Newcastle United eye box office £40m striker transfer as Arsenal eye intriguing double PL rival swoop

Gameweek 10 of the 2026/27 Premier League season gets underway this evening, when Everton take on Coventry City in what promises to be an entertaining Friday night fixture underneath the lights at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. A win for David Moyes’ side could put them as high as fourth in the table, while the Sky Blues are looking to continue moving away from the relegation zone.

There are plenty of other attractive fixtures on show in the Premier League this weekend, including Tottenham’s Saturday lunchtime kick-off away to Leeds United. Arsenal take on Hull City at the Emirates Stadium, Man City travel to take on Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United round the weekend off with an intriguing home clash against Aston Villa.

Today’s rumours round-up begins at Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea prepare to take on Sunderland away from home on Sunday. The club are eager to sign an Enzo Fernandez replacement in January, after failing to do so on Deadline Day last summer. Ekrem Konur now claims that the Blues have an all-Premier League shortlist to replace him.

Taking to his Twitter account, this transfer specialist posted an update regarding the Blues’ current transfer priority, naming Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, Newcastle United’s Lewis Miley and Everton’s Harrison Armstrong as potential candidates for the Blues to sign once the window opens again in the new year.

The 3AM Verdict: Interestingly, the report makes no mention of Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, who is widely believed to be the Blues’ priority target. Perhaps it’s the case that Scott would be too expensive to sign in January, but the Blues could sign a decent stopgap option from the list of names mentioned - neither would be sold on the cheap, however.

Arsenal eye double Bournemouth swoop

Over in north London, Arsenal’s dominance looks set to continue this season as Mikel Arteta’s side sit three points clear at the top of the Premier League. According to Team Talk, they’ve now added Bournemouth’s versatile midfielder Marcus Tavernier to their shortlist, joining Eli Kroupi Junior among the Cherries players the Gunners recruitment team have taken a shine to.

The report says that Arsenal, along with Man United, are “monitoring” Tavernier closely, following his excellent start to the 2026/27 campaign. It’s suggested that he’s been deemed as an ideal fit for the left side of the Gunners’ attack, and they also value his ability to play in a more central role amid uncertainty over Martin Odegaard’s future.

The 3AM Verdict: Arsenal tried and failed to sign a host of superstars to solve their left wing problem last summer - perhaps a player who produces the goods without being a household name could be the answer? Tavernier remains a criminally overlooked talent who could be an ideal addition to the Gunners’ attacking line, be that on the left or down the middle behind a striker.

Newcastle could bring Toney back to Premier League

Bringing things to a close, we’re off to St. James’ Park, where Newcastle are reeling after back-to-back defeats to Everton. Big money summer striker signing Matias Fernandez-Pardo is yet to score for the club, and Football Insider claim the club are already looking to strengthen their options up top, with Ivan Toney emerging on their shortlist.

The news follows reports that Manchester United are also keen on the £40m Al-Ahli striker, who spent three years on the books at Newcastle between 2015 and 2018. The story says that the club’s links to the Saudi Pro League could help pave the way for a move, along with the fact he’s played for Magpies boss Matthias Jaissle before at his current side.

The 3AM Verdict: We’d love to see Toney back in the Premier League, and it would do his hopes of staying in contention for more England caps the world of good. We’re struggling to see it happening, however. Toney is thriving out in Saudi, and will be earning a serious amount of money. Newcastle could probably afford his transfer fee, but his contract demands could easily wreck the wage structure at the club.

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