Newcastle United eye bold £140m double transfer raid as Brentford chase surprise target

Welcome to Thursday’s round-up of the biggest Premier League transfer rumours that have been rattling around in the media over the past 24 hours – and we begin today at St. James’ Park, where Newcastle United’s scouting department have been very busy by the sound of it.

HITC have been peeking over their transfer team’s shoulders and claim that the Magpies have sent representatives to take a good look at the Sporting duo of centre-half Ousmane Diomande and holding midfielder Morten Hjumland – who both have £70m release clauses, apparently.

The report goes on to claim that Manchester United have also been keeping taps on Danish international Hjumland as a possible alternative to Benfica’s João Neves. Diomande, meanwhile, is a high-profile young centre-halves who is on the shopping list of just about every big team in Europe, so Eddie Howe will have plenty of competition there.

The 3AM Verdict: We suspect that Hjumland might be available for less than his £70m release fee but Diomande will probably generate enough bids to go for the full amount – and that’s not surprising, as he’s pretty much the complete defensive package despite his youth. Hjumland, meanwhile, is a rock solid midfielder with a better passing range than many more defensively-minded players in the middle of the park, and certainly feels like he would fit in Howe’s narrow, heavy-pressing set-up.

Bees wants Bayern’s Bryan

Word now from Sport Witness regarding former Brentford target Bryan Zaragoza, who they courted in January but failed to buy after being blown out of the water by Bayern Munich, who signed him from Granada on an initial loan which becomes permanent in the summer.

Zaragoza, however, has not been getting many games for his new club and the 22-year-old left winger has just two substitute appearances to his name, and as such there are now emerging reports that they might loan him out next season – and apparently Brentford could be a beneficiary of that, although the article does suggest that the source has only named Rayo Vallecano as a possible destination.

The 3AM Verdict: Zaragoza is a versatile attacking midfielder who plays primarily on the left but can pop up all over the pitch, and a very gifted dribbler who scored six goals in 21 games earlier in the season in La Liga. Brentford have been pretty unfortunate in their pursuit for a winger given the collapse of a deal for Antonio Nusa in January as well, but a loan deal with Bayern could be a fine short-term solution to stave off another relegation battle next season.

No price tag for Man City outcast

Finally, an update on the unfortunate Kalvin Phillips, who has struggled sorely to regain his best form at West Ham United and is having to deal with morons pointing cameras at him while they hurl abuse at the same time. Widespread reports had suggested that parent club Manchester City were willing to sell him for £30m in the summer, but Caught Offside wish to challenge that claim.

While they agree that City want to move the England exile on, they claim that no price tag has been set at all, and instead they are waiting to see what any suitors offer. This comes from the mouth of the tireless Italian transfer hound Fabrizio Romano, who still says that “they hope to receive a good proposal.”

The 3AM Verdict: We have plenty of sympathy for Phillips, who is showing every minute of the 18 months he spent on the Etihad bench right now and looks terribly rusty. That lack of form implies that £30m will be a bit optimistic, but it would still be a snip for the player that was so good for Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United a couple of years ago. It will be interesting to see who takes a chance on him, as he’s likely to be pretty cheap.