for Aston Villa and several Serie A sides, struggled to establish himself during his one and thus far only season at the Nou Camp but seems to prefer the concept of a colossal pile of cash over any continued attempts to play football at the highest level. Or at Spurs, anyway.

The 3AM Verdict: Spurs also seem to do their business late, with Daniel Levy permanently under the impression that parachuting players in three games into the season is totally worth it if you save a few quid on them by waiting until deadline day – so it’s no shock that they’ve been pretty quiet for the last couple of weeks. They do still need reinforcements in several areas of the pitch, and Kessié is a very decent player given the club’s ambitions, but of course it’s impossible to compete with the kind of paycheques that the Saudis dish out these days. Best move on and find another target, ideally before August 31^st.

Spurs’ slow centre-back pursuit continues

Speaking of Spurs taking their sweet time of transfer dealings – they’re still negotiating for Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven, a process that began shortly before the last ice age and has been carried out mostly by semaphore, judging by the speed at which progress is being made.

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Fabrizio Romano reckons that Spurs’ latest bid was €40m plus another €5m in add-ons, which falls short of the German club’s desired €50m package. Work also continues on a deal for Edmond Tapsoba, presumably by carrier pigeon, with neither deal sounding especially likely to be resolved before Tottenham take on Brentford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

The 3AM Verdict: The slow pace of Levy’s purchases should probably be causing Ange Postecolgou a few palpitations at this point – Dutchman Van de Ven has been the first-choice target for weeks now, and nothing has yet been done about actually signing him. With the new season just days away, it would be smart for Spurs to stick the extra few million on and actually get their defence sorted before the big kick-off – because god knows it was pretty porous last season…