Spurs ready to make £45m striker first summer signing as Leeds plot shock move for ‘phenomenal’ forward

It’s time for Thursday morning’s round-up of the biggest and juiciest new Premier League transfer rumours, and we’re going to start off at a club who could be very busy indeed over the course of the summer transfer window – Tottenham Hotspur.

According to a report from TBR Football, Spurs have decided to make on-loan forward Mathys Tel their first summer signing and have already “opened talks” with the French wonderkid’s representatives about a permanent move following some improved recent form. This being Spurs, however, it may not be all that straightforward.

While Spurs have a £45m purchase option in the loan agreement that brought Tel across from Bayern Munich back in January, they are “hoping to renegotiate” that clause and want to pay no more than £30m.

Bayern, for their part, are “keen” to sell the talented 20-year-old in order to generate funds and squad space for a deal for Florian Wirtz, who looks increasingly likely to join the Bavarian giants rather than making a move to Manchester City or Real Madrid.

The 3AM Verdict: Depending on how Bayern’s finances look, Daniel Levy may well be able to take advantage of their desperation to buy Wirtz to shave a few pounds off the price for Tel, whose performances have indeed picked up of late. He may not have hit the heights promised when he first signed, but there’s so much talent there that it has to be a worthwhile gamble.

Leeds target ‘phenomenal’ striker signing

Over to Premier League newcomers Leeds United, now – according to a story from GiveMeSport, the Championship champions are interested in making a bid for Jamie Vardy when his Leicester City contract runs down at the end of the season.

The 38-year-old Vardy, described as “truly phenomenal” in the article, scored eight goals in 33 league games this season as Leicester tumbled back down into the second tier but will leave the Foxes on a free at the end of June.

Apparently, Leeds are “not particularly content” with their options up front and want to add Vardy’s experience, seeing him as an “excellent option” with no up-front cost.

The 3AM Verdict: We didn’t really expect Vardy to get many offers from the Premier League, but even at his advanced age he was still Leicester’s best striker this season (low bar to clear, maybe) and could still have a little left in the tank. Not a report we expected, but maybe not such a bad idea.

Liverpool to part ways with player after five years

We’ll wrap up our daily digest with a tale from Football Insider, who claim that Liverpool are “ready to sell” left-back Kostas Tsimikas this summer after five years at Anfield.

Apparently, Liverpool view the Greek defender as “not suitable” for Arne Slot’s squad and will jettison him in order to make way for Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez, a deal for whom is “at the top of the list” in the coming months.

At the same time, Liverpool have “cooled their interest” in Brentford winger Bryan Mbeumo as they prepare to focus financial resources on a defence which is set to lose Trent Alexander-Arnold. No word, incidentally, on how much Tsimikas may go for or which clubs are keen.

The 3AM Verdict: Given that it was widely expected that Liverpool would try to sell Tsimikas this summer, this feels more like speculation that a story based on fresh information – otherwise, we’d expect to see hints of potential suitors or an asking price. Still, we do suspect that the 28-year-old Tsimikas’ time at Liverpool is drawing to a close, with a full-back refresh on the cards.