Newcastle & Liverpool battle for £50m-rated winger at rival club as Everton risk losing star duo

Welcome to Tuesday’s round-up of all the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours that we’ve caught going around the global sporting media over the last 24 hours – and we’re going to kick things off today with a story that concerns fans of no fewer than three top-flight teams: Newcastle United, Liverpool and Bournemouth.

A report from Sky Sports News suggests that Cherries forward Antoine Semenyo is “emerging as a January target for Newcastle”, despite the fact that the Ghanaian only signed a new five-year contract at Dean Court this summer.

That isn’t actually a new rumour, although it’s the first time we’ve seen one of the larger, more reputable media outlets running with it, but what is new to us is the claim that Liverpool are interested as well – Arne Slot has had the player “tracked” as a possible future target.

One wrinkle in the story is that the report, having said that Newcastle want Semenyo in January, goes on to add that the Magpies are “unlikely” to make any signings this winter unless other players leave.

The 3AM Verdict: That last paragraph is actually quite interesting, because we know that Newcastle have plenty of cash to spend even under the current financial rules having failed to sign Marc Guéhi for £70m back in the summer. No major outgoings are expected at St. James’ Park save, perhaps, for that of Miguel Almirón. We suspect that the £50m-rated Semenyo stays put for now, as Bournemouth would surely ask for a very large fee having tied him down to a long-term deal this year.

Interest in Evertonians intensifies

Time for a story from TeamTalk which Everton fans probably won’t want to hear about, now – no fewer than three of their key players are drawing increased interest that makes their departures even more likely than they were before, although it does at least look like we’re looking at moves for next summer.

Firstly, AC Milan and Newcastle are now both interested in signing striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, likely on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season. Everton are, apparently, “doing everything they can” to tie Calvert-Lewin down to a new deal, but more suitors likely means less chance that they can make it happen. AS Roma are also noted as a potential destination, while we’ve seen Aston Villa mentioned before as well.

Secondly, Real Madrid have seemingly joined the race for star centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, who remains a long-term target for Manchester United. The 22-year-old is increasingly likely to move on next summer amid “fierce competition” for his signature. Everton want £75m for him, which would soften the blow at least.

Finally, goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is also “receiving admiring glances” from England and Italy, although there are no clubs mentioned and, it would seem, “no concrete bids” either, courtesy of a near-£30m asking price.

The 3AM Verdict: The Calvert-Lewin situation is tricky to call, as he looks set to get some tempting offers and if he hasn’t signed a new contract yet, that implies that he wants to hear what other teams might offer him. Branthwaite will surely leave before too long, but at least Everton will get some cash. Pickford, already 30, won’t fetch quite so much cash but apparently he’s happy enough at Goodison Park, so that probably won’t be a situation which causes any issues.

Cottager could be off to Turkey

Finally for today’s transfer digest, a quick hit for Fulham fans – Sport Witness have picked up on some speculation in the Turkish media which suggests that Besiktas are “showing interest” in veteran winger Adama Traoré ahead of a potential January bid.

The report suggests that it will be “difficult” for the Istanbul outfit to prise the former Barcelona man away from Craven Cottage in the winter, hinting that Marco Silva isn’t ina rush to sell, but Besiktas are clearly keen on finding a right winger as they’ve also been extensively linked with Manchester United flop Antony.

The 3AM Verdict: Really, it would just be a question of whether Besiktas could offer enough money to make it worth it for Fulham to move a solid squad player on in January, and we suspect that they won’t. If Besiktas still need a winger next summer, when Traoré would be heading into the final year of his deal, then this starts to sound more likely.