Man Utd linked with ‘the next Ødegaard’ as they look to rival Chelsea for £60m centre-back

Welcome to Wednesday’s quick-fire round-up of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours that have been doing the media rounds over the past 24 hours – and we start with news from Manchester United, who have been linked with a bid for teenage starlet Sverre Nypan, apparently dubbed the next Martin Ødegaard.

HITC report that United are “doing their homework” on the 17-year-old Rosenborg midfielder ahead of a summer transfer bid, although they may face some stiff competition – the article names Manchester City as potential rivals for Nypan’s signature, as well as no fewer than five other Premier League clubs and a host of European teams.

Nypan became Rosenborg’s youngest ever player when he debuted for the first team at the age of 15, their youngest goalscorer at 16, and has scored five goals in 25 games in total. There’s no mention of a fee in the article.

The 3AM Verdict: By all accounts, Nypan is a huge talent so it’s no surprise to see him on the radar of pretty much all of the usual suspects – by United have been putting a lot of stock in young talent lately, so it’s even less of a surprise to hear that they may be at the front of the queue. Don’t expect him to be ready for the Premier League immediately, however – he still hasn’t made it past the Under-16s in Norway’s international set-up.

Ashworth ready to give Chelsea the blues

Manchester United and Newcastle haven’t even agreed a fee to make Dan Ashworth’s move happen yet, but apparently the sporting director is already sorting out his shortlists and could be set to gazump Chelsea for one of their main summer targets – according to The Chelsea Chronicle, who probably have a horse in this particular race.

It seems that Ashworth wanted to sign £60m-rated Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi for the Magpies while he was there and is likely to encourage his new club to make the move as well, which will spoil Chelsea’s party, as the report reckons that bringing the England international back to Stamford Bridge was a priority for the Blues, too. Liverpool could be in the mix as well, apparently.

The 3AM Verdict: We suspect that this article is largely wild speculation based on the probability that every Premier League club who need a centre-back will at least discuss a bid for Guéhi this summer, rather than an indication of any insight into Ashworth’s thought processes. That said, if he did want Newcastle to make a bid, then he has good taste, as you probably won’t do too much better for £60m.

Chelsea’s Brazilian bid a non-starter

Finally, we’ll finish our little two-team transfer rumour chain with another story that could be of interest to supporters at Stamford Bridge – although this one from Sport Witness doesn’t have any good news either, I’m afraid.

Apparently, there have been persistent rumours in the Brazilian media that Chelsea want to sign Flamengo forward Pedro, a 26-year-old who has bagged 63 goals in four seasons for his club since an abortive move to Fiorentina back in 2019. Flamengo’s vice-president Marcos Braz has moved to douse the fire, however, saying they have not received any bids and he was “not aware of this information from Chelsea.” If Braz is telling porkies, however, he would apparently cost around €25m (£21.4m).

The 3AM Verdict: Pedro has been a consistently good central striker in the Brazilian top flight but his numbers are scarcely so stellar that there’s evidence that he would hit the same heights in the Premier League. That said, he did just smash a hat-trick against Bangu in the Carioca Championship, so it’s possible that he’s just coming into his prime. Either way, we suspect this is paper talk and that Chelsea will target a much starrier signing for the number nine shirt next season.