Newcastle & West Ham battle for £21m England star as Man Utd chase Championship wonderkid
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Welcome to Friday morning’s round-up of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours currently doing the media rounds – we’ve got news for fans of Manchester United, Liverpool and more on the way, but we’re going to start things off with a story which suggests several top-flight sides are ready to do battle to sign a former England star.
According to Caught Offside, a number of teams are considering a move for AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori, including West Ham, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. They aren’t alone in their interest, either, with Juventus supposedly “preparing” a formal offer of around €25m (£21m).
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdTomori could be “within reach” of all of those clubs, apparently, but it sounds like new Milan head coach Sérgio Conceição could throw a spanner in the works. Apparently, he sees Tomori as playing “an important role in his tactical set-up” and could push his new bosses not to accept offers for the 27-year-old, who has earned five caps for his country.
The 3AM Verdict: Stories about Tomori’s imminent return to England have been circulating almost ceaselessly since he moved to Milan in 2021, and they never come to fruition – we wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up staying put this time, too, especially with a new manager in place. His contract at the San Siro runs until 2027, as well, so there’s no great rush to get rid of him from a financial perspective. We look forward to hearing about the clubs bidding for Tomori in the summer, too.
Man Utd in for young Sunderland starlet
Over to TeamTalk now, who reckon that Manchester United are “keeping tabs” on Jobe Bellingham and could attempt to sign him this month. The 19-year-old, who currently plays both at the Stadium of Light and in the shadow of older brother Jude, isn’t for sale with Sunderland keen to keep hold of him, but a move of such scale “could still materialise”. Premier League money usually talks over Championship sides’ protestations, after all.
The Red Devils could face competition for Bellingham if they do make a bid, however, with Crystal Palace also said to have “concrete interest”. TeamTalk’s sources don’t seem sure as to whether a bid would be made this month or in the summer, but they expect the interest to be sustained if a transfer can’t be engineered this month.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe 3AM Verdict: Jokes about his illustrious sibling aside, the younger Bellingham is a big talent in his own right and has scored four goals in 22 games for Sunderland this season as the Black Cats push for promotion back to the top flight. We suspect that they would demand enough cash in January that a move gets pushed back, however, and expect that a summer transfer is more likely if Sunderland don’t get promoted.
Reds rivals set for audacious bid
We’re going to wrap things up today with an absolutely sensational story from Spanish outlet Fichajes which is, frankly, not the easiest rumour to believe – still, it’s in print, and it would be so seismic that we feel honour-bound to report it.
They claim that Manchester United are “emerging as the main candidate” to sign none other than Darwin Núñez, the faltering forward who has struggled to make a consistent impression since signing for United’s eternal rivals Liverpool. 60 years since Phil Chisnall became the last player to move directly between the two clubs, it seems that Ruben Amorim want to land “a symbolic blow” in the transfer market.
There’s no word of a fee, nor details of any approach or negotiations for the Uruguayan, who has also been linked to a big-money move to Saudi Arabia as Liverpool look to cash in on a striker who hasn’t hit the hoped-for heights. All we have to go on for now is Fichajes’ word and the promise that he is “on the radar” of the Red Devils. Crikey.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe 3AM Verdict: The word of Fichajes doesn’t amount to much and we’ll eat our hats, scarves and gloves if this one turns out to be true, but given the strange decisions that Ineos have made since taking over at Old Trafford, we do wonder if them thinking that they would land a psychological blow on Liverpool by spending millions on a player they don’t want is completely beyond them. It probably is. Just.
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.