Newcastle eye up dream €80m Isak replacement as West Ham & Bournemouth ‘contact’ wonderkid

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means… exactly the same thing as every other day of the week, because we’re back to round up the biggest and boldest new Premier League transfer rumours from the past 24 hours.

Today, we’re starting up at St. James’ Park, with a story from Caught Offside which claims that Newcastle United may have already lined up their ideal replacement for Alexander Isak should the Swede be lured away in the summer transfer window.

Newcastle are rumoured to want well over £100m for the striker but with Arsenal, Chelsea and perhaps Liverpool all linked with a bid, they need a plan in place should he go – and that plan seems to be Eintracht Frankfurt striker Hugo Ekitike.

Following a disappointing spell with PSG, Ekitike is thriving in Germany and has attracted considerable interest, with Frankfurt supposedly prepared to sell for €80m (£66.3m). Not that Newcastle will necessarily get a clear run at the 22-year-old, with Manchester United, Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona all reportedly keeping “a watching brief” on the number nine.

The 3AM Verdict: Ekitike wasn’t given a fair shake in Paris but has already bagged 12 goals in 20 Bundesliga games for his new club this season and is showing the world just why PSG wanted him in the first place. A rangy, physical striker with predatory instincts, he has a lot of the same qualities as Isak, and would be a natural replacement. Not that Newcastle want him to leave, of course.

Real discussing Everton move

Across to Goodison Park now, with a report from TeamTalk which suggests that at least one member of David Moyes’ squad might never make an appearance at the new Bramley Moore Dock Stadium – because Real Madrid are reportedly “discussing” a move for centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite.

The 22-year-old is one option for a planned defensive rebuild at the Bernabeu, although Everton’s bare-minimum valuation of £70m could prove to be a tall barrier to hurdle. No concrete approach has been made, so that price tag hasn’t yet been tested, and nor is Branthwaite the only name on Real’s list. Tottenham Hotspur’s Cristian Romero is also a consideration, it seems, although there’s less detail on that side of the story in this report.

The 3AM Verdict: We have an inkling that Branthwaite’s price tag will end up putting alleged suitors off, including Real and Manchester United, but that valuation remains paper talk for now and it’s not like the Madrid side don’t have some spare cash – but they’re likely looking to sign more than one defender, and that could mean that money becomes a major practical consideration.

Hammers and Cherries eye rising Schalke star

Finally, some news for fans of both West Ham United and Bournemouth, courtesy of Africa Foot – they claim that both clubs are among the sides interested in Schalke’s 25-year-old forward Moussa Sylla, who has bagged 13 goals in 19 games for the 2.Bundesliga side this season.

West Ham have “already made contact” with the Mali international’s entourage, supposedly, while Bournemouth are claimed to have had a €12m (£10m) bid rejected by Schalke over the winter transfer window. Inter Milan, Juventus and Getafe are all said to be interested, too, an unusually diverse list of suitors. According to our translation of the French, the article rather wonderfully observes that Schalke will find it hard to hold on to Sylla “in the face of all this covetousness”.

The 3AM Verdict: The French-born forward, who can play out wide or through the middle, is a bit of a late bloomer after failing to catch fire with Monaco, Utrecht or Caen, but he’s been a storming success in Germany and Schalke’s resolve to keep hold of him will no doubt be tested significantly. West Ham need some depth across the attacking line so Sylla makes sense for them, while his speed and directness make him a natural fit for the Cherries, too.