Manchester United’s three-man shortlist revealed as Everton eye £40m Newcastle star

Welcome to Sunday’s summary of some of the hottest transfer rumours currently doing the rounds as the English summer transfer window gets underway – and we kick today’s shenanigans off at Manchester United, with Caught Offside claiming to have uncovered a three-man shortlist of key transfer targets.

Up front, they are allegedly looking at Lille and Canada striker Jonathan David, who has also emerged as a target for Chelsea in recent days, while they’re also hoping to replace Casemiro and Christian Eriksen with Joshua Kimmich and Adrien Rabiot, both currently a little busy with their respective national sides at Euro 2024.

France’s Rabiot already faces an “uncertain” future at Juventus with his contract set to expire soon, while Kimmich appears to be no closer to a new deal at Bayern Munich, to whom he is only tied for another year. No word on a price tag for any of these moves or any suggestion that a formal approach has been made, but this may be the first real clarity we’ve had on United’s priorities this window.

The 3AM Verdict: We don’t doubt that all of these players are under consideration but we’re equally confident that this isn’t an exhaustive shortlist, not least because United have some glaring needs in defence as well. But these all feel like obtainable targets, if only because of contract situations. The only question is how easy it will be to persuade them to join a team who struggled last year and missed out on Champions League football by a fair distance.

Everton and Newcastle indulge in some horsetrading

One of the bigger rumours to sweep social media on Saturday concerned Newcastle United’s unexpected pursuit of Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who has been ravaged by injuries in recent years and who struggled to regain his scoring touch until the end of last season – but it seems as if business won’t be limited to the former England man.

According to TeamTalk (and others), Everton are also interested in buying 19-year-old winger Yankuba Minteh, who was signed last summer from Danish side OB for around €7m (£5.9m) and impressed on loan at Feyenoord. Liverpool are also keen on the Gambian international and he would cost in the £30-40m region, with Newcastle selling to keep on the right side of the Premier Legaue’s profit and sustainability rules.

The 3AM Verdict: Minteh looks like a big talent and it’s a shame for Newcastle fans that they will likely never see him play in black and white, but we wonder if Everton really have the cash for this one given that Calvert-Lewin is expected to fetch no more than £25m – or, more accurately, we wonder if they have owners who will fund it. With sides like Liverpool involved, we suspect Goodison Park isn’t Minteh’s most likely destination.

Watford man in line for Italian move

Normally, we stick to Premier League transfer reports in these daily digests but we saw a tweet from Fabrizio Romano (via journalist Matteo Moretto) that will be of interest to Watford fans and thought it bore mention – specifically, the Italian rumourmonger reckons that AS Roma are one of “several clubs around Europe” interested in their energetic midfielder Ismaël Koné.

The 22-year-old Canadian international midfielder, currently on Copa America duty with his country, scored four goals and picked up three assists last season and caught the eye as a direct and dangerous midfielder who often looks for chances to dribble upfield or play killer balls. No fee is mentioned.

The 3AM Verdict: Koné looked good for Watford but it’s maybe a little surprising to see clubs as august as Roma in the market – but the Abidjan-born midfielder is young, dynamic and hard-working, and clearly some scouts at big sides see some potential in him. If Watford can turn a tidy profit they’ll probably be happy with that as a piece of business, as Koné hadn’t entirely established himself as a week-in, week-out difference-maker, even if his best performances were certainly very impressive.